There are two types of people in leadership roles. Some people are diminisher leaders. They act as a negative force on the people around them and diminish their self-worth and contributions to projects. While they think they’re a powerful and strong leader responsible for the positive change, they’re actually driving business in the wrong direction. Then, there are the multiplier leader. These leaders work to multiply positive traits and contributions by encouraging those around them. These true team players can make a much better impact and allow for greater growth. While many managers assume they are multipliers, this isn’t always true. Once you find out who you are, you can use multiplier training to improve your position.
How Multiplier Leader Benefit Teams?
Multipliers are the sort of team leaders and managers that staff want to have around because they are so good at driving teams forward in the right direction. The underlying idea here is to take the focus away from yourself as a leader and head of a department and put the emphasis on others. Skilled multipliers can get the best out of the people in their teams by giving them space to grow. Sure, those team members may offer ideas that aren’t suitable and may make mistakes, but it’s all about giving them the opportunity. They can’t use their skills, experience, and knowledge in other fields to the benefit of the project if you don’t let them.
That’s why multipliers are so proactive in both allowing people time to speak up and contribute in meetings and listening to what they have to say. It can be as simple as a brainstorming session with “no bad ideas”. After a while, this collaborative and inclusive approach can cultivate a more supportive environment. Those who are lower down the corporate ladder and lack self-confidence may slowly begin to blossom and appreciate new chances. When you’re able to do this, after however many sessions it takes, you can then enjoy significant knock-on benefits. Those team members will start to realize that they do matter and have an important role to play.
This development could see them taking on new tasks and putting themselves forward for new training opportunities. Eventually, they might climb a run on that corporate ladder – all because you were in their corner from the start. This level of personal development within staff helps the business, too. You can see a spike in productivity and job satisfaction that’s mirrored in results. The team may see greater success, more sales, and greater approval from higher-ups. This growth will only lead to more opportunities and perks.
All of this takes time, and you will have to be patient and methodical in your approaches. This is especially true if you’re an enthusiastic multiplier entering a work environment that was controlled by diminishes. The staff may take some time to appreciate this new approach and see that you genuinely care about their opinions and skills. This is why it is essential to invest in multipliers training.
How Diminisher Leaders Hold Teams Back?
It’s also important to understand how those diminishes hold teams back and stifle the progression of an organization. As mentioned before, you might think you are a natural multiplier, but your actions right now may say otherwise. If you start to recognize any of the traits mentioned here, you can look into ways of rectifying your behavior to do better by your team.
Essentially, diminishers do the opposite of what we’ve talked about with multipliers and create a negative atmosphere. An immediately negative trait is the ability to make all their meetings and projects about them. A team meeting should be a chance to get together for some problem-solving and feedback on the status of a project. It’s not meant to be a one-sided lecture where you tell them everything you think they need to hear and don’t allow for responses. You can give your opinions and observations on what’s going on and lead the meeting as a manager, but you still need to allow for two-way communication and ask for other ideas and contributions.
On that note, poor communication can go even further with managers who are diminishers. This self-centered style that places them on top of everything can make it difficult for others to open up. Diminishers rarely provide the time and undivided attention to make employees feel like their views actually matter. Feedback goes ignored, and emails go unread. Before long, those lower-level team members will just stop trying.
So, if it gets to a point where a project fails to meet its targets, whose fault is it? Is it the team that wasn’t motivated to make improvements and put in the effort or the manager that held them back? Diminishers can continuously hold back workers to the point where the business stagnates and mistakes become more frequent. This can snowball as the company’s performance worsens and higher-ups consider making drastic changes.
Multiplier Leader Training Can Help
The answer to this problem lies in multiplier leader training. There are programs and coaching tools available that can help you get into that multiplier leader mindset and bring the best out of your team. The first step is admitting that you could do better. Many self-centered diminishers won’t even go that far and will continue to pile the pressure and the blame on those beneath them. Admitting weaknesses in a management style is actually a strength. With the right program of training modules alongside your work, you can start to retrain your mind and approach problems and people from a different perspective. This overhaul should improve relationships in your department, make your team a lot happier, and help you become a much more positive and productive member of the organization.
So, take the time to look into multipliers training and how this approach can help you and your team thrive. You’ll get to learn a lot about yourself, if you are prepared to put in the hard work and expose your weaknesses. This effort will be worth it when you start building better relationships and begin to see your team reach their full potential.
