Impact Players
How to Take the Lead, Play Bigger, and Multiply Your Impact
by Liz Wiseman
Why You Should Read This The delineation between being a Super Star and an Impact Player is insightful and are the reasons why people say what they do about you when you are not in the room. Here is the link to the Audible version of the book, but I also recommend buying a physical book that you can dog-ear and highlight.
It is often said that the most important decisions about our careers will be made when we are not in the room and anyone who read “Forget a Mentor, Find a Sponsor” knows the truth in that statement. Liz Wiseman’s book, Impact Players: How to Take the Lead, Play Bigger, and Multiply Your Impact, shares the collective observations of 170 leaders from venerable companies such as NASA, LinkedIn, Adobe, Google, SAP, and Target on the qualities of people on their team who offer extraordinary value. Simply put, it identifies the qualities that one must possess to be considered for leadership positions.
The book highlights what my grandmother would say to me: “It is not what you do, but it is the way that you do it that matters.” The great news for all of us is that all of the leadership qualities identified can be LEARNED. At every opportunity, the book plunges into real world examples of the differentiators of “Super Stars” – those who do remarkable work – and those of “Impact Players” – those team members who elevate the performances of others, thereby building the impact and effectiveness of the team. The leadership qualities found in Impact Players tend to be more often rewarded with sponsorship, opportunity, and promotion.
How You Can Apply This Print and tape the concepts from the two appendixes somewhere near your computer where you can view them daily and turn the concepts into a habit. The items detailed are a road map for personal and professional growth. If you want to attract sponsors, you need to recognize the “15 credibility killers” and work to remove them from our teams so that you can turn them into 15 ways of building trust. It further details the “most learnable mindsets” (Growth, Belonging, Proactivity, and Resilience) and the “most learnable behaviors” (Seek Feedback, Offer Help, Influence Others, and See the Big Picture.)
Additional Materials For Reinforcing What You Learned If you want to reinforce what you gained from this book by listening to a podcast, you might enjoy: Masters of Scale with Marissa Meyer on how she created Impact Players for Google. Another deeper dive is Brené Brown’s podcast on why every leader needs to worry about toxic culture. We need to highlight the great work of the Golden Unicorns in our lives.
You may also want to conduct a deeper dive by reading the Harvard Business Review article on Coaches Listen, Diverse Teams Feel Less Comfortable, and the Power of Listening.
Lastly, listen to IAWA’s own member Amanda Applegate describe how she started her career as an impact player and how she invests in others who share the same mindset as part of IAWA’s Podcast – Connect. Inspire. Lead
This book review was written by Shelley A. Svoren, VP – Leader Development for IAWA and who is the CEO + Founder of Infinite Branches. You can DM her on LinkedIn.