After 17 years in senior management at the software giant Oracle, Liz Wiseman left with a lingering question: How do some leaders create intelligence in the people around them, while others diminish it?
Her inquiry led to an insightful and brilliantly written answer, Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter. Written with management consultant Greg McKeown, this book provides a well-researched answer to a fundamental leadership question.
There are two fundamentally different types of leaders, the authors suggest in their findings. In the first group are Diminishers, characterized by leaders so absorbed in their own intelligence that they stifle others and their organizations’ capabilities.
Diminishers tend to believe there are few really smart people and that people will not figure things out without their leadership. They tend to see the world in black and white.
In the second group are genius makers, or Multipliers. These leaders bring out each person’s unique intelligence and creativity. They see their organization as filled with talented, contributing individuals who are continually developing. The world for them is Technicolor. Challenges for Multipliers are seen as opportunities to bring the right people together, stretch individuals and further the goals of the organization.
Each of these types of leaders gets very different results, the authors found. Multipliers tend to get twice as much from their resources as do Diminishers. The authors call this “the Multiplier effect.”
Statistically, the authors found that Diminishers received between 20 to 50 percent of their workers’ capabilities. Multipliers received between 70 and 100 percent. In their analysis, the authors found that Multipliers consistently got at least two times more from people than Diminishers.
When people work with Multipliers, they tend to give their best, holding little back and giving more than required of the job. They hold to higher standards and look for innovative ways to contribute. Diminishers tend to see intelligence as something basic about a person that can’t change much.
In determining factors that distinguish Multipliers from Diminishers, the authors analyzed more than 150 executives from around the world. This intense scholarship focuses these factors, resulting in the identification of Five Disciplines of the Multiplier.
The practices that distinguish the Multiplier are:
1. Attract and optimize talent. As a talent magnet, the multiplier creates a cycle of attraction that “accelerates performance and grows genius.” Hexal AG, a maker of generic drugs located near Munich, Germany, interviews potential job candidates for just three minutes — except for the final candidate, with whom they spend three hours. There is no organizational chart; jobs are created around people’s capabilities. Talent magnets look for talent everywhere, find native genius, use people to their fullest and help remove blockers.
2. Create intensity that requires best thinking. Multipliers create a motivating workplace where everyone is given the opportunity to do his or her best. As a liberator, multipliers generate rapid learning cycles. They create space by restraining themselves, shifting the ratio of listening to talking, and leveling the playing field.
3. Extend challenges. Multipliers challenge themselves as well as others. They understand that the organization’s intelligence grows by being stretched. Multipliers provide information to promote a process of thinking and discovery.
4. Debate decisions. As a debate maker, the Multiplier “drives sound decisions through rigorous debate.” People must be engaged for this to be an effective process. The role of the debate maker is to frame the issue by defining the question, forming the best team, assembling data and challenging conventional thinking.
5. Instill ownership and accountability. In this practice, the Multiplier gives others ownership and invests in their success. As part of serving as an investor, the Multiplier gives resources for success while also holding people accountable. They “teach and coach” to help others learn what they need to know.
The authors find that the skills used by a Multiplier can be learned. One high-profile example given is the former CEO of Intuit, Bill Campbell. Campbell was a collegiate football coach when he was recruited into the technology business, and he tended to operate like an aggressive, hard-hitting coach. Later, he admitted, “I drove everyone nuts. I pushed everyone around.”
He started to change when confronted by two colleagues. He began listening more, developing a deep appreciation for his coworkers and recognizing the negative effect he was having. Campbell’s transformation was typical of leaders who were studied as part of the research for the book.
The best strategy for becoming a Multiplier is to read this exceptional work. Wiseman and McKeown have sought to answer some of the most pressing questions on leadership. Their insights make for some of the best reading on this topic in years.