The Workplace Coach

How are things in your team these days?  Is everybody pumped and firing on all cylinders every day? Or are things a little flat like the party balloons from Susan’s birthday morning tea last week?

Liz Wiseman, author of Multipliers, has 5 tips for leaders who want to inspire and motivate their teams. 

1. Utilise people’s skills, talent and knowledge

“People come to work desperately wanting to contribute,” Liz says. The ideal leader taps into this.

2. It’s not what YOU know, but what THEY know

The true talent of a great leader is that they recognise and tap into the intelligence around them. “It’s not about you knowing, controlling and telling,” she says. “It’s about observing, asking, inviting, challenging – to harness and then unleash the capability that exists around you.”

3. Create pressure, not stress

People feel stressed when they have responsibilities, but no control over the outcome. People feel pressure, but not stress, when they have control over the outcome of what they are responsible for. “Great leaders take the control and then hand it to the team.”

4. Diminisher versus multiplier

Diminishers are leaders who squash the intelligence around them by doing all the talking, being narcissistic, having no respect, taking the credit, suppressing others’ creativity, micromanaging and withholding information. They think they know it all. They believe no one would figure it out without them,” says Liz.

A Multiplier listens, trusts, encourages, values team opinions, stays open, doesn’t give up on team members, allows them to fail and gives them time to recover. Liz says Multipliers “believe you can do it” and give people the time and space to prove it.

Evaluate your behaviour as a leader, be open to feedback and change your actions accordingly. Multipliers think ‘people are smart and will figure it out’. They are talent magnets who attract and optimise talent.

5. Stretch your team

“People do their best work not when they’re capable and knowledgeable, but when they feel maximum tension by doing something new,” Liz says.  “When we’re stretched, and a little off balance, maybe even feeling a little incompetent, it feels uncomfortable but this is how we grow.”

Liz calls this state the rookie mindset. When we are doing something new we are more likely to ask questions, collaborate and let others lead. The rookie mindset drives innovation. 

To lead like a Multiplier, give your team big challenges and be available to guide the team but leave the control in their hands.

Are you a Multiplier? Is it possible that, despite good intentions, you’ve been accidentally diminishing the people on your team?  Take 5 minutes to find out – Multipliers Quiz

The Workplace Coach can help you get the team firing on all cylinders. Drop us a line at info@theworkplacecoach.com.au and lets talk about what we do and how its going to benefit you and your team.

The Workplace Coach