Small Business ShowsThe Small Business Show5 questions to determine your leadership style – Liz Wiseman | Wiseman...

5 questions to determine your leadership style – Liz Wiseman | Wiseman Group

In today’s business world, executives and leaders seek ways to improve employee satisfaction. On the latest episode of The Small Business Show, we are joined by Liz Wiseman, CEO of the Wiseman Group, author, and executive advisor. Wiseman will discuss the multiplier framework and how it can benefit leaders and entrepreneurs.

Liz Wiseman is a New York Times bestselling author who has contributed to various business journals such as Harvard Business Review and Fortune. With her extensive research background, Wiseman teaches effective leadership techniques that enable people to utilize their full intelligence at work. Having previously worked as a corporate executive at Oracle for 17 years, Wiseman’s practical experience has significantly impacted her academic studies.

Key Takeaways 

1. The multiplier framework is the idea that some talented, innovative, and capable leaders use their talents and intelligence to amplify the intelligence and capability of the people around them. On the other hand, the “diminisher” leaders are intelligent, capable, and talented, too, but the orientation of their capability diminishes those around them. 

2. Wiseman found these diminishing leaders are helping people but getting less than half of their capabilities, which causes an enormous amount of waste inside the organization. 

3. When people explain working with these multipliers, they explain it as this fulfilling and exhilarating experience. Moreover, leaders can identify their leadership styles based on Wiseman’s research based on these five fundamental questions:

  1. Are you placing people in jobs or utilizing their natural talents?
  2. Is the work environment tense or intense?
  3. Do you tell people what to do or ask questions to help people find what’s possible?
  4. Do you play the role of the decision-maker or the debate-maker?
  5. Are you micromanaging and getting things done, or are you enabling/insisting others do it for you?

4. Over two-thirds of diminishing in the workplace comes from “Accidental diminishers,” which comes as leaders underplaying their roles. Moreover, being a multiplier leader isn’t about playing small so others can be big; it’s about playing at your best to ensure others can also play at their best. 

5. The best leaders know how to dispense their own capabilities but in small doses. 

“Most diminishing leaders come from those with really good intentions.” – Liz Wiseman.

Did you know? ASBN America’s Small Business Network is now available to stream in over 70 million broadcasting households for users with Roku, Firestick, AppleTV, and mobile Android [download] and Apple IOS [download] devices.


ASBN Small Business NetworkASBN, from startup to success, we are your go-to resource for small business news, expert advice, information, and event coverage.

While you’re here, don’t forget to subscribe to our email newsletter for all the latest business news know-how from ASBN.

Jaelyn Campbell
Jaelyn Campbell
Jaelyn Campbell is a staff writer/reporter for ASBN. She is a recent honors cum laude graduate with a BFA in Mass Media from Valdosta State University. Jaelyn is an enthusiastic creator with more than four years of experience in corporate communications, editing, broadcasting, and writing. Her articles in The Spectator, her hometown newspaper, changed how people perceive virtual reality. She connects her readers to the facts while providing them a voice to understand the challenges of being an entrepreneur in the digital world.

Related Articles

Confero, Inc. named America’s Top Small Business 2024 by U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Confero, Inc., a customer experience research provider based in Cary, North Carolina, has been named America’s Top Small Business 2024 by the U.S. Chamber...