Peer to Peer Magazine

Book Review: multiplies your capabilities and reveals your genius through their leadership. You’ve probably also had a boss who was a “Diminisher”, a leader who wastes talent by stifling initiative and striving always to be the smartest person in the room. Now answer the same question for yourself. Do you bring multipliers W ho is the best boss you ever had? Not the one who was easiest on you, but the one who made you want to achieve and then enabled you to deliver. I’m guessing this person was a “Multiplier,” a leader who out the best in others or minimize their abilities? If you want to be the most effective leader you can be, I highly recommend you immerse yourself in “Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter” by Liz Wiseman and Greg McKeown. Easily the best management book I’ve read in almost 20 years, “Multipliers” is a practical guide to better leadership through personal style and technique. Wiseman argues that too many of us fail to recognize and take advantage of the genius inherent in each person. An exemplary manager succeeds in five major disciplines: attracting and optimizing talent; creating intensity (rather than stress) that requires best thinking; extending challenges; debating decisions; and instilling ownership and accountability. Multipliers are talent magnets who challenge smart people with difficult problems, listen to those people, then support them in and hold them accountable for delivery. In contrast, the know- it-all Diminisher underutilizes talent, creates artificial stress and tension, then “rides to the rescue” of his people to highlight his or her own capabilities. This Multiplier vs. Diminisher construct seems both basic and logical, and there is certainly value in articulating it. But what makes Wiseman’s presentation of the construct in “Multipliers” so good? Let me count the ways! 1.Real world examples. Almost every page of this book contains a vignette providing an example of Multiplier (or Diminisher) behavior. These 78 www.iltanet.org Peer to Peer vignettes are all real examples, pulled from interviews with over 150 leaders of both varieties (including the Accidental Diminishers). 2.Chapter summaries. The last page of each chapter is devoted to a concise and actionable summary of the concepts presented. 3.Section devoted to becoming a multiplier. Rather than simply describe desirable and undesirable behavior, Wiseman provides nearly 30 pages of tips and strategies — including a 30-Day Management Challenge — for evolving as a Multiplier or even transforming from a Diminisher. 4.Frequently asked questions. Appendix B contains detailed FAQs on key ideas, as well as practical answers to implementation challenges. As you read this, are you thinking, “I’m not a manager; why do I care?” This book provides perhaps the greatest value to those of you who must achieve results through others when you don’t actually manage them. The beauty of being a Multiplier is that your influence flows throughout an organization and incents talent to flock to you. Go forth and multiply! ILTA Joy Heath Rush is the Enterprise Multimedia Services Manager at Sidley Austin LLP, where she is responsible for audiovisual, presentation and video conferencing technology firmwide. Joy is in her 25th year with Sidley, where she started as a Word Processing Supervisor. Joy is on the steering committee for INSIGHT, ILTA’s award-winning UK educational event, and is ILTA’s immediate Past President. She previously served as Peer Group Liaison to the ILTA’s Board of Directors, Board Secretary, and Microsoft Peer Group Chair. She can be reached at jheathrush@sidley.com.

• Cover