supervisor harnessed, those with multipliers reported they
were giving almost twice (1.97 times) as much as those
Teachers as
Multipliers
R O B E ATO N
I recently read Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make
Everyone Smarter, an illuminating book by Liz Wiseman
and Greg McKeown on how leaders can help others more
fully realize their potential (HarperBusiness, 2010). The
gist of the book is that as leaders in organization, we
choose between magnifying and multiplying the talents of
those who work for us or micromanaging and unwittingly
demoralizing them. The focus of those leaders the authors
call multipliers tends to be building and enabling others so
that the team can get things done. By contrast, the focus of
those the authors call diminishers tends to be to get things
done themselves, with or without the help of their teams.
According to the authors, multipliers tend to see
intelligence around them, which is why they then create
an environment where ideas can be heard and where
intelligence can be given, grown, and stretched through
challenge (94). Conversely, as the authors researched
diminishers, they discovered that their focus on their own
intelligence and their resolve to be the smartest person in
the room had a diminishing effect on everyone else (5).
Not surprisingly, when the authors surveyed employees
about how they would characterize their bosses and
then asked what percentage of their own capacity their
PERSPECTIVE | 22
who worked for diminishers (11).
The book reminded me of an experience I had years
ago when I was transitioning from being an attorney to
an executive. One day, a consultant with whom I worked
closely took me up on my invitation to tell me what I
needed to hear and not what he thought I wanted to hear.
Rob, he said with the door closed, I bet you were a great
attorney. But you have to shift gears to succeed in this new
role. Your aim cant be to simply work harder and get this
project done yourself. Your focus has to be on how to get
the most out of your team and how to help them succeed.
Your focus has to be on
how to get the most out
of your team and how
to help them succeed.
As my team would undoubtedly tell you, I still struggle to
fully implement this consultants advice and the counsel
from Multipliers, but I hope that even just being aware
of the issue has made me a better leaderand a better
teacher. Last semester, a student in my Book of Mormon
class e-mailed me asking what a particular phrase in 3
Nephi 13 meant. I was delighted to have a student ask
a question, and happier still that it was one to which I
actually knew the answer. But before I sent him the answer,
I vaguely recalled the principle taught to me not only by
Multipliers and the consulting partner, but by Elder Bednar.
As a newly ordained apostle, he once visited my class and
answered students questions. At one point, he recited a
scripture from memory but did not provide a reference.
A student raised his hand and asked for the reference. If
I tell you, answered Elder Bednar calmly, youll never
remember. But if you discover it for yourself, youll
never forget.
Rather than answer the students question, I sent him
a link to a couple of resources I recommended, with a
request that he tell me what he learned. Within an hour or
two, he had e-mailed back enthusiastically to report that
he had found the answer, which he shared with me (and he
was right). I sensed he had learned far more than if I had
given him the answer myself. On that occasion, at least, I
had been a multiplier as a teacher rather than a diminisher.
But I wonder how many similar opportunities I have missed
because I was eager to demonstrate my knowledge and
intelligence rather than to develop it in my students.
I wonder how many
similar opportunities
I have missed because I
was eager to demonstrate
my knowledge and
intelligence rather than to
develop it in my students.
As we focus more consciously on what we can do to create
an environment where ideas can be heard and where
intelligence can be given, grown, and stretched through
challenge[,] it can affect both the outcomes we choose
for our courses and the way we conduct ourselves in our
classrooms. I doubt any of us has ever written a course
objective that reads, Students will listen to and be able to
regurgitate the teachers favorite insights on this subject.
Yet a few years ago I realized that I had structured some of
E ATO N | 2 3
my scripture courses in a way that essentially supported
that outcome. Over time, I have included two very different
outcomes in my course objectives:
1. You will be better able to dig deeply into the scriptures to
glean insights with the help of the Spirit.
2. Youll be even more likely to make a lifetime pursuit of
studying the scriptures.
I try to reinforce these outcomes by exposing students to
a variety of scripture study skills throughout the semester
and requiring them to use them. I also remind students
that if all they glean from the course are my insights, their
learning will end when the semester does. But if they learn
to glean insights for themselves, they will continue learning
for life. As I shifted my focus in my scripture-based courses
more explicitly to cultivating the ability to read the text
carefully, I noticed that my multiple-choice final no longer
matched my new outcomes. So I replaced it with an essay
test in which students demonstrate their ability to use
scripture study skills to dissect a chapter of scripture.
When it comes to conducting class, this insight from
Multipliers makes me wonder how many times I have
inadvertently sent the message that Im the only one who
can answer their questions: Diminishers appear to believe
that really intelligent people are a rare breed and I am
one of the few really smart people. They then conclude,
other people will never figure things out without me (18).
For the record, I am not one who believes students can
never learn from a good lecture. To the contrary, I believe
teachers can and should play a critical role in synthesizing

discussions and providing explanations, usually in small
doses but occasionally even in larger ones. But if I insist in
reserving almost all the air-time in every class for myself,
what message do I send to my students about my belief in
their abilities? And am I really helping them grow, or am I
simply reinforcing the notion that they can only master the
material if I personally guide them through it?
Even before the advent of the Learning Model, I always
strived to actively involve my students in the learning
process. However, when I taught a class online, I realized
how much more I could do in this regard. In the first
couple of weeks of facilitating the discussion board, I found
myself typing up lengthy posts with my insights. But I
quickly realized I simply did not have the time to post such
comments for every student in the class. So I shifted gears
and asked myself, How can I have the biggest impact on
individual student learning in an hour? I still post shorter,
substantive comments on occasion, but I have largely
shifted my focus to leveraging my time by asking students
questions like these: How did you reach that conclusion?
That reminds me of Moses 1. Do you see any parallels
there? What do you think Mormon means when he
refers to the heavenly gift? How might this principle
affect the way you parent your children? If you read John
8 and 9 together, what insights do you gain that you might
PERSPECTIVE | 24
miss by reading them separately? I discovered that in a
relatively short period of time, I could ask individualized
questions of almost all the students in my class. And in the
process, Id shifted the focus to them as learners and away
from me as the teacher.
I have discovered
a surprising way in
which teachers can
inadvertently be
diminishers: when we
allow a few students
to dominate the
discussion.
Finally, in face-to-face classes I have discovered a
surprising way in which teachers can inadvertently be
diminishers: when we allow a few students to dominate the
discussion. As I asked students about this in preparation
for a presentation on that topic one year, I was a bit taken
aback at the intensity of their feelings on the subject. Many
of my students were downright irked by classmates who
dominated discussion, and they held their professors
responsible for failing to rein them in. Regardless of who
was to blame, the effect of such a situation was clear: more
introverted students tended to withdraw and become
passive observers, yielding the floor to their classmates
who enjoy being on center stage.
I do not mean to suggest I have found all the answers.
But as I have begun asking how I can do more to
multiply the capacity of my students rather than simply
measure it, I believe it has made me a more careful and
productive teacher.