Episode 25
Building a multipliers culture with Liz Wiseman
November 14, 2019
Some leaders bring out the best in their teams; others accidentally diminish the efforts of the people around them. Diana talks with best-selling author Liz Wiseman about how to build a multipliers culture, what she learned from building and running a tech giant's corporate university, and how to find the best resources to support your leadership journey.
Liz is the author of New York Times bestseller Multipliers: How the best leaders make everyone smarter. Her firm The Wiseman Group helps organizations increase engagement, get better work, and drive growth. You can connect with Liz on LinkedIn and Twitter.
Key takeaways from episode 25
The multipliers concept is a way of leading that brings out the best intelligence and capability of the people all around us. Diminishers are the opposite of multipliers, and while most diminishing is accidental, it can be challenging to identify and overcome on your own.
Multiplying the talent of the people around you gives you more resources to solve your hardest problems, and it also creates an environment where people want to work. Companies benefiting from the multipliers leadership approach are leading on growth, innovation, and culture.
Creating a common vocabulary to talk about the problems with leadership is a critical step in identifying and addressing diminishers. A shared vocabulary makes it safe to talk about what’s difficult and leads to shared aspirations of where we want to go.
Aspirational leaders who are working to transform their organizations almost always have a degree of hypocrisy. They’re calling people to lead in higher ways but aren’t leading that way themselves. There will never be a perfect leader or executive sponsor, and we all need to accept the learner within the leader.
Make changes and deal with diminishers gently. Sometimes diminishing leaders need to stay in an organization. Be clear about the reasons for keeping that individual and look for a more suitable role, perhaps as an individual contributor instead of a leader.
The people on your team can be great leadership librarians—ask them what resources you should be reading, listening to, and experiencing for your development. If you’re an aspiring leader, ask the leaders you admire what they use to keep learning and growing.
Transformational change doesn’t have to start at the top. Drive change where it can get started. As you gain success, you’ll gain the attention of needed champions. Liz calls this the executive skill of getting out in front of the parade.
Make it safe for people to learn, particularly when it comes to uncomfortable truths. People inherently want to improve, but they need to learn in an environment that’s emotionally and intellectually safe.
The Accidental Diminisher: Bonus content download
Complete the form to access a chapter from Liz’s bestselling book Multipliers: How the best leaders make everyone smarter. Accidental diminishers are leaders with good intentions who think they’re doing a good job. We all have moments of being an accidental diminisher. In this chapter, you’ll learn how to recognize those tendencies and transform them into multiplier moments.
