3 Diminishing Leadership Behavior To Watch Out For

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Are you a multiplier or a diminisher?

According to Liz Wiseman, author of Multipliers, all leaders fall into one of the two categories.

Organizations can’t afford to have leaders who are diminishers. These are the people who keep people on choke chains and restrict growth and progress.

Multipliers, on the other hand, encourage their people to experiment and grow. They let their employees soar like kites while still holding the strings.

Leaders can learn how to be multipliers and develop the positive attributes of leadership. The first step is looking out for signs that you are a diminisher and overcoming those weaknesses. In many cases, these diminishing actions are so ingrained in leadership that we don’t even realize that they are hurting the organization.

Here are three warning signs to look for in diminishing leadership:

1.    Being idea-rich. If you as a leader provide all the answers all the time, people will start to get lazy and disengaged. Instead of coming up with their own innovative ideas, they will spend all their time bringing your ideas to fruition. An idea-rich leader prevents other people from forming and presenting their great ideas.

2.    Being optimistic all the time. Optimism in general isn’t a bad thing, but leaders shouldn’t ignore challenges and struggles. Things are hard, and it’s important to accept that. Acknowledge the struggle from time to time, especially to recognize what your team has overcome.

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Over the last 15 years, I’ve had the privilege of speaking and working with some of the world's top leaders. Here are 15 of the best leadership lessons that I learned from the CEOs of organizations like Netflix, Honeywell, Volvo, Best Buy, The Home Depot, and others. I hope they inspire you and give you things you can try in your work and life. Get the PDF here.

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3.    Being a rapid responder. If you rush to fix everything as the leader, it pushes other people from getting involved. People can’t take ownership of something until you let go of it. Don’t respond so quickly that your people can’t do their jobs.

All future leaders need to be multipliers who help their people grow and soar. As you go throughout your career as a leader, watch out for these behaviors of diminishers and work to overcome them.

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