Can you remember the last time you actually did something after reading an insightful article or book?

People often struggle to make the shift from planning to action. Why? There are two critical factors that need to be aligned: mindsets and envisioning behaviors.

The right mindset is critical. Mindsets are the deep self-acknowledgement that provides you with the essential drive to make a shift. However, mindset alone cannot create change – you also need to envision how new behaviors fit into your daily life.

Envisioning behaviors is the process of seeing the moments and opportunities where you can actually leverage new insights to create change. By taking the time to imagine what a new action looks like, you are much more likely to shift your behavior.

Enabling mindset and behavior shifts is a critical skill for today’s leaders – especially those that want to leverage their team to its fullest potential. This type of leader is called a Multiplier.

A Multiplier is someone who believes that they can access more of their team’s intelligence by tapping into each individual’s greatest strengths. This concept was created by Liz Wiseman, NYT best-selling author of Multipliers, a book of the same name, which shares research on the subject.

The Multipliers concept is intended to trigger leaders to reflect and analyze the impact they have on their team in every critical moment and interaction. Thus, in order to catalyze real change based on mindsets and envisioning new behaviors, you need to:

1. Relive critical moments when you interacted with your team.

Consider a typical business moment – a project status meeting, for example. This can be a time when you reinforce the company strategy, when a team member is liberated to try a new idea, or when an average performer is challenged to be great. This is exactly the type of moment when you can alter your behavior to amplify your team’s intelligence.

However, in the moment, you might not have the opportunity to critically examine how what you say or do can achieve optimal results. So, it’s important to take time post-interaction or even preemptively imagine scenarios where you can help your team tap into more of their natural intelligence.

2. Identify the optimal behaviors.

In advance of or after a meeting, think critically about what was said and what each employee did as a result. Was there a time when you could have encouraged an employee to speak up? Or when your team member who always shares their ideas could have listened more carefully to others? Thinking through these scenarios to examine how you can encourage your team members to leverage their best skills is critical for improving teamwork and maximizing intelligence.

3. Practice coaching your team in a risk-free environment.

While you can certainly practice role-playing these interventions among your colleagues, the best way to exercise a Multipliers’ mindset is in a risk-free environment such as a customized business simulation. In a simulated experience, you’ll easily be able to relive the critical moments, identify optimal behaviors, and practice them over and over again.

Making the shift from planning to action is a significant challenge, but by engaging a Multipliers mindset, revisiting critical moments, implementing optimal behaviors, and practicing team interventions, you’re certain to be able to leverage even more of your team’s intelligence than you ever imagined.