Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter (29 page)

Multipliers continually double the size of their workforce for free. This 2X return in perpetuity for leading like a Multiplier makes a compelling business case, even to the most discerning investors on Sand Hill Road.

THE MULTIPLIER FORMULA

B
ill Campbell, former CEO of Intuit, began his career over thirty years ago as a collegiate football coach at an Ivy League university. As a coach he was smart, aggressive, and hard-hitting. When he was recruited into the consumer technology business, he operated in much the same way. As a young marketing manager at Kodak, he would take over and rewrite the sales leaders’ business plans if he saw them failing. While working under detail-oriented John Scully at Apple Computer, Bill became the ultimate Micromanager. He burrowed into every detail in the business and directed every decision and action. He said, “I drove everyone nuts. I was a real Diminisher. Believe me, I made every decision and I pushed everyone around. I was really bad.”

Confessions of a Diminisher

Bill recalls one of his worst moments. During an important staff meeting, one member of his management team asked a simple question. Bill, annoyed at the uninformed manager, turned to him and sharply
replied (replete with colorful language), “That’s the dumbest question I have ever heard.” The room went silent. Bill continued the meeting, uninterrupted by any other annoying questions. Over the next few weeks, he noticed that most everyone stopped asking him questions. He had dismantled the group’s curiosity.

While at Claris as CEO, his hard-hitting leadership continued. A close colleague came to him and confided, “Hey Bill, we all came here because we liked working for you at the last company. But you are back to your old ways. You are pushing everyone around and making all the decisions.” Bill knew she was right.

And this wasn’t the only near-mutiny. Two months into starting another company, one member of his management team approached him and said, “I am here representing the whole group. If you don’t let us do our jobs, we are going to regret coming here. We don’t want to leave, but we need to be able to do our jobs.” Bill knew he was calling in plays at fourth down and one yard to go. He knew it was hurting his company and jeopardizing his team of exceptionally smart players. And he wasn’t willing to lose them.

Becoming a Multiplier

The counsel from two bold colleagues was just the dose of self-awareness that Bill needed. He could see his need for a course correction, and he made it. He started by listening more and telling less. He began to develop a deep appreciation for what his colleagues knew. And as he recognized the diminishing effect he had on his management team, he began to detect other Diminishers in his organization. He began to counsel them. He recalled one person in particular who chronically needed to prove he was the smartest guy in the room. Bill sat him down and explained, “I don’t care how brilliant you are yourself. If you keep this up, you are going to bring the organization to its knees. You are terrific, but you can’t work here like this.”

Bill became a better leader over time. It was a steady transition that happened naturally out of his desire to preserve his team and to realize the value of the incredible talent that he had attracted. By the time Bill became CEO at Intuit and led the company past the $1 billion revenue mark in 2000, he had uncovered the Multiplier inside of him.

A Multiplier of Multipliers

Since retiring from his role as CEO, Bill has remained on the Intuit board, but spends his time coaching early-stage start-up companies. He plays the role of mentor—a leader who has been there before, made the mistakes, and learned from those mistakes. He works closely with venture capital partners, and their respective roles are clear: the VCs invest, and Bill grows the talent. He develops the CEO and the key leaders so the company can grow to its market potential.

What does Bill do to cultivate the CEOs? To a great extent, he builds Multipliers. He teaches what he learned himself and claims, “If it can be learned, it can be taught.” He helps these highly intelligent (and often young) CEOs learn how to leverage the intelligence inside their own organization. And the CEOs he has coached have progressed to build some of technology’s most prominent companies—Amazon.com, Netscape, PayPal, Google, and many more.

Recently Bill helped one CEO transform his executive staff meetings from bland functional report-out sessions to rigorous debates on the jugular business issues. Before, the meetings followed a predictable format: Each person around the table would give their report, informing their colleagues of progress being made and issues within their function. Bill sat in on many of these staff meetings and saw the underutilization of the enormous brainpower in the room. He counseled, “You are not getting anything out of these staff meetings. You need to engage your people on your biggest issues.” Bill asked the CEO to prepare five topics that were crucial to the company. The CEO then e-mailed the list to the team in advance and
asked each person to think through the issue and come prepared with data and opinions.

The CEO opened the next meeting by asking his management team to take off their functional hat and put their company hat on. He then launched into the first issue: Should we be in the services space or should we give this business to our partners? One executive cited the reasons they should stay in the space. Another argued the contrary. Each member of the team chimed in with his and her perspectives. The CEO listened carefully, made the decision, and then outlined the implications and actions. One team member stepped up and said, “I’ve got it. I’ll take it from here.” The CEO then moved onto the next topic, and the next debate ensued.

Bill reflects on his work coaching and advising some of Silicon Valley’s rock-star CEOs. He says, “I can help them see it differently. I kick them out of their comfort zones and I ask them the hard questions.”

Bill began his career as a Diminisher telling people what to do and calling all the plays. Now he plays the role of the Multiplier where he asks the hard questions that make others think. But his leadership journey didn’t end there. Bill Campbell is not just a Multiplier, he has become a multiplier of Multipliers, building other powerful leaders who can extract and multiply intelligence and capability around them.

Bill’s journey from Diminisher to multiplier of Multipliers is similar to those of other leaders we studied and raises a number of questions. Can someone with Diminisher roots actually become a Multiplier? Can the transition be authentic? Does this journey happen passively over time through the wisdom that comes of maturity? Or can it be accelerated through active effort? In this chapter, we’ll address these questions and explore the journey of becoming a Multiplier. We’ll offer examples of leaders making the transition and provide you with a framework and a set of tools to help you choose to lead more like a Multiplier.

FROM RESONANCE TO RESOLVE

As various people have heard these ideas and read this book, I have observed a nearly universal three-step reaction:

• 1.
  Resonance.
  People tell us that the distinction between Diminishers and Multipliers vividly reflects their reality and that they have experienced these dynamics in action. They usually remark, “Yes, I have worked for this guy!”
  
• 2.
  Realization of the Accidental Diminisher.
  Virtually all readers have confessed that they see some degree of a Diminisher within themselves. For some, there are only trace amounts. For others, it is a chronic pattern of behavior. They realize that their well-meaning management practices are, in all probability, having a diminishing effect on the people they work with.
  
• 3.
  Resolve to be a Multiplier.
  After identifying their own Diminisher tendencies, they build conviction to become more of a Multiplier. They have a genuine desire, but are often overwhelmed by the standard of the Multiplier and the apparent magnitude of the task of becoming one.
  

Having spent over eighteen years in management roles in corporations myself, I recognize why learning to lead like a Multiplier can feel overwhelming. For a start, many national and organizational cultures lean to the Diminisher side; Multiplier leadership isn’t often the norm. The path of least resistance is frequently the path of the Diminisher. And while I appreciate the challenge, I also have worked with leaders who have grown, become Multipliers, and realized the benefits of this approach. It is not hard to be a Multiplier, but it is definitely easier to be a Diminisher.

Twin Obstacles

There are two obstacles many people encounter as they consider the Multiplier approach to leadership. Let’s address each of them in turn.

1. STUCK UNDERNEATH A DIMINISHER.
I hear the following said often by aspiring Multipliers: “I want to lead this way, but my boss doesn’t, so I can’t.” Herein lies the notorious boss factor.

I heard this first from an executive vice president in a large corporation. Jim had grown up in a home where intelligence was prized and not having the answer was punished. Fortunately, Jim was smart, performed well in school, and went on to gain an elite university education and build a successful career. The foundation of his career was his superior knowledge of the market and the business he ran. In his current role, this dynamic was exacerbated because he worked for a president who was brilliant but who was also a bona fide Diminisher. Jim had a significant problem because his own need to know it all was shutting down the intelligence of the people around him. He got feedback, recognized the problem, and wanted to become a better leader. In contemplating the new mindsets and practices of a Multiplier, he became hopeful, even enthusiastic. He experimented with some of the practices and received resoundingly positive feedback from his colleagues and employees. However, his hope turned to discouragement as he began wondering how his boss would react. He said, “This isn’t going to work. You know my boss. He doesn’t lead this way, so why should I?”

He had a good point. I did know his boss, and I knew Jim wouldn’t receive much support from him. But I also knew that he wouldn’t encounter active resistance, either. And I knew the organization would perform better if he managed like a Multiplier, and the results would speak for themselves. I asked him, “Jim, has it ever occurred to you that you could be a better leader than your boss?” By the reaction on his face, I could tell it hadn’t. I asked again, “What
would happen if you gave yourself permission to be better than your boss?”

He was struck, and perhaps even liberated, by this idea that he didn’t have to imitate and be limited by the leadership of his superiors. I watched as he assumed a new approach to leadership—one in which he asked more than he told and shined the spotlight on the knowledge of others rather than on himself. I watched as he outgrew his boss and went on to become CEO of two companies.

There is a hidden assumption in many organizations that people are not expected, or even allowed, to out-lead their bosses. The layers of the org chart appear to form a glass ceiling that caps leadership effectiveness. Is it possible that a Multiplier can thrive in a Diminisher environment? Can you be a Multiplier while working for a Diminisher boss? Given the extraordinary results that Multipliers achieve through others, I believe you can. Give yourself permission to be better than your boss. And then watch the organization take notice.

2. OVERLOADED AND OVERWHELMED.
A second, related obstacle aspiring Multipliers often face is feeling overwhelmed. They are typically already functioning on overload and cannot find the time needed to fund their development. This time crunch is particularly acute for any leader who has been operating as a Diminisher, because after all, it takes a lot of time to be a tyrannical, micromanaging know-it-all! And it sucks much-needed time and energy to work for one. Diminishers not only drain others, they can exhaust themselves trying to stay on top.

Yes, becoming a Multiplier requires an investment. It takes initial effort to understand one’s current impact on others and to formulate new approaches. But becoming a Multiplier doesn’t necessitate extra work. It doesn’t have to be hard. You can take the lazy way. In fact, the lazy way works best.

Take the Lazy Way

Professionally speaking, I was raised among overachieving, type-A, driver-drivers. So it often surprises my clients when I suggest they take the lazy way.

Let me explain. I’ve noticed that the more important something is, the more likely a lazy man’s approach will work best. When something is based on sound design, it doesn’t need to be forced. It just needs the right amount of effort applied in exactly the right place or in the right way. Suppose you are repairing an appliance at home, and you need to open a casing by loosening a six-sided hex screw. You grab a pair of pliers from the drawer, and with the pliers gripping two sides of the nut, you begin twisting. You pull, you turn, but you can’t get a good grip. You try the pliers on a different two sides, hoping it will be easier. You break a sweat trying to loosen this nut, but you can’t get it to budge. Your tool-savvy roommate sees your futile effort, and hands you a hex nut ratchet. This specially designed tool encases the nut and provides preset torque and leverage. You place this tool around the nut, and with virtually no effort, the nut turns and loosens.

You can learn to lead like a Multiplier by following this same principle. You can do it the hard way by tackling everything at once. You can attempt to apply all five disciplines, all the time and all the way. Chances are you will exert great effort but show little progress and will eventually give up. Or you can take the lazy way, and with the right approach and tools, make sustainable progress without overwhelming yourself or others.

Below are three lazy-way strategies or accelerators that can propel you on your journey to become a Multiplier. Any one of these, or all three together, will accelerate your development and enable you to attain maximum results with just the right amount of effort.

Accelerator
: 1. Work the Extremes.

How It Works
: Assess your leadership practices and then focus your development on the two extremes: 1) bring up your lowest low and 2) take your highest high to the next level.