…Leadership Styles and Service Experience Implications (cont’d)
Recently, I had dealings with an organisation which looked like it was being led by a Diminisher manager. Sadly, this organisation happens to be a very important organisation. Trying to get this organisation to do something very simple became a battle. The simple reason we were given was that the boss was on leave and that he had to be part of the venture we were pursuing with the organisation. In the end, we just had to abandon the entire venture. What I found most interesting was that the organisation had a very capable manager who could have easily handled the issue. But he could not. His boss was not around. I could help but wonder what the one’s job was since he still needed his Chief Executive to be around before he could do anything.
It is known that one of the challenges facing business managers everywhere is the lack of engagement of employees on the job. People come to work and put in the hours but are not fully engaged on the job. These are the workers who are associated with sayings such as “Living for the weekend,” “watching the clock tick,” “work is just a paycheck.” They just do enough to get by.
As a matter of fact, Gallup measures the state of engagement in the workplaces around the world. Figures from the 2022 Report were not very encouraging. According to the Report only 21% of the world’s working force is fully engaged at work. That is just two out of every ten employees.
In digging deeper, it came to light that most employees claimed that they did not find their work meaningful. Many employees did not believe their lives were going well, while many others did not feel hopeful about their future. Based on these feelings, these employees adopt a “just do about enough” and then go home.
Interestingly, these feelings are not associated with employees who are led by a Multiplier manager. The reason? Multipliers challenge their team members. Multipliers use various means to stretch their employees. For instance, these are the managers who will present a problem to the team and then take a step back to see how team members will handle the situation. When this manager sees that the team is struggling, she would not jump in take over the assignment. That is what Diminisher managers do.
Multipliers will only step in momentarily to give some sense of direction or to re-direct the conversation and then, take a step back again. This is to ensure that she does not steal the limelight from the team. Working for such a manager carries with it an excitement—an excitement that stems from not knowing what adventure the day held for the team. It is never monotonous working for Multipliers. This excitement is enough to keep employers fully engaged on the job.
Another of the Multiplier Effects is the freedom for team members to think through problems and to come out with viable solutions. If there is one thing I have realised about customer service, it is the fact that those who deal with customers on a regular basis more often than not, know things that their bosses do not. Customer-facing employees have knowledge that if leveraged on by the organisation can lead to some amazing experiences. Unfortunately, these things will never come out when there is a Diminisher at the realm. It will take a Multiplier to make front line employees come out to make meaningful contributions to the quality of service experience. When Multipliers are in charge of the workplace, ideas flow freely at the workplace. Front line employees will come out with great suggestions on how to give customers a better service experience.
Readers may wonder at this juncture what brings about these two kinds of leadership at the workplace. As a matter of fact, Liz Wiseman provides a response to that enquiry. According to her, it all has to do with the mind-sets of these leaders. Interestingly, the issue of mind-sets is tackled in another of my favourite mentioned in the very first paragraph—Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck. According to Prof. Dweck, individuals have two main mind-sets—the growth mindset and the fixed mindset. Those with the fixed mindset are of the view that human qualities are carved in stone. That we have only a certain amount of intelligence, a certain personality, and a certain moral character.
On the other hand, those with the growth mindset are of the belief that basic qualities are things that one can cultivate through one’s efforts. These are the individuals who believe that by taking on challenges, they get to stretch themselves.
From the above, it is clear where our two types of leaders fall. Diminishers are those with the fixed mindset whereas Multipliers are those with the growth mindset. Diminishers are those that believe that only a select few are blessed with the kind of intelligence that gets things done. The Diminisher thinks intelligence is a limited, scarce and a reserve of a few. They confidently believe they are in that group of rare human beings. It is this kind of thinking that makes the Diminisher manager want to lead everything that happens under them. They genuinely believe they are the only ones who can handle the situation.
Multipliers, on the contrary, have a different view about intelligence. These are of the view that a person’s intelligence is always growing. They believe that with effort, people, can improve their mental capability. This is why the Multiplier manager gives room for team members to show what they are capable of accomplishing. As Wiseman puts it, Multiplier managers believe “that people are smart and will figure it out.” The Multiplier managers believe that their job is actually to liberate their team members. I wholly believe in this kind of mindset because, in my experience, given the right opportunities and support, people will surprise you.
The difference in mindset between these two groups of managers has a telling effect on the way they manage their teams. Whereas Diminishers will just see individuals as arms and legs to be used to achieve a goal; Multipliers see people as talents that must be developed for the good of the organisation. Because Diminishers do not think too much of the intelligence of their team members, they tend to blame team members when there are mistakes. Multipliers do not do that. When there are problems, they tend to explore what went wrong. They will then use the opportunity to educate their team members.
If there is one reason that should get every business to be genuinely interested in the kind of leaders it places over its workforce, it should be the financial implications. Diminisher managers cost the business money in a number of ways. For one, because these managers cannot create leaders under them, they end up micromanaging every single employee and this reduces the productivity of the team. If everyone has to wait for the boss to go through everyone’s work before it is finally submitted, then it might take twice the time to get the job done. This waste of time will hit at the down line of the business in one way or another.
Additionally, because the Diminisher ends up losing good human resource, there is always a need to recruit or re-staff the one’s team, unit or department. Recruiting and training comes at a cost. Staff must be enculturated and gradually eased into the organisation. Orientation of new staff comes at a cost. If these employees leave after a while because of a bad boss, they have to be replaced and if this process has to be done every now and then, it will affect the organisation’s profits.
It is important to know that this categorisation of managers is not cast in stone, into these two distinctive groups. It is more of a continuum, with each category at the extreme end of the continuum. All managers have both tendencies in them. It is the style that a particular manager allows to dominate that because the one’s predominant style. This is why a leader must always be conscious of the kind of motives and subsequent actions the one is putting out there. It is only by regularly monitoring one’s actions that one is able to know if he or she is acting as a Multiplier or as a Diminisher.
It is equally important to state that this categorisation is not to say that Diminishers are terrible human beings and Multipliers are angels in human flesh. As a matter of fact, Diminishers can be very great individuals. The problem is not the individual but the one’s way of leading. Many Diminishers have no clue that they are doing something wrong. As far as they are concerned what they are doing is what all managers do. In attempting to bring change therefore, it is important not to attack the personality but the style. Any attempts to change the leadership within the organisation by making the Diminisher feel like they are “wicked” people will backfire. As has been discussed, it is the thinking that must be dealt with, not the personality.
The need for organisations to put their best foot forward when it comes to the quality of experience they provide for their customers will only continue to increase. As competition increases and customers become more knowledgeable about their options, businesses must use any little advantage they might get. The leadership within the organisation is one such crucial advantage that the organisation can make use of. A business that is staffed with Multipliers will definitely bring out the very best in that organisation. That organisation will lead the market in service experience and that will be the Multiplier Effect at work.
THE END
