What Got You Here Won't Get You There

I've had the pleasure of serving on the board of the Leader to Leader Institute (formerly the Peter Drucker Foundation for Non-Profit Management) for the past several years, and one of the founders and my fellow board members is Marshall Goldsmith.   He's written a powerful new book that's rocketed to the top of the business charts since it was released in January 2007 - What Got You Here Won't Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More Successful.    You can find it on Amazon, or at my favorite online bookstore and in my favorite version: audio read by the author - at Half.com. 

Marshall is widely regarded as one of the world's best Executive Coaches and Experts on Leadership.   Among the many leaders he's worked with is Alan Mulally, the new President and CEO of Ford and recipient of the inaugural Leader of the Future award. 

Marshall gives straight insight based on working with hundreds of executives over the years, and focuses on the traits that are holding them back, the ones that if understood and addressed properly can help them take their careers and personal lives to the next level.

There's a section on The Twenty Habits That Hold You Back from the Top.   Some of my favorites that I've seen in practice are Adding Too Much Value, the overwhelming desire to add our two cents to every discussion; and always "Starting with No, But or However" and overusing negative qualifiers that say, "I'm right, you're wrong."

Marshall is also giving away virtually everything he's done at http://www.marshallgoldsmithlibrary.com - buy the book and then go there for more - you'll definitely learn something from a master. 

Comments

[Marshall Goldsmith]

Dear Chris - Greetings from London! Thank you for this nice post. I hope that your readers like What Got You Here Won't Get You There. Thanks as well for the reference to my library. We have had visitors from 165 different countries, who have read, listened to or downloaded over 650,000 articles, columns or videos.

[David Armstrong]

Ironically...I'm trying to resist giving my two cents...;)

I've often been challenged with having the highest expectations of myself and those around me. It sometimes creates bipolar feedback, some people don't like it, others thrive. I've moved towards the middle sometimes, but often it only de-motivates those that thrive and rarely do the others produce more. Don't get me wrong..I work hard to be fair to everyone and also enjoy finding the diamond in the rough. I'll read the book..thanks.