Grow Your Multiplying Effect: Visualizing Your Professional Impact

Written by Dr. Ricardo N. Calvo one of the amazing coaches in our Trusted Coaches Network. Learn more about him and his approach to coaching here.

Years ago, I mentored a rising project manager who later became a Senior Vice President at a top engineering and environmental firm. During our mentoring sessions, we discussed how she was a “reluctant leader” - leading by example, she did not see herself as a leader. She then embraced the idea that, in environmental consulting and professional services in general, your career is not about titles or positions, but about your impact. 

One powerful way to understand and grow your impact is through applying the concept of the Multiplying Effect, the conviction that your career will grow proportionally to the expanding effect of your professional actions. 

Your Multiplying Effect can take many forms and your career may develop along several pathways for career growth. For example, in consulting firms, there are three primary business areas: 

• Marketing and business development: Focus on generating sales and developing long-term clients.
• Operations: Focus on maximizing profit and managing teams to optimize performance.
• Technical: Focus on technical expertise. 

Early in your career, you may want to participate in all these paths, but your abilities and interests will stir you in a direction that maximizes your potential and your Multiplying Effect. You may grow to be the premier technical expert in your field, the best project manager, the CEO of the firm, or perform these roles along your career.  

A Multiplying Effect Diagram (MED) helps you visualize and manage this growth. It is a dynamic map of the people, projects, and organizations you touch—and how your leadership multiplies through them. By diagramming your Multiplying Effect – today and in the future –, you can identify where your influence is strong, where it is growing, and where you want it to expand.

For example, early in your career, your influence may reach only your immediate supervisor and project managers. In your first job out of school, you will sit at your (remote?) desk and wait for project managers or your supervisor to assign tasks to you. They will tell you what they need, give you guidance on what they expect, and tell you how many hours you have to complete the task. At this moment, your Multiplying Effect is simple and limited (Figure 1). You focus on doing an excellent job: complete the task well, on time, and, if possible, take it one step forward. Your supervisor and project managers will be impressed and spread the word about how good you are. This is the beginning of the growth of your Multiplying Effect. 

As you gain experience, your sphere of impact expands: you lead projects, mentor others, manage client relationships, and contribute to professional communities. Ten years in, you might be shaping industry standards, driving business growth, and inspiring the next generation of professionals (Figure 2).

The MED is a tool, so adapt it to your needs. You can format it as you see fit, annotate it, draft your next expansion in your career, add goals and schedules, and track your progress. I revise mine every couple of years and it has served me well. 

Applying the Multiplying Effect mindset is not just about career planning, it is about purposeful career amplification. Whether you are just starting out or leading major initiatives, understanding your Multiplying Effect can help you grow with purpose, lead with impact, and build a legacy in the environmental field.

I invite you to create two MEDs: one for where you are today in your career and one for where you want to be in five years. Do not overthink it. Draft it by hand, annotate it, add the details you need to visualize your Multiplying Effect. I hope it is a useful exercise and, if you want, please share your impressions with us!

Book your Power Hour call with Ricardo!