The Hidden Driver of Multiplier Leadership
After hearing Liz Wiseman speak at ATD2026, I've spent several outdoor walks listening to two of her books — Impact Players and Multipliers. I'm looking forward to hearing her again later this year at the Thinkers50 London Summit and Awards Gala.
Liz draws a simple but powerful distinction in Multipliers: some leaders amplify the capabilities of the people around them, while others diminish them. Multiplier behaviors create environments where people grow. Under diminisher behaviors, people shrink.
What's less often discussed is why we shift toward one behavior or the other in certain moments — and that's where somatic awareness comes in.
The Body Behind the Behavior
Diminisher patterns — jumping in with the answer, over-explaining, taking over a project "to save time" — often aren't strategic choices. They're nervous system reactions. When we're anxious, rushed, or feel a loss of control, our bodies shift into states that prioritize speed and certainty over space and curiosity.
Multiplier behaviors — asking a question instead of giving an answer, creating space for someone else to think out loud, sitting with the discomfort of not immediately fixing something — require a regulated nervous system. That regulated state isn't just a mindset. It's a felt sense in the body: settled, open, curious.
Where the 3N Model™ Comes In
This is where Notice, Name, Navigate becomes useful.
Notice: In the moment before you jump in — to answer, correct, or take over — what's happening in your body? A tightening in the chest? A held breath?
Name: Briefly acknowledging what you're feeling — "rushed" or "wanting to fix this" — is less about analysis and more about witnessing. That light touch of recognition is enough to keep you from reacting automatically, and it's what holds the space open while your brain catches up.
Navigate: From that space, your choices expand. You might take a breath, soften your shoulders, or let your gaze rest on something calming — small shifts that move you from dysregulated to regulated. You might let a beat of silence sit in a meeting instead of filling it.
Multiplying Starts From the Inside
Multipliers offers a compelling vision of leadership — one where others rise because of how we show up. Somatic awareness and the 3N Model™ don't replace that vision; they give you a practical, in-the-moment way to access it, especially when stress makes Multiplier behaviors feel hardest to reach.
The next time you notice yourself about to take over, fix, or over-explain — pause. Notice what's happening in your body. Name it. Then navigate from there. Multiplier leadership isn't just a vision to aspire to. With the right inner tools, it's something you can access in real time — even on your hardest days. That's where the real multiplying begins.
Reflect & Apply
Think of a recent moment when you shifted into Diminisher behavior. What was happening in your body just before?
Where in your leadership — a specific meeting, relationship, or type of conversation — would a regulated nervous system make the biggest difference?
The next time you feel the urge to jump in, fix, or take over — what's one small Navigate step you could try instead?
