By Mark McCatty, SAMC, SCT
I was humbled by a compliment I received when I was visiting a client’s office. When I walked in I was greeted by several of the team members. As I was leaving one of them said that they were glad I stopped by. They continued to explain that they feel a welcome calmness come over the office whenever I am there. It stopped me cold. Wow! That’s one of the best complements I have ever received.
It reminded me of the book by Liz Wiseman and Greg McKeown, Multipliers; How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter. [http://www.getabstract.com/ShowAbstract.do?dataId=13031.] In the book they describe the two dominate types of leaders in organizations today; Diminishers & Multipliers. Diminishers sap people’s energy while leaders who act as Multipliers magnify and extend the results of those around them.
A leader will help compound the results of their team when they take the time [and effort] to become a student of their team’s membership. When leaders understand the sources of strength for their team, as well as their obstacles [which create frustration], the leader can better understand where they need to focus their development efforts. Helping the team perform their best, and accomplish their highest goals will empower the team to be more aggressive in setting future goals. This leader will create a renewed belief within the team that they can do more than thought possible. It will give the team greater confidence to try harder.
This will only happen when the leader becomes intentional about finding the best in their team. On the other hand, most leaders [who are Diminishers] diminish their team’s spirit without ever intending to do so. I mean, why would they want a weaker team; one that lacks confidence to go for the difficult goals.
The fact remains that a Diminishing type leader will subtract from the team’s results by not being fully engaged. It takes effort and engagement, on the leader’s part, to be attentive and look for the opportunities to add value. The Multiplier leader will address deficiencies directly, but with heart. This means that when the team fails to meet the goal the leader responds rigorously, but not ruthlessly.
Multiplier leaders add value to their teams. They make their teams better. They make their organization better. This is because [in no small part] these leaders are using the same approach to making themselves better. They understand that failure is not permanent. They give themselves margin to make mistakes, learn from their mistakes, and ultimately…to improve.
What value are you bringing to your team this week?
What are you unintentionally doing that may detract to the contribution from others?
Mark McCatty, Leadership & Team Advisor
Improving Leadership ROI
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As a leadership and team advisor, I have helped numerous organizations, through speaker presentations, group training, and individual coaching, to meet the challenge of creating engaging and purposeful work environments.
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