Reiter Mark - What got you here wont get you there : how successful people become even more successful

Copyright 2007 Marshall Goldsmith

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without the written permission of the Publisher. Printed in the United States of America. For information address Hyperion, 77 West 66th Street, New York, New York 10023-6298.

Book design by Gretchen Achilles

ISBN: 1-4013-8873-6

First eBook Edition: March 2007

Contents

The Trouble with Success

The Twenty Habits That Hold You Back from the Top

How We Can Change for the Better

Pulling Out the Stops

For over a decade I have worked with Marshall in corporations and seen him teach at Dartmouth. In my opinion, Marshall is the best at what he does, bar none. He has that rare combination that makes a great teacherthought leadership, classroom management, and presence. He is a tremendous asset to Tuck School at Dartmouth.

VIJAY GOVINDARAJAN, professor and director, Center for Global Leadership, Tuck School, Dartmouth

With great energy and excellent content, Marshall engaged, excited, and even enthralled his audience of several hundred participants at the Wharton Leadership Conference. Marshall was a star!

DR. MICHAEL USEEM, William and Jacalyn Egan Professor of Management and director of the Center for Leadership and Change Management, Wharton Business School, University of Pennsylvania

I consider Marshall to be the number one thought leader and coach in the field of leadership and executive development today. I sincerely appreciate his honest, straightforward, positive, and purposeful approach to executive coachingit is second to none.

LOUIS CARTER, president and CEO, Best Practice Institute, a global leader in creating and sustaining communities of practice

As the CEO of the Girl Scouts, I was working to help a great organization be the best that we could be. The first person Marshall volunteered to work with was methis sent an important message. I was exuberant about the experience, I improved, and we moved this process across the organization. Twenty-four years later, I am chairman of the Leader to Leader Instituteand we are still working together to serve leaders.

FRANCES HESSELBEIN, winner of the Presidential Medal of Freedom

Marshall is a dynamo. He helps highly successful people get better and better and better. His advice helps me enormously at work, but it makes an even bigger impact at home. My wife and kids stand up and applaud Marshall for helping me become a better husband and dad. What could be better than that?

MARK TERCEK, managing director, Goldman Sachs & Co.

At McKesson, we are on a missiontogether with our customersto fundamentally change the cost and quality of how health care is delivered. To fully realize the potential that lies in this transformation, our leaders must be able to demonstrate values-based leadership practices to maximize employee engagement each and every day. Marshalls teachings remind us of how personal growth and change are a never-ending journey.

JOHN HAMMERGREN, CEO, McKesson

A great coach teaches you how to improve yourself. Marshall is a great coach! He has a unique ability to help you determine what you can improve and what will have the greatest impact on the people you lead and love.

BRIAN WALKER, CEO, Herman Miller

Marshall is the coachs coach. No one is more of a listener, who learns from us (his students), from what we say or do not say. Taking from what he has heard, he molds for all of us a program to make us and our people better for having been in his presence.

ALAN HASSENFELD, chairman, Hasbro

Marshall Goldsmith has a simple, yet powerful approach for helping leaders excel. Its power lies not only in its simplicity, but in his unique ability to deliver practical insights that leaders can act upon. I seldom leave a session with Marshall without feeling a bit wiser than before.

JON KATZENBACH, founder, Katzenbach Partners, former director, McKinsey and Company, and author of many books, including The Wisdom of Teams

Marshall is the rock star of coaching. His adoration is well deserved. He cares about the people he works with. He focuses on their issues. He connects great people with other great people so that they can continue to learn. He is honest, helpful, bold, and sensitive. He focuses on what can be, not what has been, and creates a future unbound by the past.

DAVID ULRICH, leading HR consultant and author of many books, including Why the Bottom Line Isnt

Marshall has a unique gift and a rare skillthe gift to get beneath the surface issues to identify the core developmental needs that must be resolved for someone to be successful, and the skill to make the person aware of them in a no-nonsense manner that, somehow, stimulates change rather than creating denial and resistance.

STEVE KERR, CLO, Goldman Sachs & Co., former CLO, GE, and president, Academy of Management

In his charming, rascal-like manner, Marshall is able to address uncomfortable issues in a non-threatening way. As a result, not only does the leader get betterthe whole team gets better!

GEORGE BORST, CEO, Toyota Financial Services

Marshall has helped me personally to improve as a leader and has provided the tools and dynamics to turn a well-functioning management team into a high-performance team where all the members have improved individually and considerably added to team performance.

DAVID PYOTT, CEO, Allergan

While Cessna focused on continuous improvement of business results, Marshall helped me focus on leadership team continuous improvement. The impact is amazing. His practical no-nonsense approach is making a positive impact both professionally and personally on all of us. I have never had so much fun working on such a tough topic. Thank you, Marshall!

JACK PELTON, CEO, Cessna

Marshall Goldsmith is the worlds greatest coach because he has extraordinary life skills, the ability to connect deeply with others while remaining objective, and a passion for sharing everything he knows. He focusesand helps others to focuson what matters most in life, and brings unforgettable insights and excitement to every encounter.

SALLY HELGESEN, global expert on developing women leaders and author of The Female Advantage and The Web of Inclusion

As a coach, Marshall is like a best friend who tells you honestly what you need to know in the spirit of helping his best friend to do even better. He does this with genuine feedback from your colleagues, properly interpreted, which is actionable. He helps you to create a feedback loop which helps to make you a better leader and to measure how much you have improved. As a CFO, I believe in measurement!

JIM LAWRENCE, vice chairman and CFO, General Mills

Marshall is proactive on your behalf ... you dont need to ask ... he just offers up what he can ... whenever he can! I am thankful that he has been in my life since our grad school days and for continuing to give me that straight talk on my own soft spots!

BEVERLY KAYE, world authority in career planning and author of Love Em or Lose Em: Getting Good People to Stay

Seasoned executives often have a difficult time accepting that they can get better and understanding what they need to do to get there. No one operates at this level better than Marshall Goldsmith. The difference he has made with me is truly exceptional and the only thing better is what he has been able to help me do with my senior executive team. Marshall is truly an exceptional person and coach.

BOB CULLEN, CEO, Thomson Healthcare and Scientific

Marshall Goldsmith has been praised as:

a great thinker and leader... [in] the field of management by the American Management Association;

a top executive educator by The Wall Street Journal;