My guest is Marshall Goldsmith, one of the world’s leading executive coaches.
We discuss the surprising lessons he’s learned coaching some of the best CEOs in the world, where confidence comes from, common mistakes leaders make, why changing behavior is easier than changing perception, how to change others’ perceptions when you change your behavior, the three words that kill any conversation, the relationship between intensity and consistency, and so much more.
Listen and Learn: YouTube | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Transcript
With nearly four decades of hands-on experience, Goldsmith is the leading expert on leadership and coaching for behavioral change and has been recognized as one of the Top Ten Business Thinkers in the World. He is also the author of many leadership books, including What Got You Here Won’t Get You There and his most recent book, The Earned Life.
Here are a few highlights from our conversation:
If you don’t change your beliefs about yourself it can be hard to change your behavior. (Share this on Twitter)
People don’t get better because of me. They get better because of themselves and the people around them. (Share this on Twitter)
Never make your value as a human being conditioned on the results of what you’re trying to achieve. (Share this on Twitter)
One of the key points is live your own life. And by the way, when you live in the past, you’re living someone else’s life. (Share this on Twitter.)
Our mission in life is to make a positive difference, not to prove we’re smart and not to prove we’re right. We are not here on earth to prove how smart we are. (Share this on Twitter.)
Timestamps:
00:00 – Intro
00:32 – What is leadership?
01:07 – Can anyone be a leader?
01:43 – Self-sabotaging beliefs about leadership
03:48 – How to change someone’s behavior
09:55 – How to go from “achiever” to “leader”
15:13 – Should leaders always add value?
17:47 – How to motivate others
21:03 – How Marshall chooses clients
24:05 – What really matters in life
32:21 – On the importance of good company
35:49 – How to get out of a results oriented culture
41:10 – How Marshall coaches people to turn the page
42:42 – How to coach leaders to think about diversity, inclusion, and blindspots
46:00 – Why leadership is scarce in major institutions
50:23 – Where communication goes wrong and how to fix it
59:57 – On “No,” “but,” and “however”
1:04:19 – How to disagree without being disagreeable
1:10:09 – On making better decisions
1:13:01 – On changing your environment
1:28:27 – On having rituals for taking a breath
1:29:18 – How Marshall defines success
