Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter [Hardcover]

Having been an HR VP and a recruiter for the IT industry and a Fortune 500 company I strongly agree with the concepts presented here. It's a short, easy read and the book is well designed. It does not spend a lot of time on theory despite the credentials of the author and the rigorous research that went into it. Instead it provides examples and "How To" in each chapter.

If you enjoy books like Daniel Goldman's "Emotional Intelligence", Howard Gardener's "Multiple Intelligence", Carol Dweck's "Mindset" and subjects like psychometrics, personality type and temperament you will relate well to this book.

Having said that I think the real value of this book and its main aim is how we can improve ourselves; how each of us can be less of a diminisher and more of a multiplier. You WILL recognize yourself and others in this book.

I have one bit of advice if you plan to read this book - take the test first. It is located at [...]
I have taken a LOT of psychometric tests in my time and this one is very new so its easy to game if you have read the book. Take the test, THEN read the book.

I do plan on implementing what I have learned and the implementation strategy they recommend is not onerous.

In this book written with Greg McKeown, Liz Wiseman juxtaposes two quite different types of persons whom she characterizes as the "Multiplier" and the "Diminisher." Although she refers to them as leaders, suggesting they have supervisory responsibilities, they could also be direct reports at the management level or workers at the "shop floor" level. Multipliers "extract full capability," their own as well as others', and demonstrate five disciplines: Talent Magnet, Liberator, Challenger, Debate Maker, and Investor. Diminishers underutilize talent and resources, their own as well as others, and also demonstrate five disciplines: Empire Builder, Tyrant, Know-It-All, Decision Maker, and Micro Manager. Wiseman devotes a separate chapter to each of the five Multiplier leadership roles.

Wiseman cites dozens of real-world examples that suggest how almost any organization (regardless of its size or nature) can plan, implement, accelerate, and sustain a human development program that strengthens participants' leadership and management skills that (a) will enable them to multiply the intelligence and capability of the people around them and (b) avoid behaviors that can diminish people's ability and enthusiasm

As Wiseman clearly realizes, people combine some of the best and worst traits of both the Multiplier and Diminisher. Strengths can become weaknesses or vice versa if carried to an extreme. A Talent Magnet, for example, could be especially effective recognizing and attracting high-potentials and then hoard their talents, exploiting them to her or his advantage. A Micro Manager could be especially alert for significant details that others ignore but deny other people's professional development by refusing to delegate tasks to them. In the healthiest organizations, there are constant efforts to increase (multiply) positive and productive engagement while reducing (diminishing) waste.

In Appendix B, this is one of the FAQs that caught my eye: Are people either Diminishers or Multipliers or are there people in the middle? Here is Wiseman and McKeown's response: "We see the Diminisher-Multiplier model as a continuum with a few people at the extremes and most of us somewhere in between. As people have been introduced to this material, they almost always see some of the Diminisher and some of the Multiplier within themselves. One leader we worked with is illustrative. He was a smart and aware individual who didn't fit the archetype of a Diminisher, and yet when he read the material he could see how he sometimes behaved in a Diminishing manner. While we studied this leadership phenomenon as a contrast, we see the model as a continuum with only a very few people at the polar extremes and the majority of us somewhere in the middle."

Most supervisors need to increase some behaviors (e.g. providing clear explanations of performance expectations and how performance will be measured) and avoid other behaviors (e.g. withholding information others need). The same is true of those whom they supervise. The challenge is to do more of what will add value and less of what diminishes it.

To me, one of the most valuable insights in this book suggests that, especially during the current economic recession/depression/whatever, the total cost of what must be done (in terms of dollars and hours) is probably much less than what would be saved by doing it. According to Wiseman, Multipliers extract so much more from their people that - in effect - they essentially double the workforce at no additional cost. If that isn't doing more with less, I don't know what is.

As an avid business literature reader, I've grown to adopt a strategy for reading books on marketing, leadership, strategy, and the other host of business topics that we all have to be well versed in to lead people and produce results. Typically, I try to find things to read that are based on research or some kind of rigor around best practices. Also, I read the reviews ahead of time and try to get some idea around what return I will get from my time spent with the topics.

I ask myself things like"

"Is this new thinking, or just a rework of some existing ideas?"

" Am I going to be able to improve myself or my abilities from reading this, or is this just to inform me?"

" Is this based on someone's opinion, or is it grounded in some real research?"

"Do I believe that I will be able to take action and apply what I'm reading when I'm done?"

This work brings all of these questions to the right place. If you have to deal with people as part of your role in whatever you're doing, this book will provoke you to think differently about how you engage with the people around you. You will get a very high return on your time and money spent on this book.
Probably the most fun aspect of it is afterward, tracking all the diminishers in your life. If you look at how these people engage and lead, it becomes a really stark and obvious trait that's really, really easy to spot once you've read this book.

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