I thoroughly enjoyed Liz Wiseman's descriptions of impact players and how they approach challenging work situations in her book, Impact Players.
I’ve also included at the end the following references I thought was helpful:
15 Ways to Alienate Your Boss
15 Ways to Earn Trust w/ Your Boss
On Messy Problems
He saw people spending too much time on presentation slides, developed a tool to fix that, rolled it out globally. He saved us hundreds of hours of work.
It wasn’t her job. She just did it.
Repeatedly pivots to become the expert in what is needed.
Looked at the whole picture, then fixed the problem for everyone.
On Unclear Roles
You don’t need to ask him to do something, he just starts it.
She gives credit to others and doesn’t need to claim [all] the success.
She makes everything better.
On Unforeeen Obstacles
It is more often that he’ll remind me of a deadline than I have to remind him.
She recognizes problems and issues before they become big problems and solves them. She doesn’t rely on anyone else to solve her problems.
He can hit a roadblock, figure out a way around it, and keep on moving rather than getting disheartened and slowing down.
She sees things to the end even if she gets no credit.
On Moving Targets
He seeks out new information without being prompted.
She takes feedback as a positive.
She learns quickly from errors.
When I have feedback, she takes it and does something with it. She doesn’t get down, she sees it as a chance to improve.
On Unrelenting Demands
He frequently comes to me and says, “What can I take off your plate? How can I make your job easier?”
She avoids drama. Things don’t get to her. She is compassionate but refuses to be an actor in any soap opera.
She exudes positive energy. It’s just big fun working with her.
