April 7, 2019
What got you here won't get you there by Marshall Goldsmith: squashing the superstitions of your success
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About the Author
World-renowned business educator and coach, Dr. Marshall Goldsmith is the leading expert in his field. His singular ability to get results for top leaders has drawn over 150 CEOs and their management teams to address change in the workplace. They want what Dr. Goldsmith offers: practical and proven methods.
Marshall has written three New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestsellers – Triggers, MOJO and What Got You Here Won’t Get You There.
Thinkers50 has recognized Marshall Goldsmith as one of the World’s Most-Influential Business Thinkers for the past ten years.
Source: http://www.marshallgoldsmith.com
Click here to buy on The Book Depository
About the Book
In this book, Marshall shows you how to climb those last few rungs on the corporate ladder.
The corporate world is filled with executives, men and women who have worked hard for years to reach the upper levels of management. They’re intelligent, skilled, and even charismatic. But only a handful of them will ever reach the pinnacle — and as executive coach Marshall Goldsmith shows in this book, subtle nuances make all the difference.
These are small “transactional flaws” performed by one person against another (as simple as not saying thank you enough), which lead to negative perceptions that can hold any executive back. Using Goldsmith’s straightforward, jargon-free advice, it’s amazingly easy behaviour to change.
Source: http://www.marshallgoldsmith.com
Links
https://www.marshallgoldsmith.com/library/
BIG IDEA 1 (3:06) - What got you here, won’t get you there. The more senior and more experienced we become, the more delusional we get. We think that because we behave like this, we have achieved that. Therefore our behaviour must equal our success. Marshall argues that this is superstitious belief. He said that correlation does not equal causation and that our results are sometimes IN SPITE of our behaviour, not because of.
This kind of delusion or superstition means that when we are challenged by others we get confused, we overestimate our contributions and underestimate our flaws. The cleverer we are, the better we are at backward rationalisation. Fundamentally, just because you have reached a certain level of seniority doesn’t mean it’s going to be the same behaviour or actions that will get you to the next level.
BIG IDEA 2 (5:00) Be selfish to be selfless. The book is about doing more for others and putting yourself aside. It is about how as you get more senior you need to be focusing less about your own ambitions and success, and more about helping create success for others.
Marshall pointed out though that for leaders to start doing things for others, they first need to tap into their own motivations - what’s in it for them? People are motivated by power, money, popularity and status. Only if one of these is threatened, does one consider changing something.
Being selfish first, before selfless can be a catalyst for change.
BIG IDEA 3 (7:15) - Knowing what to stop. Stopping can be one of the most effective strategies to move things forward and change behaviours. This is compared to strength based approach which involves using your strengths more (usually adding more things to do). There are twenty common flaws that Marshall identified in the book which he called ‘interpersonal annoyances’ which can be overcome by stopping something.
The examples mentioned in the book are adding to much value, telling the world how smart you are, starting sentences with no or but, speaking when angry, an excessive need to be yourself, failing to express gratitude, not listening, claiming credit that you don’t deserve, withholding information and failing to give proper recognition.
Here’s the link to the full list of 20: The 20 Bad Habits That Hold You Back
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Music By: I Get Up ByJohn Isaac
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