A friend sent a video clip this week that has got me thinking. It introduces a fairly recent book on leadership entitled Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter (HarperBusiness, 2010). Co-author Liz Wiseman was interviewed at a recent conference in which she summarized the findings of the research that is reflected in the book. At the core is the distinction between two kinds of leaders: (1) multipliers and (2) diminishers.As Wiseman elaborated, I couldn’t help but think of Robert Greenleaf’s two kinds of leaders: servant-first and leader-first kinds of leaders. Listen in on Wiseman’s description of these two poles, asking your self some of these questions:
- What is the difference between a multiplier and a diminisher? Examples from your experience?
- What did you find yourself saying to yourself about the key feature of a multiplier, that is, this “intellectual curiosity”?
- What role do you suppose character must play in a person becoming more of a mulitplier-leader?
