I recently attended a virtual book club discussion where Liz Wiseman talked about her book, Impact Players: How to Take the Lead, Play Bigger, and Multiply Your Impact. The book discusses the idea surrounding those people in every business who may not have leadership titles, yet they have a hugely significant impact on the success of your organisations. These are your impact players. So often these people are found right under your noses, and it is a leader’s responsibility to identify these people so that their growth can be nurtured. This got me thinking, who are your impact players and how do you spot them?
Liz Wiseman identifies five key features that make up impact players.
- Impact players do what needs to be done. They know which problems are the most pressing and important to be solved.
- Impact players take the lead. There are countless scenarios at work where it can be unclear who’s in charge of a group. In these scenarios, impact players assert themselves and lead.
- Impact players finish strong. These are the people who will stick with and see projects through to completion even if there are obstacles which may get in the way.
- Impact players ask and adjust. Organisational life is constantly changing and in the face of change impact players learn and adapt rapidly.
- Impact players make work light. These people have the ability to make situations which are difficult, easier for those who are around them.
So often, when looking to fill vacant roles, organisations will look to hire externally. Although it is possible to hire impact players, they are often already working for you. If you have a vacant position, it is essential to first identify if there are people already under your employ who are impact players. These are the people that you should be looking to promote. These are the people that you should be giving more responsibility to. These are the people that you can rely on when the going gets tough.
Impact players not only produce quality work themselves, but they also act as the most valuable players (MVPs) for those around them and will bring others with them to achieve team success.
Whilst it is essential to find your impact players and give them room to grow and achieve their potential, there will always be the risk of losing them. Hence, there are steps which need to be taken to maintain your MVPs.
- Ensure that your impact players feel valued in your organisation. It is known that significance is one of the key drivers of human behaviour. This means that to make people work hard and commit to your organisation you need to provide them with the feeling that they are significant to the overall culture and success of the organisation. You need to let your impact players know that the work they achieve does not go unnoticed.
- Provide your impact players with learning and development opportunities that can increase their capability and capacity. In the modern world people are valuing opportunities for personal development more than ever before. By providing your impact players with learning and development opportunities you will be triggering their sense of value within your organisation whilst also increasing their capability to take on work which is more demanding. This also opens avenues to train their leadership skills to provide them with more avenues to grow in an organisation.
- Give impact players work that sits at a higher level. Much of the work that sits within an employee's scope sits at the ground floor level. This describes your day-to-day activities which are required for an organisation to operate. Whilst this is an essential part of what allows and organisational to be successful, it is important to understand that there Is work which sits at a higher level than this. This being work which looks in the future to assist an organisation in achieving is strategic goals. In many organisations this work is believed to be for leaders and member of the senior leadership team, however, by assigning your impact players this kind of work you show a sense of trust in their capability to autonomously contribute to your organisation’s growth.
In my experience as an organisational development consultant, I have seen the value that lies in understanding the people that you work with. Impact players are the people that countless organisations will spend thousands of dollars trying to find. In so many instances these people are right under our noses waiting to be unearthed. In our extensive work with senior leaders, we at Pentagram Potential understand the importance of developing leaders’ insight to understand their direct reports. Through a lens of neuroscience, we develop leaders who can spot their impact players and assist in unlocking their potential. Contact us today to hear how we can help you find your impact player.