The Multiplier Effect

**How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter**

By Liz Wiseman

**Estimated Reading Time:** 45 minutes

**What You'll Learn**

Why some leaders drain intelligence from their teams while others amplify it. The five disciplines that separate Multipliers from Diminishers. How to recognize the Accidental Diminisher in yourself. Practical strategies for unlocking the full brainpower of everyone around you.

**Who This Book Is For**

This book is for anyone who leads others, whether formally or informally. Managers, executives, teachers, parents, coaches, and team leads will find a framework for understanding why some groups consistently outperform others with the same raw talent. If you have ever wondered why a brilliant leader produces mediocre results or why an unassuming leader produces extraordinary outcomes, this book will answer that question.

Every workplace has them. The leader who walks into a room and somehow makes everyone feel smaller. The manager whose brilliance leaves little room for anyone else to shine. The executive who always has the answer, which means no one else needs to find one. And then there are the other leaders. The ones who walk into a room and somehow make everyone feel smarter. The managers who ask questions that unlock thinking. The executives who create space for others to contribute their best work. Liz Wiseman spent years researching the difference between these two types of leaders. What she discovered surprised her. The leaders who got the most from their teams were not necessarily the most talented, the most experienced, or the most charismatic. In fact, many of them were remarkably understated. What set them apart was not what they knew but what they did with what they knew. Wiseman and her research partner Greg McKeown studied more than 150 leaders across four continents. They analyzed data from thousands of surveys and conducted hundreds of interviews. The pattern that emerged was striking. Some leaders consistently extracted more than 100 percent of their people's capability. Others consistently extracted less than 50 percent. The difference was not subtle. Multipliers, as Wiseman calls the first group, got roughly twice as much from their people as Diminishers did. In one study, Multipliers accessed 95 percent of their team's capability. Diminishers accessed only 48 percent. The gap was enormous. But here is the uncomfortable truth. Most Diminishers do not intend to diminish. They are not villains. Many are brilliant, well-meaning people who genuinely want to help their teams succeed. They simply have habits and assumptions that, despite their best intentions, shut down the intelligence around them. Wiseman calls these leaders Accidental Diminishers. And she argues that most of us, if we are honest, fall somewhere on the spectrum between Multiplier and Diminisher. We have moments when we amplify the…