Book Review: “Multipliers” by Liz Wiseman

Why do some people seem to attract talent wherever they go, and grow talent from the oddest places? Why are other leaders constantly churning through staff who go on to do better things elsewhere?

Liz Wiseman’s heavily researched look at Multipliers vs Diminishers takes a good hard look at why some people make the best of everything and others never seem to figure it out. Along the way, there are often surprising findings about what makes great leaders great.

Why we love this book

The examples, although mostly anonymous, seem to hit home as relevant again and again. Wiseman also illustrates the flywheels of Multipliers and Diminishers extremely well – why what they do well or terrible makes things happen again and again. She also looks at different versions of awesome, describing Multiplier types such as The Talent Magnet, The Challenger and the Debate Maker as well as their Diminisher opposites like The Empire Builder, The Know-It-All and The Decision Maker. She doesn’t pigeon hole one style as great, but draws great parallels between the successful styles.

Any criticisms

Hard to think of any on this one. I couldn’t put it down the first time I read it. I guess it would be nice to know who all the anonymous examples are.