Why is it that some leaders are able to stretch and build the intelligence, creativity and motivation of their employees, while other leaders seem only to disengage and drain the collective talent found within their teams? That’s the basis of my conversation with leadership researcher and best-selling author Liz Wiseman.
Liz is the president of The Wiseman Group, a research and development firm that conducts research in the field of leadership and collective intelligence. Some of her clients include Nike, Apple, PayPal, Genentech, Dubai Bank, Salesforce.com, and Twitter. Prior to founding her research firm, Liz worked for 17 years at Oracle as the Vice President of Oracle University and the global leaders for Human Resource Development.
In addition to writing for the Harvard Business Review, Liz co-wrote the Wall Street Journal bestseller, “Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter”, which features some of the research she’s done looking at leadership and collective intelligence.
Over the course of our conversation, Liz shares a number of stories and research findings that help to illustrate:
- What’s the “dirty little secret of the corporate world” that we don’t talk about and how it’s impacting employee engagement.
- How “multiplier” leaders stretch and grow talent to increase team productivity, instead of relying on attaining more resources to achieve goals.
- Why leaders need to go “public” with their mistakes to engender team success and building community.
- How encouraging debate can improve both decision-making and employee engagement.
- What “multiplier” leaders do that motivates their employees to do their best work.
- What the research findings into “multiplier” leaders reveals about opportunities to improve our education system in order to create leaders and employees that organizations will need in the years ahead.
As I mentioned at the end of the show, I’d love to hear what you think about this episode, as well as what other topics you’d be interested in hearing more about in upcoming episodes of my show. You can share your thoughts/ideas by leaving a comment below or by filling out the contact form on my website.
I’d appreciate it if you could help support future episodes of this leadership podcast by taking a moment to rate my show on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or your preferred streaming platform.
Noteworthy links:
- Buy Liz Wiseman’s book “Multipliers” on Amazon.com (or Amazon.ca for Canadian readers).
- Buy Liz Wiseman’s new book “The Multiplier Effect: Tapping the Genius Inside our Schools” on Amazon.com (or Amazon.ca for Canadian readers).
- Learn more about Liz’s work and speaking engagements at TheWisemanGroup.com.
- Take the “Are you an accidental diminisher” quiz on Multipliersbook.com.
Tanveer, thank you for this podcast with Liz Wiseman. Though I'd heard of the "multiplier" concept, Liz's perspective really resonated with me. I also found some synergies in her approach…..helping well-intentioned, sharp leaders uncover the disconnects between their intentions and how others may perceive them.
You're welcome, Sara. I'm glad you enjoyed this interview with Liz. I think a key message that she pointed out is how we have to be mindful that we're not always multipliers or diminishers, nor are we the same to everyone we lead.
So having that mindfulness in how we engage, connect and lead those under our care will definitely go a long way to both tapping and expanding the collective intelligence and creativity of your employees.
Thanks again, Sara, for sharing your thoughts on this show. Appreciate it!
I love this podcast and am sharing it with others. So much resonated with me…I can reach back into my own experiences and see the exciting truth of the leadership model discussed. Thank you for a great podcast. I will look forward to more.
You're welcome, Rosanna. I'm glad you enjoyed the show and will be sharing it with others who might also benefit from Liz's insights.
Interesting podcast! Whoa!
Liz shared some great insight, but my take was that I must be at the other end of the spectrum (bell shape curve) being in the food industry. I have never rubbed elbows with these types of people (multipliers) when I worked in major corporations or now on the outside with smaller corporations.
Experiment 11 months a year? No way, people in my industry do not have the intellectual curiosity or want to take the risk to experiment. Candidly it frustrates me at times given we need to experiment especially in lieu of the fact that technology is changing basic business processes.
Love Liz’s point about boredom, but is it really boredom or that there is a subset of people that just like to show up and collect a paycheck. My last two cents: I enjoyed the segment about education and our future workforce. “Parents teach, institutions instruct.” Adam Gopnik. My POV: We cannot rely on our institutions to breed our next generation of leaders; it all starts in the home.
In closing, fun podcast Tanveer, keep them coming.
Thanks Jim! I'm delighted that you enjoyed it. Liz certainly packed in some wonderful stories and keen insights.
Unfortunately, I do think Multipliers are not a common breed in leadership, but if people are committed to improving their game, we can have more people in leadership positions working to magnify the collective intelligence of those under their care.
Thanks for the great comment, Jim, and for sharing your experiences/insights from the food industry. Really appreciate your sharing this vantage point in the discussion.
Thanks for this insightful and mind changing podcast Tanveer.
Truth is it's my first contact with Liz and we don't see much of female top leading leaders around the globe. I really appreciate her work and depth of insight.
What struck me most in the entire conversation is the need as a leader to always ask questions. I have re committed myself to ask more questions as a leader.
I am most grateful Tanveer.
You're welcome; I'm glad you enjoyed it and I'm happy to hear that you'll be asking more questions than seeking to provide answers to those you lead.