Impact Players
Yesterday, I received my copy of Liz Wiseman’s highly-anticipated new book Impact Players: How to Take the Lead, Play Bigger, and Multiply Your Impact. I am only in the first chapter but can already tell this will book one of the most impactful ones I have read this year. You can get your copy HERE or on the image provided. You will not be disappointed.
If you’re asking yourself what an impact player is, let me give you the book’s initial sentence. “Some people are at their best in the most difficult circumstances; they make exactly the right move at the right moment and get results that land with impact. Those people are consistently tapped to lead, especially in critical moments.”
In chapter one, Liz outlines one of the main qualities of impact players; they create value rather than conflict. Their research included interviewing 170 front-line managers and senior executives about employee behavior and what employees do to create value and build credibility and trust. The research also uncovered what employees do to erode it.
Their findings were so significant I want to share them with you. The following two lists create for you a decision-grid to determine if you are an impact player or not. Let’s check them out.
Credibility and Trust Builders
- Doing things without being asked.
- Anticipating problems and having a plan to solve them.
- Helping your teammates.
- Doing a little extra.
- Being curious and asking good questions.
- Asking for feedback.
- Admitting your mistakes and fixing them fast.
- Bringing good energy, having fun, making others laugh.
- Figuring out what to do for yourself.
- Finishing a job without having to be reminded to do so.
- Cooperating with your boss.
- Being willing to change and take smart risks.
- Getting to the point and telling it to your boss straight.
- Doing your homework and coming prepared.
- Making your boss and team look good.
Credibility Killers (Surefire ways to alienate your boss)
- Give your boss problems without solutions.
- Wait for your boss to tell you what to do.
- Make your boss chase you down and remind you what to do.
- Don’t worry about the big picture; just do your piece.
- Ask your boss about your next promotion or raise.
- Send long, meandering emails.
- Bad-mouth your colleagues, create drama, and stir up conflict.
- Surprise your boss…with bad news…at the last minute…when nothing can be done.
- Ask to revisit decisions that have already been made.
- Leave out inconvenient facts and the other side of the story.
- Blame others for your own mistakes.
- Agree to your boss’s face but disagree behind his or her back.
- Tell your boss that something is not your job.
- Listen to your boss’s feedback, then ignore it.
- Show up late to meetings, multitask, interrupt others.
The question is now obvious – are you an impact player or not? If not, Liz has helped identify the areas you need to work on. Now buy the book today by clicking HERE and get to work!
#CommissionsEarned
The Top 60 Leadership Quotes From 2021 Part 1 is my latest ebook. For many entering a post-pandemic environment, leadership looks completely different than the pre-pandemic world. People are more broken now. They are more uncertain. Fear and anxiousness are unwelcome constant companions. Cultures are more unhealthy. Relationships are more dysfunctional. Hope seems to be in short supply. Every day seems to bring a new hacking, natural disaster, or unexpected calamity.
Therefore, the fundamentals of leadership are more important than ever. The quotes in this book deal with the basics of leadership. If you want to be the best leader you can possibly be, click HERE or on the image provided to download this FREE resource. The lessons learned from last year, if applied, will sustain you for years to come.