Goldsmith: What Got You Here Won’t Get …
A book to teach high level executives how to climb further up the ladder is also a primer for each of us in how to improve our interpersonal relationships.
Marshall Goldsmith’s What Got You Here Won’t Get You There addresses twenty interpersonal behavioral flaws that limit the success of the executives he coaches. In working with
high level, successful executives, Goldsmith’s coaching involves identifying and correcting the interpersonal weaknesses that limit further success. It turns out this book is a wonderful compendium of personal growth tips.What Got You Here Won’t Get You There, at first might seem to be a book to boost Goldsmith’s image and reputation as a highly successful, well-paid executive coach. In reality it is a treasure of personal development ideas for each of us.
If you can get past the tiresome references to how much Goldsmith is paid to coach executives who earn staggering levels of compensation themselves, you’ll find twenty behavioral flaws that limit the personal development and growth of all human beings.
It’s a shame Goldsmith addressed his message primarily to executives, for there is something here for everyone working to be a better person. Reading his list of twenty behavioral flaws, I found myself identifying with far more than I want to admit.
His work with thousands of executives provides Goldsmith with a wealth of information and experience about the personal development process. He demonstrates the insight and intelligence to understand just what we can do to improve ourselves in critical interpersonal areas.
His processes for identifying and correcting interpersonal flaws are straightforward, common sense, yet brilliantly to the point. For example, to identify the limiting factors in our relationships with others, whether at home or in the boardroom, ask. Ask those we interact with on a regular basis. Before you write this off as simply common sense, how many times have each of us tried to solve an interpersonal problem without involving the other party?
The first step he requires of someone working to improve might surprise you: Apologize.
Apologize to those who have been hurt, shortchanged, or limited in any way by your interpersonal flaws. Brilliant. Effective. Humbling. Goldsmith says, “…I regard apologizing as the most magical, healing, restorative gesture human beings can make.”
For those of us on a journey of purposeful personal development and growth, Goldsmith’s book is a golden opportunity to identify blind spots in our relationships and flaws in our daily behaviors.
Pick up a copy of What Got You Here Won’t Get You There, prepare yourself to overlook the emphasis on executives (unless you are one) and on six and seven figure earnings (unless you earn them, too), and start eliminating the behavioral flaws that are keeping you from reaching the next level in your personal growth and development.