How to Become a Multiplier and Lift the Spirits of Those Around You

As a leader of your organization, to what extent do you empower and speed up the talent and achievements of your team?

This is a key query because your ability to encourage and empower your people is the true essence of great business leadership. A few years ago, I had the privilege of meeting renowned writer Liz Wiseman, a leadership development expert, and executive advisor, who was a keynote speaker at a conference my organization hosted.

Even though many of us in the room that day were experienced business leaders, I think all of us had a collective moment of epiphany as we listened to Wiseman explain the difference between being a “multiplier” and a “minifier” in managing and leading our teams.

Wiseman explained the stark and compelling contrast between “multipliers,” or leaders who amplify the intelligence and skills of their people, and “diminishers,” or bad managers who each devalue and undermine the competence of their employees.

Her words made me and the audience think about how we support and nurture those around us, and the missed opportunities where we may not have the opportunity to encourage and lift our teams. I have all the time been a big advocate for worker empowerment, but that day I used to be feeling a bit pensive. Reflecting on those times, possibly I could have been more of a “multiplier.”

Don’t be a belittler

Diminishers are leaders who tend to limit and over-manage the people around them, intentionally or unintentionally. Accidentally or not, being a diminisher can have a huge negative impact on your online business, each qualitatively and quantitatively. In fact, Wiseman claims that “Diminishers only get half the true mind power of their people.”

The problematic behavior of the invalidator can take many forms, but the results are often the same. An uninspiring workforce. High worker turnover. Lack of innovation. And stunted organizational growth.

Reducers are often:

• Micromanagers who have complete control over how team members perform tasks.
• Authoritarian individuals who demand strict adherence to orders and ask no questions.
• Confidence killers who lower employees’ self-esteem through excessive criticism.
• People who minimize the contribution of others and fail to appreciate talent and effort.
• Dependency creators who create a system that requires constant acceptance and supervision.

This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the negative and demotivating behaviors experienced in so many organizations today. If you think about it for a moment, I’m sure you possibly can think of many instances in your profession where one or two were weak. Or an entire management team.

So let me ask you this. How did these people make you are feeling and how did their actions impact your ability to contribute to the business and thrive in your job?

Multipliers ignite success

Multipliers stand out as drivers of success, developing talent, and stimulating growth due to several key characteristics:

• Personal development leaders distinguish themselves by their ability to discover and maximize talents, recognize the unique strengths of individuals, and leverage the full potential of those personal assets.
• Leaders create an atmosphere of trust and respect, giving team members the opportunity to express their ideas and take risks.
• Leaders challenge the established order, set ambitious goals, and instill in their team the belief that the seemingly unimaginable may be achieved.
• Multipliers encourage full of life discussion and facilitate insightful decision-making.
• Multipliers are coaches and mentors who invest time and tools to support worker success.

By embodying these traits, multipliers create a dynamic and deeply satisfying workplace. Such an environment may not all the time be comfortable for everyone, but it drives top performers, and due to this fact the entire organization, to thrive.

What’s stopping you from being a multiplier

The thing is, Diminishers often don’t see themselves as having negative behaviors, poor communication styles, or ineffective leadership traits. Instead, they rationalize why their approach is required to keep employees in line or maintain compliance or some other nonsense along those lines. Here’s a sampling of common Diminisher misconceptions:

• “I’m too busy to pat everyone on the back for doing their job.”
• “They weren’t here long enough to earn my trust.”
• “We didn’t hire you to think; we hired you to do your job.”
• “That’s the board’s responsibility. Now get back to work.”

How degrading and devaluing. Now imagine the profound negative impact that leadership attitudes have on worker commitment, motivation, and innovation. Trust me, it isn’t good.

Seven Things You Can Do to Become a Better Multiplier

The most significant role of a business leader is to foster a culture of respect, excellence, and innovation—each of which encompasses a myriad of approaches and dynamics. If you would like to be a multiplier and improve your ability to elevate your team and have a good time their natural talents, here are seven great ways to get began:

1. Be an lively listener: Be willing to talk to your team members one-on-one and appreciate recent perspectives.
2. Provide opportunities for development:Enrich your team with leadership development programs and skills workshops.
3. Delegate and empower: Allow employees to take on more and more responsibility and develop in their roles.
4. Give them feedback: Take the time to share your insights with employees about what worked, what didn’t, and how to meet or exceed expectations next time.
5. Celebrate successes: Make it a habit to praise accomplishments, recognize efforts, and reward individual and team achievements.
6. Foster a culture of collaboration: To instill a sense of unity and alliance and create regular opportunities for interdepartmental projects and knowledge sharing.
7. Give an example: It all starts with you, so set the right tone. Be a role model for your team, integrity, work ethic, respect, compassion and an modern mindset.

By developing your multiplier skills, you’ll help your team reach recent and extraordinary heights, create modern opportunities for your online business, and ultimately develop into the truly dynamic leader you mostly wanted to be.