Informing

Communication is critical for any leader and informing is the most traditional style of intentionally transferring knowledge, wisdom, or skills. This comes when a leader shares information in a one-way manner. For the Sherpa this occurs when they share rules or objectives or plans. For some leaders this occurs through a written newsletter or e-mail where they control what is communicated to others. For others, informing looks like the company speech or keynote where the leader is engaging through multiple channels with little or no interactive process.

Informing is important and valuable for multiplication, but most leaders think they are far more accomplished at informing than they actually are. It is genuinely hard to speak well in public and hold an audience, it’s hard to craft e-mails or articles that capture precisely what you are trying to say succinctly and clearly and in the right tone.

The return on investment for this style of communication includes:

• Consistency, where everyone (hopefully) hears the same carefully crafted message.
• Efficiency, where repeatable mass communication can maximize a leader’s time.
• Inspiration, where a good communicator can create employee engagement and buy in to the future vision.

It is important for leaders to understand the incredible power of informing if done well. The ROI is worth the effort but it is important to get real feedback on your current level of performance. This is where a Sherpa comes in handy, they will speak the truth in love, often in a way that your PA or team won’t.

Training

Multiplying via training occurs by creating facilitated learning events with clearly defined objectives using a controlled interactive process. The most effective training occurs in groups of 15–25, but can stretch as high as 50 people, although the long-term ROI diminishes as the level of genuine interaction declines.

Training requires a different skillset in the interactive process. It is one thing to inform people and another to train. The skillset is real and can be very effective to obtain buy-in inside the organization. Some leaders are natural at this and many are not at all. Designing a training experience is a skill. It’s a careful balance of new learning, interaction, and keeping energy in the room. With concentration spans being more limited than ever, we have found that people need interaction every seven minutes in order to effectively interact with the content and see its practical application for their immediate world.

The return on investment for training consists of:

• Focus, where participants process selected content in a facilitated environment with clear and practical takeaways.
• Connection, where invitation to the training makes people feel special and leads to relational engagement.
• Identification, where the chance to engage with the broader leadership pool allows leaders to find candidates for future roles inside the organization or team.

Not all leaders are naturally great trainers, but those who intentionally work to become so, or invite strategic facilitators to help, can develop their people well.

One of our clients uses our GiANT toolkit as short training sessions with their team once a week before the start of their busy day. Training can happen in many ways and styles. Think of training as adding strength to your people. Help them get better.

Coaching

Coaching is the consistent investment in a small number of leaders over time with mutually agreed upon objectives, in an interactive learning process. This could look like one-to-one consulting, best practice core groups with a small group, or live troubleshooting.

The Liberating Others tool in Chapter 6 is a perfect way to coach others up. First, they need to know that you are for them. As a reminder, here are the coaching questions you can use to evaluate the needs:

1. What specific support and/or challenge do they need?
2. What is the tendency or pattern most undermining their influence?
3. How do you help them get to the next level?

Coaching is an ongoing, proactive process that must be intentional to see real results in those you lead.

Coaching can be so valuable for the 100X leader. Its benefits include:

• Depth, where personalized calibration of support and challenge develops higher personal performance.
• Collaboration, where the other person is learning from and with you—sharing best practices in real-life situations.
• Accountability, where actions get delivered. It is hard to hide from deliberate and personalized coaching.

Coaching well is a strength that leaders must perfect in order to be significant to others long term. The majority of adults can all be good at coaching but it takes time and practice to do it well.

Apprenticeship

Apprenticeship is a lost art in most places. It was once the norm in training up leaders, but has lost its importance with the proliferation of information available in today’s world. It can still be found in the trades, as one leader shows another employee how to do practical, detailed work. Apprenticeship is the intentional transfer of knowledge, skills, and expertise into a person.

To apprentice is to invest long term in another person who has the capacity and desire to replicate skills and competencies. The return on investment includes:

• Capacity, where you raise up others to do what you do so that you can do other things needed in the organization.
• Scalability, where it allows the organization to grow because of the expansion of skillsets for the team or company.
• Influence expands, both for yourself and your apprentice, which strengthens the whole organization.

Here is a story of apprenticeship from one of our UK GiANT partners, Toby Bassford, who changed careers to become a consultant:

After a first career, I received valuable apprenticeship from Steve (Cockram) to become a GiANT leadership consultant. Here are just a few of the most helpful elements of that apprenticeship:

• There was a really clear and specific invitation up front— knowing what we were doing, what that involved, and that we were both fully committed was the best foundation. This wasn’t just some generic fluffy occasional mentoring, this had a purpose and was a big deal for us both.
• Proximity. This has been a big deal for me. Being able to physically get a load of time together formally and informally has been huge. It’s meant I’ve seen Steve’s thought processes, not just attended the structured meetings.
• Informal time together. I think this is where the real apprenticeship magic happens. It’s chatting over a beer, debriefing on the train, being around last minute to attend a meeting, which is where you get some of the real insights.
• Steve has always made an effort to make phone calls when he has a moment – sometimes simply just to check in. Knowing that Steve has been engaged, interested, and available has been really important. It’s also helped create a sense of permission to reach out to him when I’ve needed to.
• Opportunity. Steve has created genuine opportunities for me to “have a go” at something which has been so important, often slightly before I’ve thought I have been ready for it!
• Vision and encouragement. There have been timely and consistent reminders from Steve that he genuinely believes I can get there. There have been times when I actually didn’t think I would, but Steve has never doubted (to me!) that he has known I would succeed. When I’ve wavered in my own self-belief, it’s been great to rely on his belief in me.

Apprenticeship takes significant commitment on both sides. The cost/commitment on my part has been to move house and location to have a level of proximity to Steve to make it work. I wanted the best chance to learn and so my entire family moved so we could maximise time together— in meetings, over coffee/beer, delivering with clients, as much as I could. There’s something about being together— watching, debriefing (especially in the informal times) that helps you really get under the skin of the person you’re learning from. For me it wouldn’t have worked without it.

Other things I’ve learned:

• You have to take the position of an apprentice. Get humble. Admit you’re wrong. Show your weaknesses/vulnerabilities. You can only truly be apprenticed to the degree that you allow yourself to be!
• Being real and honest and getting past your own self-preservation has for me been one of the hardest things. Deliberately and intentionally saying, “I’ve no idea how to do this,” or “I’m really finding this hard,” or “I messed this up, can we talk about it?” These are the hard conversations.
• Sometimes at the beginning, you can feel like you are a spare part. Swallow the pride and play the long game.
• Three years has felt like a long time out of my depth in at the deep end. Fun at times, wearing at others. I regularly wondered if it was really worth the pain of feeling so consciously incompetent.

The end result is clear: I’m doing things I didn’t think possible before. I am leading and influencing in contexts and with people at senior levels in organizations I never would have been without Steve’s intentional investment over the last three years. I have greater capacity, am far more confident, and the world seems a far bigger place than it did before. I now see opportunities everywhere and believe it’s all possible. I’ve also got a friend for life—the high and lows, challenges and encouragements of the journey have formed a relationship that will certainly stand the test of time.

Which Method of Multiplying?

Each scenario below has a best-practice multiplication strategy to most effectively connect with others. Which multiplication strategy would you use for each of the following challenges— inform, train, coach or apprentice? (Answers at the end of the chapter.)

1. I want to communicate important information efficiently and accurately to the whole organization.
2. I need to raise up my successor in the next 12–24 months.
3. I want to share a vision of the future that will excite and inspire my people.
4. I wish I could get time to invest in and encourage my wider team rather than just my direct reports.
5. I need to drive performance higher for my immediate team and train them to think the way I do.
6. I need to grow my team so I can trust them to deliver for key clients even under extreme pressure.
7. I have so much expertise and wisdom I want to share but no time to do it.
8. I want to leave a legacy that lasts long after I’m gone.
9. I want to create a collaborative learning environment where best practices are shared.
10. I’d love to connect with the rising stars coming through our leadership pipeline.

Having reflected on the effectiveness of each multiplication strategy, now is a good time to build your own intentional transfer plan.

Understanding Your Magic

Every one of us has learned a skill and gained wisdom or expertise that we could transfer intentionally to others. Your key employees, partners, and children could all benefit from you deciding to multiply your best into them. Yet no one will be able to leverage it unless we plan to intentionally transfer it. Here are some key questions for you to resolve:

• What is your magic? What do you find easy that others seem to find difficult? (unconscious competence)
• What specific knowledge, wisdom, skills, or expertise could you export to others?
• How are you multiplying it currently?
• How would it benefit you, your family, your team, or your organization if you multiplied your magic?
• What happens if you don’t do anything?

Multiplication Kryptonite

We’ve given you many reasons and advantages of multiplying, but we have also learned from hundreds of leaders why they won’t multiply. We call it multiplication kryptonite (the power that kept Superman down)—the true reason why you won’t do something.

As you read through this list, circle the reasons you haven’t chosen to multiply what you know to others and decide where your inhibition lies within each.

1. Where am I going to find the extra time to do all this?
2. Will I lose influence or even be replaced if I train others to do my job?
3. I really don’t know what to intentionally transfer or to whom.
4. I am not sure I want to be that vulnerable with the people who work for me.
5. No one has done this for me, how can I now be expected do it for others?
6. What if I let people down and disappoint them when trying to multiply what I know?
7. Am I really prepared for such a long-term investment of my time and resources in the same people?
8. At this stage of my career I’m not sure I have the capacity or desire to learn so many new skills to intentionally transfer.
9. Do I really have any magic to multiply?
10. If I select favorites for coaching and apprenticeship, will the ones left out resent me and disengage?