Are you an Accidental Diminisher?
"Leaders who don't listen will eventually be surrounded by people who have nothing to say." - Andy Stanley
Are you an Accidental Diminisher?
Too quick with ideas or too swift with action
Too supportive or helpful
Overly enthusiastic or optimistic
Jump in when there is a lack of or misalignment in expectations
Buffer team from office politics or fall out at work
While the intent is to help, sometimes a leader’s help can become a hindrance.
The secret to the Multiplier effect is knowing what your vulnerabilities are, spotting them in action, and turning these situations into Multiplier moments.
In this week’s newsletter and Learning to Lead Live we cover nine examples of leadership traits that can show up as diminishes, and how you can shift them to a multipler.
Idea Fountain: The intention is to stimulate the ideas of others by sharing their ideas and these leaders tend to be creative and innovative thinkers, and of are a fountain of ideas
Diminishing Impact: This leader can overwhelm others who spend time chasing the ideas du jour, and may end up not sharing their ideas because they do not feel valued
Intervention: Capture ideas and be conscious of when you share them creating room for the team to share their ideas
Always On: The intention is to create infectious energy and typically a charismatic leader with a big personality that commands a room
Diminishing Impact: This leader can drain and exhaust the team
Intervention: Refrain from repeating yourself for emphasis and create space and reason for others to chime in
Rescuer: The intention is to ensure people are successful and protect their reputation
Diminishing Impact: The team becomes dependent and although they may feel relief fail to grow or demonstrate their full potential
Intervention: When someone brings a problem or signals a need for help, remind yourself that they probably already have the solution. Slow down so that the team can catch up
Pacesetter: This leader takes the lead, sets the pace, and expects others to follow and catch up
Diminishing Impact: The team may struggle to keep up with the leader and instead can become spectators watching the pacesetter do their thing
Intervention: Slow down to assure you’re not too far ahead of the team
Rapid Responder: The intention is to keep the organization moving fast, and these leaders are quick to respond, troubleshoot problems, and make fast micro decisions
Diminishing Impact: Org moves slowly due to bottlenecks of too many decisions or changes and can generate apathy
Intervention: Allow 24 hours before responding to any email that falls into someone else’s job, giving that person the right to respond first
Optimist: Wants to create the belief that the team can do it and always see possibilities
Diminishing Impact: Optimism may lead to a failure in acknowledging the struggles the team may experience or failing to prepare the team for potential failure as part of the process
Intervention: Before offering boundless enthusiasm, acknowledge the work is hard and success isn’t guaranteed
Protector: These leaders want to keep people safe from political forces in the organization and shield and buffer the team
Diminishing Impact: Teams don’t learn to fend for themselves
Intervention: Expose the team to harsh realities in small doses so they can learn from their mistakes and develop resilience
Strategist: The leader is a big thinker who casts a compelling vision of the future and challenges the status quo
Diminishing Impact: Team second guesses the leader rather than finding the answers
Intervention: Frame a puzzle by establishing the why, and the what, and letting the team fill in the how
Perfectionist: This leader wants to help the team produce outstanding work they are proud of and appreciates excellence
Diminishing Impact: People can feel criticized, and become disheartened or stop trying
Intervention: Let people know what outstanding looks like and ask people to self-assess by the standards
To lead on purpose, we must understand how we diminish by accident. Becoming a Multiplier often starts with becoming less of a Diminisher. This means doing less, talking less, less responding, less convincing, and less rescuing. By doing less we achieve more. By holding back, allowing silence, and dispensing our views in small but intense doses we draw others in and have a Multiplier effect.
“Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.” — Ruth Bader Ginsburg
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Resources
Take the 3-minute quiz “Are you an Accidental Diminisher” - The quiz will provide an explanation of how you are leading along with what your intentions are and the outcome they may be having. Finally, it offers recommendations for leadership strategies and interventions.
INBOUND 2022 - September 6th - 9th, 2022: INBOUND is an annual event, powered by HubSpot, that unites thought leaders from over 161 countries across marketing, sales, customer success, and revenue operations.
Tech Up For Women Conference San Diego - October 6, 2022:
Tech Up for Women believes tech knowledge is critical for every career journey. Join them for a one-day event to advance yourself through fast-moving topics to embrace new ideas and innovation.
Ted Women Online Event - October 24-28, 2022: An online festival offering interviews with leading women on change, on work, on rights, on joy and on the future.
Newsletters I read daily to stay informed and get inspired: The Hustle, Morning Brew, Seth Godin’s Blog, Atlas Obscura, Oprah Daily, Newsette
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