The Multiplier Mindset: How Great Leaders Bring Out the Best in Others
What if becoming a better leader isn’t about having more answers, but about bringing out more from the people around you?
During WIFI’s latest Power Hour, The Multiplier Mindset, Nicole Harding, vice president of CCA Global University, challenged attendees to look at how everyday leadership habits can either expand or limit the ideas, abilities and confidence of others.
Drawing from Liz Wiseman’s Multipliers and more than 15 years of experience with its concepts, Harding shared practical ways leaders can move from unintentionally diminishing others to helping them contribute, grow and take ownership. Watch the full Power Hour here!
Multiplier or Diminisher?
Harding began by asking attendees to think about a leader who made them feel like they could do anything.
She explained that two equally smart leaders can have very different effects. One makes sure everyone knows how smart they are. The other makes the people around them feel smart.
That difference is at the heart of the multiplier mindset. A diminisher may think, “Let me fix it.” A multiplier approaches the same situation believing, “These people I hired are pretty smart. They will figure it out.”
But diminishing behavior is not always intentional. Harding described the concept of the “accidental diminisher,” a leader whose good intentions can sometimes prevent others from contributing or taking ownership.
The first step toward changing those habits is recognizing them.
“Once you start seeing it, you will start self-correcting, course correcting,” Harding said.
Are You Accidentally Holding Others Back?
Accidental diminishing can show up in everyday habits: always being the first to offer an idea, moving faster than the rest of the team, immediately responding to questions or continually stepping in to “rescue” someone before they can solve a problem themselves.
For leaders who tend to rescue, Harding encouraged replacing answers with questions.
“If you’re going to constantly rescue them, they will let you,” she said.
The goal isn’t to stop supporting people. It is to give them the opportunity to think, make decisions and build confidence on their own.
Ask Better Questions
One of Harding’s biggest tools for becoming a multiplier is simple: ask better questions.
She introduced a “questioning ladder” that moves from basic yes-or-no questions to open, guiding, discovery and challenge questions. The further up the ladder you go, the more opportunity you give someone else to think through a problem and contribute their own ideas.
Harding shared two questions she keeps in her own leadership toolkit:
“What is the worst thing that can happen?”
“What supports this thinking?”
Instead of immediately stepping in with an answer or dismissing an idea, these questions create room for someone else to explain their thinking and find a way forward.
Make Room for Others to Lead
The Multiplier Mindset reinforced that strong leadership doesn’t require having all the answers. It requires knowing when to step in and when to create space for someone else.
Even after years of studying and teaching these principles, Harding shared that she still catches herself falling into accidental diminishing behaviors, especially when deadlines and pressure increase. The key is recognizing those moments and shifting back toward behaviors that bring out the intelligence and abilities of others.
WIFI thanks Nicole Harding for sharing practical strategies attendees can use to become more intentional leaders and bring out the best in the people around them.
Join Us at These Upcoming Events
WIFI Book Club: The Art of Gathering | Kickoff: Oct. 22 | Noon ET | Virtual
Hosted by Renee Littleton, Kährs Americas, and Carlene Blanding, Shaw Industries
WIFI Panel on Presence | Oct. 27 | Dalton, Georgia
WIFI at NAFCD + NBMDA Convention | Nov. 3-5 | Dallas, Texas
Been There, Learned That Power Hour | Nov. 6 | Virtual
WIFI Breakout at Synergy Convention | Nov. 11 | 11:45 a.m. ET | Chattanooga, Tennessee
WIFI Book Club | Nov. 12 & Dec. 3 | Noon ET | Virtual
