Working with a Multiplier vs Diminisher Leader?

Having a Diminishing Leader can seriously hinder your productivity at work and at home.

First let's go over some indicators of both a diminishing leader, and as Liz Wiseman's book references, a Multiplier.

Multiplier Leaders:

1. Talent Magnet: Multiplier leaders attract and leverage the collective intelligence of their team. They are effective in identifying and utilizing the strengths of each team member.

2. Amplifies Others: They amplify the capabilities of their team by encouraging creativity, providing autonomy, and fostering a collaborative environment.

3. Challenger: Multipliers challenge their team members to stretch beyond their current capabilities. They believe in the capacity of individuals to grow and learn.

4. Liberator: They create a sense of ownership and autonomy within their teams, allowing individuals to take initiative and contribute to their fullest potential.

5. Debate and Decision: Multipliers encourage healthy debates and diverse perspectives before making decisions. They value input from all team members.

Diminisher Leaders:

1. Talent Hoarder: Diminisher leaders may inadvertently stifle the talents of their team by underutilizing individuals or not providing opportunities for growth.

2. Micromanager: Diminishers may tend to micromanage, limiting the autonomy of their team members and not trusting them to perform at their best.

3. Know-It-All: They often act as if they have all the answers, which can discourage others from sharing their insights and ideas.

4. Empire Builder: Diminishers may focus on building their personal empire rather than fostering a collaborative team environment.

5. Decision Maker: Diminishers might make decisions without seeking sufficient input from the team, leading to potential oversights and reduced team engagement.

In essence, the key difference lies in how leaders view and utilize the intelligence and capabilities of their team. Multipliers enhance the overall intelligence of the team by empowering and leveraging the strengths of each member, while diminishers may unintentionally limit the team's potential by underestimating or underutilizing the talents within the group.

In sports terms, it's similar to a coach who focuses on having team members adapt to their system. As opposed to, adapting the system to benefit the team.

How does this tie into my personal Productivity? For those who are mentally strong juggernauts, it probably won't. For the remaining 95% of us, it will some sort of effect.

Diminishing leadership will deliver a blow to our self esteem, self resolve, self fulfillment etc,,, leading to negative and time wasting thoughts.

Negative thoughts are time wasting moments of being unfocused and can eventually lead to a negative mindset. A Negative Mindset leads to procrastination, slow unconfident decision making, and multitude of other time wasters.

One suggestion in dealing with a Diminisher, be the Multiplier of your team. Whether you're the leader or not. This will give you a sense of fulfillment, cause other leaders in the company to take notice, and is a great story to bring up in an interview.