Impact Players: How to Take the Lead, Play Bigger, and Multiply Your Impact

By Liz Wiseman

Harper Business, 336 pp., $29.99

Who are the individuals at your organization who make an impact? What do they think and do to earn and maintain the distinction of impact players? How do you develop team members to be the best versions of themselves and become impact players?

As a researcher, executive advisor, and bestselling author, Wiseman reveals what she has learned from researching 170 professionals: Impact players are those who have mindsets different from other competent employees. Those top players use their native genius—what they are naturally good at—and build stellar results.

Wiseman's research provides real-life examples of individuals who have reached that elite distinction. Supervisors and others value these impact players because they work smarter and produce top-notch results. Often the work they do is not part of their job description, but they smartly complete the tasks because they are needed. Like a magnet, they are drawn to opportunities that add value, make a difference, and make their supervisors' jobs easier. They step up to address a need and step out of the impact player mindset when the job is through. Then they find another critical workplace opportunity to explore.

Impact Players is for any employee who has room to improve on the job. Breathing new life into work takes time. For the best long-term results, read the book carefully, analyze it, and then reanalyze it to implement a new mindset. If you or anyone on your team, for example, is struggling with remote work or considering resigning, first try a mindset shift.

What better time than now to step up and step out at work with greater focus and passion? It takes effort to move into the impact player mindset Wiseman has identified. Work at it daily to solidify your purpose, and be consistent in practicing the skills.

Once a leader learns what it takes to be an impact player, a logical next focus is building a whole team of impact players. Wiseman says that everyone has the ability to excel if they have the right mindset.