Your team is likely your biggest business investment, and it is one of the only ones that has the potential to appreciate in value over time. If you are a regular reader of this blog, you probably don't ascribe to the "they have it or they don't" philosophy. You might even maintain a training budget for your employees to sharpen the saw. Does your leadership behavior leverage the best of your team? Does your leadership make people smarter?
Lisa Wiseman, author of the New York Times Bestseller Multipliers, studies leadership behavior and how it impacts teams. In her work with companies across the globe, Wiseman has identified two categories of leaders: diminishers and multipliers. Who wouldn't want to be a multiplier sort of leader? That's obvious, right? Nobody wants to be a bad boss. Alas, multiplying is not necessarily happening right now in your company - at least not consistently. You and other managers on your team might be good leaders who are intending to be multipliers but behaving otherwise.
Let's start with an archetype of a diminisher to understand non-multiplying behavior. You have likely worked with a diminisher sometime during your business career. If you remember such a person, did they cause you to pull back, to avoid risks, to stay quiet rather than speak up? Did their behavior cause you to change jobs? Diminishers cause other people to feel small, and those feelings decrease employee engagement and the company IQ. When people are reluctant or afraid to contribute, their brainpower is wasted.
What's interesting about Wiseman's work is her finding that diminishers aren't typically villains with bad intentions and threatening handlebar mustaches. Most diminishers do so unintentionally, and their diminishing behavior takes many forms. Some diminishing behavior stems from earnest and good intentions. Here are a few examples:
- Perfectionist
- Rescuer
- Protector
- Always on
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