Reading Today: What Got You Here Won't Get You There

I picked up the book What Got You Here Won’t Get You There by Marshall Goldsmith about 4 months ago and it is one of the few books this year that I have read from cover to cover. Now that I have read the whole thing I can attack it chunky-style, reading paragraphs here and there.

I really like Marshall Goldsmith (he is just a neat guy and speaks/writes in a gentle way)(kind of the polar opposite approach of Tom Peters who I also really really like). Goldsmith gives a lot of tips in this book for moving from point A (where you are today) to point B (where you want to be).

The book’s title sums things up pretty good, and the content is easy to follow and nicely categorized into four sections: (1) The Trouble with Success; (2) The Twenty Habits That Hold You Back from the Top; (3) How We Can Change for the Better; and (4) Pulling Out the Stops.

I have been recommending this book to leaders that come to me for advice/coaching.

Here’s my chunky review. For the non-chunky version you will have to read the book.

Section One: The Trouble With Success-- Success feels really good, and builds confidence. The problem is that it is easy to think that you are responsible for your success and that you naturally will be successful in the future. That kind of thinking can lead to failure: you need to realize that just because you are successful doesn’t mean that you will rise to the top. In fact a lot of the habits and behaviors that got you to where you are today might not be sustainable.

Section Two: The Twenty Habits That Hold You Back From the Top--Goldsmith gives a great run-down on 20 habits that we can acquire along the way, which can hold us back. When I read these I said for some of them “that’s me” and for others “that’s that other guy, he’s such a jerk.” So my advice is go down the list, pick a couple of these and work on them, and keep you self-awareness high to see if you can catch yourself behaving in one of these destructive ways.

1. Winning too much: The need to win at all costs and in all situations - when it matters, when it doesn’t, and when it’s totally beside the point.

2. Adding too much value: The overwhelming desire to add our two cents to every discussion.

3. Passing judgment: The need to rate others and impose our standards on them

4. Making destructive comments: The needless sarcasms and cutting remarks that we think make us sound sharp and witty.

5. Starting with “No,” “But,” or “However” : The overuse of these negative qualifiers which secretly say to everyone, “I’m right. You’re wrong.”

6. Telling the world how smart we are: The need to show people we’re smarter than they think we are.

7. Speaking when angry: Using emotional volatility as a management tool.

8. Negativity, or “Let me explain why that won’t work”: The need to share our negative thoughts even when we weren’t asked.

9. Withholding information: The refusal to share information in order to maintain an advantage over others.

10. Failing to give proper recognition: The inability to praise and reward.

11. Claiming credit that we don’t deserve: The most annoying way to overestimate our contribution to any success.

12. Making excuses: The need to reposition our annoying behavior as a permanent fixture so people excuse us for it.

13. Clinging to the past: The need to deflect blame away from ourselves and onto events and people from our past; a subset of blaming everyone else.

14. Playing favorites: Failing to see that we are treating someone unfairly.

15. Refusing to express regret: The inability to take responsibility for our actions, admit when we’re wrong, or recognize how our actions affect others.

16. Not listening: The most passive-aggressive form of disrespect for colleagues.

17. Failing to express gratitude: The most basic form of bad manners.

18. Punishing the messenger: The misguided need to attack the innocent who are usually trying to help us.

19. Passing the buck: The need to blame everyone but ourselves.

20. An excessive need to be “me”: Exalting our faults as virtues simply because they’re who we are.

(There’s also a 21^st habit, which is goal obsession.)

Section Three: How We Can Change For The Better-- Goldsmith gives a roadmap to correcting these behaviors and (possibly) setting yourself up for success. They are all common sense.

Feedback

Apologizing

Telling the world, or advertising

Listening

Thanking

Following up

Practicing “feedforward” (asking what can you do better in the future)

Section Four: Pulling Out the Stops-- This chapter talks about the special situations that leaders are in and their responsibilities for orchestrating change in people.