Picture a familiar scenario. A major client presentation is approaching, the team is under pressure and the work isn’t quite where it needs to be.
The senior leader steps in, rewrites the strategy, refines the creative thinking and makes the final decisions. The presentation improves, the deadline is met and everyone breathes a sigh of relief.
But what has the team learned? Perhaps that the boss has the best ideas and that, when things get difficult, someone more senior will step in and take control.
It’s a familiar pattern in agency life and one that raises an uncomfortable question: are we sometimes the very people holding our teams back?
Leadership expert Liz Wiseman explores the concepts of “multipliers” and “diminishers” in her book Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter. Multipliers amplify the intelligence, creativity and capability of those around them; diminishers often unintentionally suppress it.
Crucially, diminishing behaviours often come from positive intentions. We want to support our teams, maintain high standards and deliver exceptional client work. But how we demonstrate these qualities can have the opposite effect.
Research by Wiseman’s team, involving 150 executives across 35 countries, found that people reported contributing an average of 1.97 times more of their capability under multiplier leaders than diminishers. While this measures reported contribution rather than direct productivity, it raises an important question: how much potential are our agencies leaving untapped?
Familiar behaviours
Can you recognise any of these familiar agency leadership behaviours?
- The rescuer: steps in whenever someone struggles, solving problems quickly but limiting opportunities for others to build confidence and judgement.
- The idea fountain: constantly shares new thinking, possibilities and opportunities, but risks overwhelming the team and leaving little room for others’ creativity.
- The pacesetter: sets an exceptional personal standard that inspires others, but can leave team members feeling they can never quite measure up.
- The perfectionist: refines every proposal or presentation before it reaches the client, improving quality in the short term but potentially undermining ownership and independent thinking.
I suspect most of us can recognise elements of ourselves and those around us in at least one of these.
Why does this matter more than ever? Agency leaders are navigating tighter budgets, changing client expectations and rapid technological development. Under pressure, it’s tempting to take greater control and make decisions faster. But this can create bottlenecks and dependency at precisely the moment we need our teams to become more capable and adaptable.
Gallup’s latest State of the Global Workplace report found that just 20% of employees worldwide were engaged at work in 2025, with managers accounting for approximately 70% of the variance in team engagement.
These figures don’t mean leadership behaviour alone determines engagement. But for agencies built on creativity, collaboration and specialist expertise, how we lead is a commercial consideration as much as a cultural one. Our competitive advantage depends on the quality of thinking throughout the organisation, not simply at the top.
Creating the right environment
So how do we become a multiplier?
It’s about creating an environment where people are challenged, trusted and encouraged to do their best thinking. Multipliers ask questions before offering answers, welcome constructive debate and give people genuine ownership of outcomes.
This doesn’t mean lowering standards or stepping away from accountability. It means setting ambitious expectations and giving people the support and autonomy to meet them.
Here are five things to try.
1. Ask before you answer.
When someone brings you a challenge, resist the urge to solve it immediately. Ask: what do you think we should do? You may be surprised by the thinking already there.
2. Give ownership, not just responsibility.
Set clear outcomes, parameters and standards, then give people the autonomy to decide how to deliver.
3. Be the last person to speak.
In brainstorms and strategy discussions, invite others’ views before sharing your own. Senior opinions can unintentionally close down debate.
4. Create space to struggle.
People need challenge to develop. Offer support without automatically stepping in to rescue them.
5. Ask for feedback on your impact.
Try asking: what do I do that makes your job harder, even though I’m trying to help? The answer may be uncomfortable, but it could change how effectively you lead.
The question every leader should be asking is simple: when I am in the room, do I make the people around me more effective or more dependent on me?
