Elevate Classics: Liz Wiseman on Building A Team of Impact Players
Dec 14, 2023
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Liz Wiseman, CEO of the Wiseman Group, shares insights on cultivating impact players and their qualities. She discusses accidental diminishing tendencies in leadership, the art of contributorship, and the difference between ordinary contributors and impact players. Liz also highlights the importance of adaptability, staying relevant, and managing chaos and uncertainty. Overall, she provides valuable lessons on leadership and developing high impact teams.
Burnout can occur when leaders absorb all the difficult work, leaving their team disengaged and undercontribute.
Self-awareness and perspective taking are crucial leadership skills, especially during times of uncertainty and ambiguity.
Impact players go beyond their job description, take ownership, and make a significant and immediate impact on the team.
Deep dives
Burnout can come from a lack of impact
Burnout is not just about working too hard, but rather feeling like your efforts lack impact. This observation challenges the notion that hustle or excessive work is the cause. Liz Wiseman, CEO of the Wiseman Group, suggests that burnout can occur when leaders absorb all the difficult work, leaving their team disengaged and undercontribute. In times of crisis or radical change, leaders should step back and evaluate how their weaknesses or accidental diminishing tendencies are affecting the team.
Perspective taking and self-awareness are key
Wiseman emphasizes the importance of self-awareness and perspective taking for leaders. Understanding how our intentions may be misinterpreted and being curious about how others perceive a situation are crucial leadership skills. This becomes even more vital during times of uncertainty and ambiguity. Effective leaders are able to navigate through complex problems by seeing the world through the eyes of others and finding common ground.
Impact players excel in messy, nonlinear situations
Impact players thrive in situations characterized by messy, nonlinear problems, unclear roles, moving targets, and unrelenting demands. Unlike ordinary contributors who stick to their job description, impact players go beyond their role, take ownership, and adjust their aim as the situation evolves. They make work light and contribute in ways that have a significant and immediate impact on the team.
Leaders must create conditions for impact players
To have impact players on their team, leaders must deserve them. This involves creating an environment that encourages and supports ranging and taking charge. Impact players need managers who can clearly communicate what is important and what matters now. They also need feedback loops that reinforce the impact of their work and make connections between their efforts and the overall goals of the organization.
Hiring and developing impact players
When interviewing potential impact players, it is essential to look for certain traits and characteristics. These include a strong internal locus of control, a healthy disrespect for hierarchy, and a sense of humor. Impact players are fueled by a desire to solve problems and have a significant impact on their work. Hiring individuals with these traits can help build a team of high-impact contributors.
Liz Wiseman coaches both up-and-coming performers and established leaders on how to help others improve. She is the CEO of the Wiseman Group, a leadership research and development firm with clients such as Apple, Disney, Facebook and Google. She is a frequent guest lecturer at BYU and Stanford, and has been recognized previously by Thinkers50 as the top leadership thinker in the world. She is also the New York Times bestselling author of several books, including Multipliers and her latest, Impact Players.
Liz joined host Robert Glazer on the Elevate Podcast to discuss Impact Players, how employees can increase their impact and advancement opportunities, and how leaders can cultivate and elevate Impact Players on their teams.