What Got You Here Won't Get You There

I expected a standard business textbook. What I got was a comic book (aka "graphic novel"). Written by two new-age hippies.

What Got You Here Won't Get You There is an intriguing look into the nuances between those who climb to the top of the corporate ladder and those who fall just short, while everyone applauds their fall. We all have trouble seeing ourselves as others see us. Marshall Goldsmith takes dead aim at that problem by describing his unique methods for coaching candidates for top jobs into the corner offices. While that's intriguing in and of itself, Dr. Goldsmith also reveals what he usually finds in such detail that you'll see the shadow of yourself spread out across the pavement in front of you. He does this so well that I felt truly mortified to think of the times when I fell for the many bad habits (that stall career and company progress) that he so eloquently describes here. What are these bad habits? I've paraphrased them below: Letting winning get in the way of relationships you need Dropping too many ideas on those who work for you Being judgmental rather than helpful Slamming people in public or behind their backs Making comments that indicate you disagree with everyone that's just been said Showing off how smart you think you are Saying anything in anger Being negative Keeping secret what others need to know Not recognizing the contributions others make Claiming undeserved credit Refusing to take responsibility for bad results Being focused on the past Favoring those who agree with you Not apologizing Ignoring what others are saying or shutting them up Being ungrateful Shooting the messenger who brings bad news Blaming others for everything Insisting on sticking with you bad habits after you're aware of them Dr. Goldsmith also tells a lot of stories about how he struggles in some of these areas; I thought the best lessons came from those examples. It's clearly a lot easier to describe what needs to be done than to do it. For those who are or want to be top executive coaches, here's a chance to learn a lot about how a master does it. He relies on lot of 360 degree interviews which are repeated to test for progress (or regression). Dr. Goldsmith also tries to open up bosses, peers, and subordinates so that they try to support the executive who is trying to change. I was particularly impressed by Dr. Goldsmith's compensation plan: He only gets paid if an executive improves in the eyes of those who work with the executive. Realize that his perspective is on those who have great technical and leadership skills . . . but who have interpersonal bad habits that are killing performance. Turn some of these negatives into neutrals or less negatives, and great results may follow. In a sense, this book is a good companion to Know-How by Ram Charan who looks at those who have great interpersonal skills as leaders but don't have the technical ability to know what to do. If you pay attention to the lessons in both books, you'll probably do better. Ultimately, I was, however, skeptical of Dr. Goldsmith's suggestions for how you might duplica

Reality strikes you quickly when reading this book. Many success books focus on mantras like "You're in it to win" and "Toot your own horn" and "Never regret only learn". While these are good suggestions, they appear shallow after reading Marchall Goldsmith's book. For example he suggests that you can win too much, you can talk too much about yourself and you can focus too much on learning from your mistakes and not enough on admitting them to your peers and employees. This is valuable advice. The author separates goal obsession as a distinct problem because many people become so focused on accomplishing a goal that they forget the mission. This can easily happen. For example, you may want to become a manager or executive manager some day and so you decide to go back to college. However, ten months later, when you are making decisions about the classes to take, you find yourself selecting classes you think you would enjoy instead of classes that will give you the skills you'll need as an executive manager. Why? You're focugin on the goal of getting that advanced degree and not on the mission of becoming an exectutive manager. The author gives the solution of F\feedback. The suggestion is that we cannot know how we really are in the workplace and life without feedback. This feedback can come from our managers, peers and employees. It can come from our family, friends and neighbors. He suggests that the feedback process should involve four commitments: -Let go of the past -Tell the truth -Be supportive and helpful - not cynical or negative -Pick something to improve yourself - so everyone is focused more on improving than judging From here, the author moves on to specific actions such as apologizing and listening that will help you get "there". Finally, the book reveals change and how to accomplish it in personal ways. Overall, I felt the book was enlightening and well worth the read. It does take the phrase, "If you keep doing what you've always done, you'll keep getting what you've always got" to a new level. Tom Carpenter.

Had I had access to the ideas in Marshall Goldsmith's book years ago, I would probably be better off. At my advanced age, I have spent too much time working for myself. Sure, I recognize the importance of teams and team work. But I refer descending from my aerie, joining the team, completing the project and returning to the solace of personal contemplation Years ago, I found this works best for me. Goldsmith, an executive coach, argues in his book What Got You Here Won't Get You There, that success delusion, holds most of us back. We, (read I): 1. Overestimate our (my) contribution to a project. 2. Take credit, partial or complete, for successes that belong to others. 3. Have an elevated opinion of our (my) professional skills and our (my) standing among our (my) peers. 4. Ignore the failures and time-consuming dead-ends we (I) create. 5. Exaggerate our (my) projects' impact on net profits by discounting the real and hidden costs built into them. All of these flaws are borne out of success, yet here is where the book becomes interesting. Unlike others, Goldsmith does limit himself to teaching us (me) what to do. He goes the next step. He teaches us (me) what to stop. He does not address flaws of skill, intelligence or personality. No, he addresses challenges in interpersonal behavior, those egregious everyday annoyances that make your (my) workplace more noxious that it needs to be. They are the: 1. Need to win at all costs. 2. Desire to add our (my) two cents to every discussion. 3. Need to rate others and impose our standards on them. 4. Needless sarcasm and cutting remarks that we (I) think make us sound witty and wise. 5. Overuse of "No," "But" or "However." 6. Need to show people we (I) are (am) smarter than they think we (I) are (am.) 7. Use of emotional volatility as a management tool. 8. Need to share our (my) negative thoughts, even if not asked. 9. Refusal to share information in order to exert an advantage. 10. Inability to praise and reward. 11. Annoying way in which we overestimate our (my) contribution to any success. 12. Need to reposition our (my) annoying behavior as a permanent fixture so people excuse us for it. 13. Need to deflect blame from ourselves (myself) and onto events and people from our (my) past. 14. Failure to see that we (I) am treating someone unfairly. 15. Inability to take responsibility for our (my) actions. 16. Act of not listening. 17. Failure to express gratitude. 18. Need to attack the innocent, even though they are usually only trying to help us (me). 19. Need to blame anyone but ourselves (me). 20. Excessive need to be "me." 21. Goal obsession at the expense of a larger mission. It is too late for me. I am too dysfunction. If there is still hope for you, this book is a witty, well-written start to addressing your unconscious, annoying habits that limit your ability to achieve a higher level of success.

First, full disclosure: I LOVE Marshall Goldsmith. He is a regular guest speaker at my course "Creativity and Personal Mastery" at both Columbia Business School and London Business School. He generously contributed a blurb for my book "Are YOU Ready to Succeed: Unconventional Strategies for Achieving Personal Mastery in Business and Life". He has given me sage advice many times. He is a good friend and trusted colleague. Despite our relationship I have not reviewed any of his other books. Most are quite good but I am not sure that I would recommend any with the possible exception of Leader of the Future 1 & 2. (More disclosure - I have a small piece in the latter). This book is different. Run and get it. I'll tell you why. Marshall is lean as a rail, bald with a fringe of white hair and he cackles infectiously. If he was in a line up and you were picking persons that you thought would be spellbinding orators, you would pass on him. Yet, clad in his trademark green T-shirt and khaki trousers, he has repeatedly held my entire class in thrall. Many, many persons have told me that they got so much from his talk and thanked me for inviting him. It is this voice, conversational and common-sensical, that comes through in this book. The same voice comes through in his magazine columns but not in his other books. And it is gold. His insights are powerful. Here is an example: Have you ever had a subordinate come to you with a great idea? Your eyes light up and you exclaim "Brilliant!" You praise her effusively and suggest ways in which that idea could be made even better. In your mind you are being a supportive boss. Then you sit back and wait for her to follow through. But somehow she doesn't. The excitement and passion are simply not there. You chalk her down as "Lacks implementation effectiveness" and never even consider your own role in this failure. Some variation of this has happened to me many times and I never could figure out why. What you have done is "added too much value". Your comment of "brilliant" is a judgment and your suggestions for improvement are actually a takeover of her idea. Maybe you improved her original idea by 10% but you reduced her commitment by 50% or more. She no longer feels pride of ownership and this is what is reflected in the lackluster follow on performance. So what should you do instead? Read the book to find out!! Here is another example: The entire corporate world is hung up on the notion of feedback. When is the last time you jumped up and down with excitement, singing and dancing, at the thought of receiving 'feedback' from your boss? (You should see Marshall enact this roleplay - he is a SCREAM!!) Feedback brings about anxiety, defensiveness and self-justification. Marshall has a better way - feedforward. In essence the focus is on what needs to be done now to achieve a goal you want to reach instead of what you did right or wrong in the past. Trust me, it works a whole lot better. There are many, many