<ul><li>High-impact contributors: These people are doing work of exceptional value and impact.</li><li>Typical contributors: These are smart and talented people who are doing solid work.</li><li>Under-contributors: These are smart and talented people who are playing below their ability. </li></ul>The difference between the Impact players and the Contributor is the mode of thinking. It’s learnable and coachable, thus available to everyone. A leader can develop an entire team with the Impact Player Mindset.

Categories of contributors in the workplace

The best leaders cultivate an environment that is: <ul><li>Comfortable. They remove fear and provide security that encourages people to do their best thinking</li><li>Intense. Creating an environment that demands their best efforts.</li></ul> Only creating one of these conditions will cause one of two conditions.<ul><li>It will either stretch people without the foundation of safety. This can produce paralyzing anxiety.</li><li>It will foster a supportive environment without asking people to do something challenging. This could make people stagnant.</li></ul>

Creating safety that enables stretch

The five leadership habits will encourage the right behaviour in a team. The first two creates an environment of safety, and the last three provide stretch. <ul><li>Define the W.I.N.(What's Important Now). Help your team to see what's most important at any given time. </li><li>Redefine leadership. Encourage leaders to step up and step back.</li><li>Ask your people to stay until the job is done before moving onto the next.</li><li>Provide performance intel. "Am I hitting the target?"</li><li>State what you appreciate. If you want your team to make work light, ensure you flag behaviour that you appreciate.</li></ul>

High-impact coaching habits

<ul><li>Impact players look for opportunities in new terrain with new obstacles, while others may see it as a threat.</li><li>Typical contributors approach difficult situations as a nuisance and try to avoid rather than face the problem. Impact players figure out how to turn it into an opportunity.</li><li>Impact players see an unclear direction and changing priorities as a chance to add value.</li></ul>

How Impact Players see everyday challenges

<ul><li>Do the job that’s needed. When dealing with messy problems, impact players address the needs of the organisation. They do the job that needs to be done.</li><li>Step up. Impact players get things started and involve others while the rest wait for direction.</li><li>They finish strong while enforcing a culture of accountability.</li><li>They adapt quickly to change because they interpret new rules and targets as opportunities for learning and growth.</li><li>They make work light. They provide lift by being easy to work with.</li></ul>

Key differentiators between Impact Players and their colleagues

Innovation focused teams tend to be temporal - they form, collaborate, and disband. Team members need to be able to step up when needed and step back with equal ease.  <ul><li>To help reluctant leaders participate in this fast, fluid leadership model, provide a path of retreat. Show them that being a designated leader can be temporary, existing for the duration of a project or just a single meeting.</li><li>It can also take work to step back and support others. Model a healthy followership practice by collaborating with a peer organisation or contributing to a project led by someone below you.</li></ul>

Redefining leadership

<ul><li>They tap into unwritten rules - the standards of behaviour that one should follow in a particular job.</li><li>The impact generates investment. They harness uncertainty and ambiguity and find solutions.</li><li>Value building. They are self-managing and will complete a job without being told or reminded. They can take on higher-value opportunities and carry greater weight.</li></ul>

Practices of Impact Players

Why do some people break through and make an impact while others get stuck going through the motions? In every organization there are Impact Players—those indispensable colleagues who can be counted on in critical situations and who consistently receive high-profile assignments and new opportunities. Whether they are on center stage or behind the scenes, managers know who these top players are, understand their worth, and want more of them on their team. While their impact is obvious, it’s not always clear what actually makes these professionals different from their peers. In Impact Players, New York Times bestselling author and researcher Liz Wiseman reveals the secrets of these stellar professionals who play the game at a higher level. Drawing on insights from leaders at top companies, Wiseman explains what the most influential players are doing differently, how small and seemingly insignificant differences in how we think and act can make an enormous impact, and why—with a little coaching—this mindset is available to everyone who wants to contribute at their highest level. Based on a study of 170 top contributors, Wiseman identifies the mindsets that prevent otherwise smart, capable people from contributing to their full potential and the five practices that differentiate Impact Players: While others do their job, Impact Players figure out the real job to be done. While others wait for direction, Impact Players step up and lead. While others escalate problems, Impact Players move things across the finish line. While others attempt to minimize change, Impact Players are learning and adapting to change. While others add to the load, the Impact Players make heavy demands feel lighter. Wiseman makes clear that these practices—and the right mindset—can help any employee contribute at their fullest and shows leaders how they can raise the level of play for everyone on the team. Impact Players is your playbook for the new workplace.

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Thinkers50 Top 10 Best New Management Books for 2022Why do some people break through and make an impact while others get stuck going through the motions?In every organization there are Impact Players—those indispensable colleagues who can be counted on in critical situations and who consistently receive high-profile assignments and new opportunities. Whether they are on center stage or behind the scenes, managers know who these top players are, understand their worth, and want more of them on their team. While their impact is obvious, it’s not always clear what actually makes these professionals different from their peers.In Impact Players, New York Times bestselling author and researcher Liz Wiseman reveals the secrets of these stellar professionals who play the game at a higher level. Drawing on insights from leaders at top companies, Wiseman explains what the most influential players are doing differently, how small and seemingly insignificant differences in how we think and act can make an enormous impact, and why—with a little coaching—this mindset is available to everyone who wants to contribute at their highest level.  Based on a study of 170 top contributors, Wiseman identifies the mindsets that prevent otherwise smart, capable people from contributing to their full potential and the five practices that differentiate Impact Players:<ul><li>While others do their job, Impact Players figure out the real job to be done. </li><li>While others wait for direction, Impact Players step up and lead.</li><li>While others escalate problems, Impact Players move things across the finish line.</li><li>While others attempt to minimize change, Impact Players are learning and adapting to change. </li><li>While others add to the load, the Impact Players make heavy demands feel lighter.</li></ul>Wiseman makes clear that these practices—and the right mindset—can help any employee contribute at their fullest and shows leaders how they can raise the level of play for everyone on the team. Impact Players is your playbook for the new workplace.

Liz Wiseman is an American researcher, speaker, executive advisor, and the author of The New York Times bestseller Multipliers