Workplace All-Stars: How to Hire, Nurture “Impact Players”

Most people who are successful in their career and enjoy their work know how satisfying it can feel to be fully engaged in a job—“in it with all my heart,” as artist Vincent Van Gogh described. I’ve been appreciating Van Gogh while visiting my son in Amsterdam and thinking about the colleagues I’ve had who are “all in” in that way. Author and leadership expert Liz Wiseman calls these all-stars “impact players” and, in her new book Impact Players: How to Take the Lead, Play Bigger, and Multiply Your Impact, she describes the value they bring, how to hire and nurture them—and how to be an impact player. This topic is a natural follow-up to Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter, the bestselling book she wrote a dozen years ago. I recently caught up with Liz to discuss these high-impact contributors: how to spot them, nurture them—and how to be one.

Sue Siegel: Congratulations on the success of Impact Players! Among its growing list of accolades: It’s a Wall Street Journal bestseller and was named one of ?Bloomberg Businessweek’s Best Books of 2021. Can you describe what it is that impact players do and how they’re different from other contributors?

Liz Wiseman: Impact players are agile and easy to work with and get the job done even in times of uncertainty, like the one we’re in now. They are proactive and take initiative without being asked. They possess a unique mindset and a powerful drive to take on challenges and make a difference. Most of us like having control over our work, which is why we tend to distance ourselves from situations that are chaotic. Impact players embrace those situations—that’s when they’re at their best. They know how to make themselves valuable.

Here’s a helpful metaphor: Some people see a big wave coming in the ocean and turn their back and run. Their instinct is to retreat, and then they get tumbled and tossed in the surf. Impact players dive into those big waves like experienced ocean surfers do and ride them with ease. The bigger the wave, the bigger the opportunity.

SS: Companies need to build high-impact teams especially now, during the “Great Resignation.” How can we identify impact players when hiring?

LW: Leaders need to look for people who are comfortable with ambiguity and have a strong sense of agency. That mindset is hard to teach, so you need to prioritize it when hiring. Other, more coachable skills can be taught later. When interviewing, look for someone who has taken charge of their own life. One tip I shared with a friend: Ask candidates to describe an experience that was messy and ambiguous and see how they respond. Read their body language. Some people get visibly uncomfortable, as opposed to those who sit up a little taller and say something like, “I couldn’t tell who was in charge, so I just went ahead and took action.” That’s the sign of an impact player.

SS: I love that!?Such a subtle way to identify one. Once leaders have hired impact players, how can they support, develop and retain them?

LW: The best leaders create two simultaneous conditions for their contributors: safety and stretch. They are the “multipliers” like you, Sue, who create an environment where people can bring all their ideas and capabilities to the table and try something big, knowing that their leaders have their back. We can both probably name leaders who created stretch with no safety or safety but no stretch, and they were miserable to work for. It’s hard to have a lot of impact when no one’s asking you to do anything hard.

Leadership isn’t just about bringing out the best in others; leaders need to find ways to embrace people coming into the workforce who really want to make a difference. If contributors want to be self-managing, self-directing, and do work that is purposeful, how can leaders manage those expectations? The important question for leaders is not: “Do you have impact players on your team?” It’s “Are you managing in a way that’s worthy of impact players?” That’s also the way to retain talent. Just like in athletics, the best players are not going to want to play on a team with bad coaches.

?SS: So we need to manage in a way that’s worthy of those impact players. That’s great way to engender a mutually beneficial relationship for maximum outcomes.?Has the pandemic made it harder for impact players to get the recognition and opportunities they deserve?

LW: Many contributors are working remotely now and in isolation. There’s no desk to stop at and say, “Oh, that report you did? Great work!” We need to make sure that the people who are doing valuable and impactful work are recognized for it. As managers and leaders, we need to put in the extra effort to make sure people are recognized and thanked.

SS: Do you think that’s why so many people feel burnt out and undervalued?

LW: Yes. There’s this assumption that people are burnt out because they are working too hard, but I’m not sure that’s true. What I’ve seen is that people who sense that their skills are fully utilized at work describe work as exhilarating, while people who are underutilized describe work as exhausting. We see this over and over again. And I think a lot of it is about being remote and isolated and not seeing where your work is going or why it matters. No one wants to create a report that just goes off into the ether.

SS: But empathy shouldn’t go one way. Let’s talk about “upward empathy” among impact players.

LW: Impact players know how to see situations from a leader’s perspective and understand what they need—or know how to ask. They are the people who say: “How can I make your job easier? Is there anything I can take off your plate?”

SS: You have two young daughters who are now in the workforce and dealing with these issues and dynamics head on. What’s your advice to them?

LW: Read my book! The generation coming into the workforce feels it is their boss’s job to care about them, to find out what’s important to them, to worry about them. And that’s a realistic expectation. But they need to look at it from the other side as well and try to see things from their boss’s point of view. What are the other responsibilities and goals that their leaders have? If employees make that effort, their leader—if they’re doing their job right—will help them raise their voice and give more influence and independence. The end result: work that has real meaning and creates value for others.

SS: Liz, thank you for all of the work you have done to help leaders understand how to maximize their team’s work satisfaction and effectiveness while focusing on their personal development so they become more powerful and empathetic leaders. For everyone who wants to become or empower an impact player, go get Liz’s book!