Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter (4 page)

The Diminisher is an Empire Builder. The Multiplier is a Talent Magnet.

2. CREATE INTENSITY THAT REQUIRES BEST THINKING.
Multipliers establish a unique and highly motivating work environment where everyone has permission to think and the space to do their best work. Multipliers operate
as
Liberators
, producing a climate that is both comfortable
and
intense. They remove fear and create the safety that invites people to do their best thinking. But they also create an intense environment that demands people’s best effort. In contrast, Diminishers operate as
Tyrants
, introducing a fear of judgment that has a chilling effect on people’s thinking and work. They demand people’s best thinking, yet they don’t get it
.

The Diminisher is a Tyrant. The Multiplier is a Liberator.

3. EXTEND CHALLENGES.
Multipliers operate as
Challengers
by seeding opportunities, laying down a challenge that stretches an organization, and generating belief that it can be done. In this way, they challenge themselves and others to push beyond what they know. In contrast, Diminishers operate as
Know-It-Alls
, personally giving directives to showcase their knowledge. While Diminishers set direction, Multipliers ensure direction gets set.

The Diminisher is a Know-It-All. The Multiplier is a Challenger.

4. DEBATE DECISIONS.
Multipliers make decisions in a way that readies the organization to execute those decisions. They operate as
Debate Makers
, driving sound decisions through rigorous debate. They engage people in debating the issues up front, which leads to decisions that people understand and can execute efficiently. In contrast, Diminishers operate as
Decision Makers
who tend to make decisions efficiently within a small inner circle, but they leave the broader organization in the dark to debate the soundness of the decision instead of executing it.

The Diminisher is a Decision Maker. The Multiplier is a Debate Maker.

5. INSTILL OWNERSHIP AND ACCOUNTABILITY.
Multipliers deliver and sustain superior results by inculcating high expectations across the organization. By serving as
Investors
, Multipliers provide necessary resources for
success. In addition, they hold people accountable for their commitments. Over time, Multipliers’ high expectations turn into an unrelenting presence, driving people to hold themselves and each other accountable, often to higher standards and without the direct intervention of the Multiplier. In contrast, Diminishers serve as
Micromanagers
who drive results by holding on to ownership, jumping into the details, and directly managing for results.

The Diminisher is a Micromanager. The Multiplier is an Investor.

The following chart summarizes the five vital disciplines that differentiate Diminishers and Multipliers:

THE 5 DISCIPLINES OF THE MULTIPLIERS

Diminisher

The Empire Builder
: Hoards resources and underutilizes talent

The Tyrant
: Creates a tense environment that suppresses people’s thinking and capability

The Know-It-All
: Gives directives that showcase how much they know

The Decision Maker
: Makes centralized, abrupt decisions that confuse the organization

The Micro Manager
: Drives results through their personal involvement

Multiplier

The Talent Magnet
: Attracts talented people and uses them at their highest point of contribution

The Liberator
: Creates an intense environment that requires people’s best thinking and work

The Challenger
: Defines an opportunity that causes people to stretch

The Debate Maker
: Drives sound decisions through rigorous debate

The Investor
: Gives other people the ownership for results and invests in their success

SURPRISING FINDINGS

As we studied Multipliers across the world, we found a remarkable amount of consistency and several patterns that confirmed our early observations. But here are three findings that were surprising and intriguing.

A Hard Edge

One of the most critical insights from our study of Multipliers is how hard edged these managers are. They expect great things from their people and they drive people to achieve extraordinary results. They are beyond results-driven managers. They are tough and exacting. Indeed, Multipliers make people feel smart and capable; but Multipliers aren’t “feel-good” managers. They look into people and find capability, and they want to access all of it. They utilize people to their fullest. They see a lot, so they expect a lot.

During our research interviews, people oozed appreciation for the Multipliers they had worked with, but the gratitude was rooted in the deep satisfaction found in working with them, not in the pleasantries of a relationship. One person described working with Deb Lange, a senior vice president of taxation at a large firm: “Working with her was like an intense workout. It was exhausting but totally exhilarating.” Another said of his manager: “He got things from me I didn’t know I had to give. I would do almost anything to not disappoint him.”

The Multiplier approach to management isn’t just an enlightened view of leadership. It is an approach that delivers higher performance because it gets vastly more out of people and returns to them a richly satisfying experience. As one early reader of this book noted, these leaders aren’t about “cupcakes and kisses.”

A Great Sense of Humor

It turns out that Multipliers have a great sense of humor. On a whim we added “Great Sense of Humor” to our leadership survey. Our suspicion proved right. Not only is this trait prominent among Multipliers, it is one of the traits that is most negatively correlated with the mindset held by Diminishers. Multipliers aren’t necessarily comedians, but they don’t take themselves or situations too seriously. Perhaps because they don’t need to defend their own intelligence, Multipliers can laugh at themselves and see comedy in error and in life’s foibles. Their sense of humor liberates others.

The humor of the Multiplier is very George Clooney–esque—a self-depreciating wit and an ability to put others at ease, allowing people to be themselves. As one journalist wrote of Clooney, “After fifteen minutes, he made me feel comfortable in my own house.”
¹²
A Clooney costar said, “He has a way of daring you…which can be irresistible.” Multipliers use humor to create comfort and to spark a natural energy and intelligence in others.

The Accidental Diminisher

Perhaps one of our biggest surprises was realizing how few Diminishers understood the restrictive impact they were having on others. Most of the Diminishers had grown up praised for their personal intelligence and had moved up the management ranks on account of personal—and often intellectual—merit. When they became “the boss,” they assumed it was their job to be the smartest and to manage a set of “subordinates.” Others had once had the mind and even the heart of the Multiplier, but they had been working among Diminishers for so long that they inherited many of their practices and absorbed their worldview. As one executive put it, “When I read your findings, I realized that I have been living in Diminisher land so long that I have gone native.” Many people have worked for Diminishers and, although they
may have escaped unscathed, they carry some of the residual effects in their own leadership. The good news for the Accidental Diminisher is that there is a viable path to becoming a Multiplier.

THE PROMISE OF THIS BOOK

As we studied Multipliers and Diminishers, we heard case after case of smart individuals being underutilized by their leaders. We heard their frustration as they told us how little some leaders got from them, despite how hard they were working and how they tried to give more. We learned that it is indeed possible to be both overworked and underutilized. Latent talent exists everywhere. Organizations are replete with underchallenged masses.

Multipliers are out there. Multipliers know how to find this dormant intelligence, challenge it, and put it to use at its fullest. They exist in business, in education, in nonprofits, and in government. Consider just a few that you will learn more about later.

Leaders like these provide an aspiration point for those who would be Multipliers.

The promise of this book is simple: You can be a Multiplier. You can create genius around you and receive a higher contribution from your people. You can choose to think like a Multiplier and operate like one. This book will show you how. And it will show you why it matters.

This is a book for every manager trying to navigate the resource strain of tough economic times. It is a message for leaders who must accomplish more by getting more out of their people. As companies shed excess resources, the need for leaders who can multiply the intelligence and capability around them is more vital than ever. This book is also for the raging Multiplier who seeks to better understand what he or she does naturally. It is for the aspiring Multiplier who wishes to
get the full capability and intelligence from his or her people. And it is most certainly for the Diminishers, so they can better understand the negative effects of leadership centered on their own intelligence. It is for every manager seeking the promise of the Multiplier: to increase intelligence everywhere and with everyone.

As you read this book, you will find a few central messages:

• 1.
  Diminishers underutilize people and leave capability on the table.
  
• 2.
  Multipliers increase intelligence in people and in organizations. People actually get smarter and more capable around them.
  
• 3.
  Multipliers leverage their resources. Corporations can get 2X more from their resources by turning their most intelligent resources into intelligence Multipliers.
  

Before turning our attention to the practices of the Multiplier, let’s clarify what this book is not. This book is not a prescription for a nice-guy, feel-good model of leadership. It is a hard-edged approach to management that allows people to contribute more of their abilities. And although there will be much discussion of Multipliers and Diminishers, this book isn’t about what they achieve themselves. It is about the impact that these leaders have on others. It is about the impact and the promise of the Multiplier. And lastly, the ideas offered in this book are not intended to be terms for labeling your diminishing boss and your colleagues. Rather, it is offered as a framework for helping you to develop the practices of a Multiplier.

This book has been designed as an end-to-end learning experience, offering an opportunity to both understand and implement the Multiplier ideas. This introduction has provided a first glance into the Multiplier effect and an overview of what Multipliers do. The
successive chapters will clarify the differences between Multipliers and Diminishers and will present the five disciplines of the Multiplier. You will read stories of real Multipliers and Diminishers; be aware that we’ve changed the Diminishers’ names (and companies) for rather obvious reasons. The book concludes with a road map for becoming a Multiplier.

MY CHALLENGE TO YOU

Although the Multiplier/Diminisher framework might appear binary, I wish to emphasize that there is a continuum between Multipliers and Diminishers, with just a small number of people at either polar extreme. Our research showed that most of us fall along this spectrum and have the ability to move toward the side of the Multiplier. With the right intent, the Multiplier approach to leadership can be developed. The good news is that 1) Multipliers are out there, 2) we have studied them to uncover their secrets, and 3) you can learn to become one. And not only can you become a Multiplier yourself, you can find and create other Multipliers. That will make you a multiplier of Multipliers.