Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter (7 page)

Finding someone’s native genius is the key that unlocks discretionary effort. It propels people to go beyond what is required and offer their full intelligence. Finding people’s genius begins by carefully observing them in action, looking for spikes of authentic enthusiasm and a natural flow of energy. As you watch someone in action, ask these questions:

• What do they do better than anything else they do?
  
• What do they do better than the people around them?
  
• What do they do without effort?
  
• What do they do without being asked?
  
• What do they do readily without being paid?
  

Label It

Native genius can be so instinctive for people that they may not even understand their own capability. Perhaps you’ve heard the phrase “fish discover water last.” But if people aren’t aware of their genius, they are not in a position to deliberately utilize it. By telling people what you see, you can raise their awareness and confidence, allowing them to provide their capability more fully.

Players for Larry Gelwix, head coach of the almost unbeatable Highland High School rugby team, often report that he got more out of them than other coaches. Consider one specific player, John. Before working with Larry, John saw himself as a good athlete but not a great one. But Larry pointed out something that changed his view of himself.
John recalled, “Larry commented publicly about my speed.” John was surprised when the coach started talking in front of the other guys about how fast he was. He continued, “I thought I had good speed, but not great speed. But because Larry singled it out, it inspired me to develop a distinct self-concept:
I was fast.
And every time I found myself in a situation where speed was required, I remembered this, and I pushed myself beyond my limits.” John not only became fast, he became really fast.

By labeling his genius for him, Larry unlocked this ability for John. Like John, people’s first reaction to hearing someone describe a genius of theirs can often be bemusement. You know you’ve hit a genius nerve when they say, “Really? Can’t everyone do this?” or “But this is no big deal!” Finding people’s native genius and then labeling it is a direct approach to drawing more intelligence from them.

III. Utilize People at Their Fullest

Once a Talent Magnet has uncovered the native genius of others, he or she looks for opportunities that demand that capability. Some of these are obvious; others require a fresh look at the business or the organization. Once they’ve engaged the person’s true genius, they shine a spotlight on them so other people can see their genius in action.

Connect People with Opportunities

Peter Merrill was a college student hired in a $9-an-hour part-time position as a front-line customer service representative for a professional coaching firm. He took more calls than the average rep and had an almost perfect record of “saving” customers who called in ready to cancel out of their programs.

What would a typical manager do with someone like Peter? Make sure he was happy? Perhaps offer him a full-time job upon graduation? Such a course of action would cement his current level of contribution within the firm and position him, in time, for a promotion.

But Ann Khalsa, Peter’s manager’s manager, wasn’t happy with that posture. She dug a little deeper. Peter appeared good at saving customers, but why? It turned out to be what Ann called a “listening spike,” by which she meant he listened to customers so sincerely and so thoughtfully, they would volunteer to give the company another chance.

But her curiosity continued. Why was he so good at listening to people? It turned out he had a particular aptitude and interest in helping people break through to the next level in their lives and careers. She tested her hypothesis with people who worked with Peter, and they agreed. They said that his conversation always tilted in that direction—even on lunch breaks.

The question for Ann became where to best utilize Peter. She knew he could do good work in customer service, and she gave him reign to make rapid changes there. But she also consciously identified several roles within the company where he could operate at a higher point of contribution.

Within three weeks of being hired in customer service, at Ann’s request, Peter was transferred to the coaching department to work with the company’s toughest clients. In that role he earned more and contributed more as he achieved, amazingly, a zero cancellation rate. But Ann kept tabs on Peter, trying to figure out what opportunity would further increase Peter’s personal net worth while providing significantly more value to the organization.

She cracked the code when she mentioned to Peter that he might want to set up a product line based on the ideas he had developed in his coaching work. He went from being a strong individual contributor to a successful leader within the company. Twelve months from the time he was hired as a part-time customer service representative, Peter launched the highest-margin product in the company, adding $2 million in annual revenue to the company. The difference is more than a tenfold increase in value from the same employee.

This art of connecting people’s genius to opportunities that allow them to be used at their highest point of contribution is a natural but
deliberate management approach for Ann. She doesn’t need to take her team to offsite meetings to analyze their different personality types. Instead, she watches people until she has an idea of what they do effortlessly and what area they are naturally drawn to. Then she has an ongoing conversation with herself about where this person’s aptitude could benefit the company.

Could there be people in your customer service department who would produce a million dollars in value if they were unleashed on the right opportunity? Are there people on your team who are being blocked from working at a higher point of contribution?

Shine a Spotlight

Each summer in the Sierra Mountains of California, roughly seventy-five teenage girls eagerly gather for an annual girls’ camp—a week of fun, adventure, and camaraderie that often serves as a watershed event in their young lives. The camp is run entirely on the volunteer efforts of sixty leaders. For the last six years, Marguerite Hancock has served (also as a volunteer) as the camp director at the helm of this incredible group of youth and leaders.

Marguerite works as a Stanford University research director and teacher and is smart, accomplished, and extraordinarily capable. She is a strong leader with strong ideas of her own. One of her assistant directors said, “Marguerite is so capable, she could do virtually any aspect of girls’ camp herself.” But what is interesting about Marguerite isn’t that she could—it is that she
doesn’t
. Instead, she leads like a Multiplier, invoking brilliance and dedication in the other fifty-nine leaders who make this camp a reality.

Marguerite begins by building a “dream team” carefully recruited for each person’s individual strengths. One of the assistant directors said, “Marguerite studies people. She watches them until she figures out what they are great at. She chose her assistant directors not only for their strengths but because we each had strengths in areas where she was weak.” She then finds a place where each person’s strengths will
shine. For some, it is working with the girls one-on-one; for another, it is managing the sports program; for another it is leading the nightly campfire. But each role is carefully cast to draw upon the unique talents of every person on the team.

Marguerite then makes it clear to each person why she has been selected for that role. She not only notices their talent; she labels it for them. One camp leader said, “She tells me the talent she sees in me and why it matters. She tells me why girls’ camp will be better because of me and my work.” But Marguerite doesn’t stop there. She lets everyone else know, too. It is typical for her to introduce someone to the group by saying, “This is Jennifer. She’s a creative genius, and we are so fortunate to have her leading our art program.”

With her cast of talent assembled, Marguerite then goes to the back of the room, takes control of the spotlight, and begins shining it on others. She is effusive with praise, but it is never empty. Her praise of others’ work is specific, and it is public. The other leaders at camp can see the direct link between their work and the success of the camp. A camp leader said, “She not only tells you that you are doing a great job, but she tells you why it matters to these girls. I know my work is appreciated.”

Marguerite finds other people’s genius and then shines a spotlight on it for everyone to see their talent in action. What is the result? A character-building, life-changing experience for seventy-five young women, but also a deeply rewarding, growing experience for the fifty-nine leaders who serve along with Marguerite.

IV. Remove the Blockers

Talent Magnets are attracters and growers of talent and intelligence. Leaders who serve as Multipliers provide both the space and the resources to yield this growth. But Talent Magnets go beyond just giving people resources. They remove the impediments, which quite often means removing the people who are blocking and impeding the growth
of others. In almost every organization there are people who overrun others, consuming the resources needed to fuel the growth of people around them. Like weeds in a garden bed, they choke the development of the intelligence around them.