Five Disciplines of the Multipliers

Vice Admiral Jan E. Tighe, Commander, U.S. Fleet Cyber Command/TENTH Fleet
Information Warfare Community Leader, Chief Engineer, PhD

My friend Liz Wiseman (a Top 50 Thinker) found that great bosses share these MULTIPLIER characteristics:

1. The Talent Magnet attracts talented people and uses them at their highest point of contribution
2. The Liberator creates an intense environment that requires people's best thinking and work
3. The Challenger defines an opportunity that causes people to stretch
4. The Debate Maker drives sound decisions through rigorous debate
5. The Investor gives other people the ownership for results and invests in their success

By any measure of the 5 characteristics above, we have to give credit to Vice Admiral Tighe as a MULTIPLIER.  Multipliers do exactly that - "multiply".  They multiply the talent around them to get the best from their people.  VADM Tighe sees intelligence in abundance throughout the Information Dominance Corps (Sailors, civilians and contractors) and believes it exists in multiple forms - up and down the chain of command. 

This cautionary note from Liz: Although people love—love—love—to work for multipliers, these leaders are not necessarily the type to come up and give you a big hug. These leaders can be tough, demanding bosses. They ask people to do hard things and they expect people to do great work. People who work for them say that although they are exhausted, they are also exhilarated. They say, "I would work for this person forever."

Stand by for exhaustion and exhilaration.  It will be worth it.