Effective Leaders Bring Out the Best in Their People
Posted by Kalani Iwiula on Thu, Dec 02, 2010
To be successful, organizations must fully utilize the skills and abilities of their people. Getting the best effort possible from members of your organization and operating in a manner that encourages growth and fosters new ideas are even more crucial in a down economy. According to Liz Wiseman and Greg McKeown of The Wiseman Group, a leadership research and development firm, organizations can increase innovation and effectiveness without negatively impacting their bottom lines.
In their article for the Harvard Business Review, Wiseman and McKeown separate leaders into two categories: diminishers and multipliers. Diminishers “underutilize people and leave creativity and talent on the table” and have a “view of intelligence […] based on elitism, scarcity, and stasis.” Conversely, multipliers “bring the right people together in an environment that unleashes their best thinking—and then stay out of the way.” Perhaps unsurprisingly, Wiseman and McKeown’s research shows that leaders who are multipliers get the best performance and results from their people.
Don’t despair if your organization has a few diminishers—according to Wiseman and McKeown, anyone can learn to lead like a multiplier. All it takes is a willingness to “shift the responsibility for thinking from yourself to your employees.” Becoming a multiplier will not only add to your organization’s success; it will boost the morale and engagement levels of the individuals with whom you work.
Want to find out if your colleagues see you as a diminisher or a multiplier? Consider using team-effectiveness activities, such as our Survival Simulations combined with the Group Styles Inventory™ (GSI), a flexible suite of interactive exercises that promotes collaborative decision-making and constructive change. Programs that pair a simulation with the GSI offer an opportunity to achieve positive team growth in a low-cost, easy-to-use format.
To learn how to teach teams to break down the personal interaction barriers that prevent them from achieving their full potential and provide a focused direction for team improvement efforts, join us for our Foundation Workshop. The Workshop takes place September 21-24, 2010, in the San Francisco area—sign up and reserve a seat today!
Source Article: “Managing Yourself: Bringing Out the Best in Your People”—Harvard Business Review, May 2010.
Special thanks to Meghan Oliver for this article contribution.