Nate’s Notes 29: Liz Wiseman | Invite Yourself In

Liz Wiseman is an endless fountain of interesting ideas and insights, and I look forward to trying to apply the lessons she taught today.

First, to make valuable contributions, we need to get over ourselves, and make ourselves useful. Liz wanted to solve one problem at Oracle, but her boss needed her to solve a different problem. Liz figured out what was important to the company and then made that important to herself. Later, because she had gained so much trust in the organization, she was able to work on the original problem she had identified.

Second, sometimes you have to invite yourself into places where you’re not invited. The most important work Liz did at Oracle was work that she wedged herself into. Just because your presence isn’t planned, doesn’t it mean it’s not going to be welcome, as Liz succinctly described.

Third, people can like our work and dislike us, or dislike our work and still like us. By learning to separate ourselves from our work, we can more easily take feedback from others. 

And finally, when receiving feedback, it’s important to be aware of the outliers…and not give them more attention than they deserve. 

In summary, Liz Wiseman embodies her advice to make ourselves useful to others. 

It’s a simple idea, please take it seriously.

Liz Wiseman Bio

Liz Wiseman is a leadership expert. As an executive at Oracle Corporation she worked for 17 years as Vice President for Oracle University and as the global leader for human resource development. She then started writing about leadership and is the author of several best-selling management books, including: Multipliers, The Multiplier Effect, Rookie Smarts, and Impact Players.

She is regular contributor to Harvard Business Review and Fortune, and a frequent guest lecturer at Stanford University. She has worked and traveled in more than 50 countries and consults with the biggest and best companies. And in 2019 Liz was recognized as a top leadership thinker in the world by the National Center for Leadership and Management.

Given that the best companies in the world seek out Liz for her advice, I wanted to do the same.

I hope you enjoyed learning from Liz Wiseman, because I certainly did.