Liz Wiseman - Multipliers, Revised and Updated: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter

It should be obvious by now that this book is the work of many people, not just one or two. I am indebted to so many and would like to thank everyone who has offered insights and put their thumbprint on this work.

The first group is perhaps the least obvious and the most essential: the nominatorsthe original people we interviewed, who told us of their experiences working with the Multipliers and Diminishers throughout their careers, and the dozens of people who shared their experiences and strategies for dealing with diminishing bosses. The witness protection program requires that I dont list their names, but they know who they are. This book exists because they have shared their experiences and insights. Of course, there are the Multipliers who allowed us to study them and who have shared their stories, and appendix C, The Multipliers, lists these. These leaders, and the other rock stars whose stories I couldnt fit into the book, were a constant inspiration. It is my hope that their way of leadership inspires countless more leaders like them.

Next, the book was made stronger by a team of reviewers who read early versions of the book and helped polish the ideas. Your comments both kept me on track and kept me going. For the first edition, a big shout-out goes to: Evette Allen, Shannon Colquhoun, Sally Crawford, Margie Duffy, Peter Fortenbaugh, Holly Goodliffe, Sebastian Gunningham, Ranu Gupta, John Hall, Kirsten Hansen, Jade Koyle, Matt Macauley, Stu Maclennan, Justin McKeown, Sue Nelson, Todd Paletta, Ben Putterman, Gordon Rudow, Stefan Schaffer, Lisa Shiveley, Stan Slap, Hilary Somorjai, John Somorjai, Fronda Stringer Wiseman, Ilana Tandowsky, Guryan Tighe, Mike Thornberry, Jake White, Alan Wilkins, Beth Wilkins, John Wiseman, Britton Worthen, and Bruce and Pam Worthen. For the second edition, my thanks go to: Ellen Gorbunoff, Deborah Keep, Dustin Lewis, Rob Maynes, Eunice Nichols, Ryan Nichols, Ben Putterman, and Andrew Wilhelms.

There were several people who went so far and above the role of reviewer that I need to broadcast a special thank-you to them. These folks offered new ideas, interesting stories, voluntary rewrites, plus good old-fashioned moral support. If this were a crime scene investigation, the following people would have more than thumbprints on the worktheir DNA would be all over it: Jesse Anderson, Heidi Brandow, Amy Hayes Stellhorn, Mike Lambert, Matt Lobaugh, Greg Pal, Gadi Shamia, and Kristine Westerlind. For the second edition, the following individuals are master practitioners of Multipliers and offered insights, examples, reviews, and more: Heidi Brandow, Rick de Rijk, Rob DeLange, Jennifer Dryer, Elise Foster, Alyssa Gallagher, Jon Haverley, Hazel Jackson, Megan Lambert, and Jeffrey Ong. And I owe a particular debt to my mother and on-demand editor, Lois Allen. For both the first and the second edition, she pretended this was just another high school term paper and reviewed every word and fixed countless errors so others could review the ideas without being distracted. Mom, you continue to make me better.

The following people offered critical data analysis for our numerous surveys: Jared Wilson and Jim Mortensen of BYU; Crystal Hughes, Derek Murphy, and Josh Sheets at the Booth Company; and Chad Foster, a brilliant engineer who so readily and generously shares his native genius with us. Credit for the graphics work goes to the brilliant team at Big Monocle and to Anthony Gambol.

I was fortunate to land a highly experienced and collaborative publishing team at HarperCollins. While many authors feel beat up, I felt built up by the team. This was made possible by my insightful editor, Hollis Heimbouch. Hollis, thank you for getting it instantly, for guiding me, and for so deeply embracing what it means to be a Multiplier in your own work. And thanks to Matthew Inman and Stephanie Hitchcock and the team at HarperCollins for your diligent labors on behalf of this book. To Shannon Marven, my agent at Dupree-Miller, thanks for signing up with us, for your tenacity, and for making this all possible.

There are a few people whose role has been much broader than just this book that I must acknowledge. I have been fortunate to have many great mentors who have let me borrow their minds and see the world through their most brilliant lenses. Here are a few who have shaped my views and who have influenced this book profoundly. The late Dr. C. K. Prahalad, a great management thinker, taught me the importance of reaching deep into an organization for intelligence and how to build collective intent. C. K. encouraged these ideas, helped me unearth the core assumptions, and guided the book in many ways. I have always been proud just to be C. K.s student, and now I am proud to be among those who continue his work and honor his legacy. Dr. J. Bonnor Ritchie, professor and peace broker, early on shared with me (and each of his students) his insatiable intellectual curiosity and inspired us to truly embrace ambiguity. Ray Lane, an extraordinary business leader, taught me how to lead, and was a Multiplier to me and so many others. Kerry Patterson, writer and great teacher, raised my sights and encouraged me to write this book not just for corporate managers but for leaders all across the world. Kerry, thank you for coaching and pushing me harder, even when it involved a good beating.

My sincere appreciation goes to my early collaborator and thought partner Greg McKeown. This book is better thanks to his fanatical need for clarity, high aspirations, and his relentless pursuit of truth in all he does. Thank you for being instrumental in this journey. This second edition would not be possible without the brilliant team at The Wiseman Group: Karina Wilhelms has served as project manager, editor, and my thought partner through every step in this process. Her ability to think deeply and move quickly while keeping her cool inspires me every day. The team was completed by Alyssa Gallagher, who conducted research and contributed an important update of the Multiplier experiments, Shawn Vanderhoven, who contributed critical thinking for Chapter 9 and who lent his brilliance to the graphics work, Judy Jung, who managed the entire interview process and who makes it possible for me to continue teaching and learning, and Heidi Brandow who has not only contributed ideas and reviews, but who has spend the last five years teaching practitioners around the work how to teach managers how to be Multiplier leaders, a role she has played brilliantly and passionately. Thank you all for challenging me and making work a pleasure.

My deepest appreciation goes to my husband, Larry, for believing in this project from day one, for guarding my space to work like a watchdog, and for making me feel like a genius every day of my life.

To each of the above, thank you for so generously contributing your time and energy in bringing forward these ideas. I hope that I have done justice to what youve given me.

Here you will find a detailed account of the research conducted to study the differences between Diminishers and Multipliers. We outline the research process in four phases: 1) the foundation work for the research; 2) the research itself; 3) the development of the Multiplier model; and 4) dealing with diminishers research.

Phase 1: The Foundation

RESEARCH TEAM. While Greg and I were the primary members of the research team, C. K. Prahalad served as an important, informal research adviser. While many people contributed to the research in the book, our core was as follows:

Liz Wiseman, Master of Organizational Behavior, Marriott School of Management, Brigham Young University

Greg McKeown, Master of Business Administration, Stanford Graduate School of Business