WCAGLS Session 4, Liz Wiseman

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Session 4? Liz Wiseman, author of Multipliers

Looks like we might get a bunch of business stuff out of this. This intro is pretty cool though.

Multipliers:
1. Talent magnets
2. Liberators
3. Challenger
4. Debate Maker
5. Investor

Dang, another no podium thing!

I hope there is a Momma Maggie event at this conference where we see that all of this intelligence is crap without dedication, control, and leading by Jesus.

When people do their best work, they bring their full, unblemished offering.

Leaders that use their intelligence to multiply the intelligence of others.

In the past, the role of the leader was to have ideas and get other people to do what he wanted. The CEO was the alpha male and everyone did his bidding. Now we are starting to see that when everyone on the team does their greatest thing, it's better for everyone, even the CEO.

The greatest winning coach of any sport of all time, told each of his players to be intelligent on the field and helped them to be intelligent on their own on the field.

Multipliers make everyone around them bring out their super powers.

Pressure vs. Stress
– william tell has pressure, his son feels stress
– the difference is in control. If you share the control, you will share the pressure.
– if you keep control, your staff will get the stress

what did your diminisher do?
– Threatened consequences
– Didn't offer details to the solution or coaching
– non-specific about the goal, so that only they would know what success was
– What percent of your capabilities did they get from you? 0% (I got fired, sort of)

What did your multiplier do?
– gave me the big picture
– coached and gave me tiny tasks
– spent a lot of time with me on the thing I needed to do
– What percent of your capabilities did they get from you? 100% (I am still working for that guy, for free, just for his sake and the sake of the big picture!)

Multipliers think people are smart, and they are going to figure it out.
Diminishers think nobody is going to figure it out without me.

results of the survey:

Diminishers

  • were selfish
  • were controlling
  • didn't delegate
  • hire and acquire smart people
  • build empires, but don't use them well
  • staff are knick knacks, trophy staff
  • decisions are made by a small inner circle
  • they get a lot of buy-in on a decision they already made
  • got 43% of people's productivity

We actually get stupid under stress, and it takes 18 minutes for our brains to reboot after stress ceases.

Multipliers

  • trust guru
  • let the team drive the car
  • let the team make decisions and have input to the idea
  • they think people are smart and can figure stuff out, like when we let our children be smart
  • create space for people to do their own thing, free them up to be great
  • challenge people without apology, stir real and good conflict with the status quo
  • don't make hirlings, they make team mates and owners
  • building up and equipping the workers to be great

Both of them are exhausting, but one is exhausting at 43% effort and one is exhausting at 100% effect.

Many of us are accidental diminishers. How are we diminishing without realizing it?

Idea guy: bursts in the door, full of ideas and innovation
– nothing gets done here, we chase 700,432,987,123 ideas but never get done

Always on: always has energy, is go go go, never running out
– they get tuned out and sound like charlie brown's teacher

Rescuer: I'm going to help everybody, won't let anyone fail!
– when the leader is to helpful, too soon, too often, the failer won't fail and learn
– we diminish their self-confidence when we do everything for them

Pace-setter: curve buster, creates spectators not followers
– people don't race to catch up with the leader, they drop out
– people give up and hold back, walk when they are lapped

Rapid responder: I'm going to make fast decisions
– if they are included in a discussion, you let them take it
– why bother if Johnny speed is going to beat us anyway

Optimist psycho: what if they discount a real, sincere, struggle?
– can become shallow
– we need you to acknowledge that this sucks, is bad and sad, and might not end well.
– get real!

you could be any of these, and be genuinely trying to help out, but you are diminishing everyone you come in contact with!

We don't tend to drift into better behavior, we have to deliberately do it.

She described bedtime chaos at my house to a tee!
a coworker said to her, what if you only spoke to your kids at bedtime in questions? It was bedtime heaven!

She did it for 3 days in a row, and then realized it would work with her employees in the office.

When you leave meeting with a diminisher, you feel like they are the smartest person in the world, albeit a jerk.
When you leave meeting with a multiplier, you feel like you are the smartest person in the world.

The guy that walked across a tightrope from one world trade tower to the other: The first step was the only hard step. After that it was just walking.

"Thank you for letting me be part of this conversation."

Wow, she not only talked about it, but she even practiced it from the podium.