Latest / Lead With Clarity: Practical Insight for Senior Leaders / The Genius Maker
Transcript
- Blake Holman: Welcome to Lead with Clarity. This is a space for leaders who want to grow without losing themselves in the process. Each episode is a short reflection on leadership, influence, and the inner work that shapes how we show up for others. It's not hype, not noise, just clear thinking for the journey of leading well. Today's episode is entitled The Genius Maker. Here we go. Let's start with a question I ask almost every leader I coach. Not right away, but eventually. When was the last time someone in the room got smarter because you were there? Not because you gave them the answer, but because you were there. That question makes people pause. Most of us were trained to lead by having answers. We got promoted because we were good at solving problems. So it feels natural, even virtuous, to keep solving them once we're in charge. But there's a leadership researcher named Liz Wiseman. Who spent years studying two very different kinds of leaders, and what she found should make all of us rethink what we're actually rewarding in ourselves. Her line is this Multipliers are genius makers. They bring out intelligence in others. Sit with that for a second. Genius makers. Not geniuses. Makers of genius and other people. Here's the leadership moment I want you to picture. You're in a meeting. Someone on your team is working through a problem out loud and you can see where it's going. You know the answer. Every instinct says jump in, save time, move things along. So you do. You finish the thought, you name the solution, the meeting moves on. It feels efficient. It feels like leadership. Here's the common misread. We think that moment made us look capable. And it probably did. But it also taught the room something quieter and more lasting. It taught them that their job is to get partway to an answer, and your job is to finish it. You do that enough times and people stop trying to finish it themselves. Not because they can't, because they've learned they don't need to. That's the diminisher pattern. It rarely looks harsh. It usually looks helpful. That's what makes it so easy to miss in ourselves. Here's the reframe. The leaders who build the strongest teams are not the ones who solve the most problems. They're the ones who asks the question that lets someone else solve it. They let a silence sit a beat longer than feels comfortable. They give credit out loud, even when they saw the answer first. Over time, that's not weaker leadership. It's leadership that compounds, because it's building capability in the people around you instead of just clearing your own inbox. I'll say something here for anyone leading in an environment where AI tools are part of daily work. The tools can answer almost anything now instantly. That makes this principle more important, not less. If your instinct is to reach for the fastest answer, whether that's a tool or your own habit of jumping in, you're modeling the same thing either way. You're teaching your team that thinking hard is optional because an answer is always one step away. The leaders who stand out in this environment are the ones who still ask the question before they offer the answer, and who use these tools to sharpen their team's thinking rather than replace it. That's true whether you're using AI every day or not using it at all. The discipline is the same. Here's what I'd like you to carry forward this week. Pick one meeting, one conversation, and instead of offering your answer first, ask a real question and wait. Notice what happens when you let someone else get there. Notice how it feels to hold back, and notice what it does for the person across from you. Here's the thing worth remembering. Multipliers are genius makers. They bring out intelligence in others. That's not about being the smartest person in the room. It's about what you do with everyone else's intelligence once they're in it. Ask before you answer. Let someone else own the win. Watch for who's gone quiet and find out why. Small habits, practiced consistently, are what turn a group of capable people into a team that thinks for itself. That's the work, and it's worth doing well.