LEADERSHIP MUSINGS
(Marshall Goldsmith)
There are many renowned Leadership experts - Gurus of leadership, so to speak - who go on inventing and reinventing leadership ideas which work in given situations or in general situations. When they re-invent an idea, they may rename the idea and re-package the same.
There is sometimes the feeling that nothing in the world is really original. You discover things which are already there but were not in your focus.
Marshall Goldsmith is one of the Most acknowledged Management experts of Today. His most famous Books are :
1. What got you here won't get you there
2.Mojo : How to get it, How to keep it, How to get it back if you lose it
He has authored 34 Books and you can see details at http://www.marshallgoldsmithlibrary.com . His success recipes have invigorated successful CEOs and re-invigorates the unsuccessful ones. And, they kindle the leadership spirit in other aspiring ones.
Here are a few quotes and ideas from his kitty . I have collected them from his News paper Interviews, his articles etc. Some of the key words, I have put in Bold letters. These ideas, you will find, do provoke in us interest sufficient to change at least some thing is all those of us, who want our tomorrow to be better (that is, every tomorrow that will come in our lives):
- If buying diet books could make you thin, America would have the thinnest people in the world.
- When I ask people why they come to my class if they don't intend to do anything to improve their lives, they tell me that they didn't get around to it because they're over-committed, they have got too much on their plate just now. This is the 'tomorrow will be different' delusion. They believe it will be different in a few weeks or month, once they have taken care of certain things.The truth is : it will always be this crazy
- There is the high probability of one of many low probability events occurring to derail the plans - falling sick, an unexpected guest, an external crisis.
- Overcommitment can be as serious an obstacle to change as believing that you don’t need fixing or that your flaws are part of the reason you’re successful.”
- “We spend a lot of time teaching leaders what to do. We don’t spend enough time teaching leaders what to stop. Half the leaders I have met don’t need to learn what to do. They need to learn what to stop.” - Goldsmith sharing from Peter Drucker
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Any human, in fact, any animal will tend to repeat behavior that is followed by positive reinforcement. The more successful we become, the more positive reinforcement we get – and the more likely we are to experience the success delusion.
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There is a fundamental problem with all types of feedback: it focuses on the past, on what has already occurred—not on the infinite variety of opportunities that can happen in the future. As such, feedback can be limited and static, as opposed to expansive and dynamic.
- We can change the future. We can’t change the past. Feedforward helps people envision and focus on a positive future, not a failed past.
- After living with their dysfunctional behaviour for so many years (a sunk cost if ever there was one), people become invested in defending their dysfunctions rather than changing them.
- Feedback can reinforce personal stereotyping and negative self-fulfilling prophecies. Feedforward can reinforce the possibility of change. Feedback can reinforce the feeling of failure. How many of us have been “helped” by a spouse, significant other, or friend, who seems to have a near-photographic memory of our previous “sins” that they share with us in order to point out the history of our shortcomings. Negative feedback can be used to reinforce the message, “this is just the way you are”. Feedforward is based on the assumption that the receiver of suggestions can make positive changes in the future.
- Ultimately, our actions will say much more to employees about our values and our leadership skills than our words ever can. If our actions are wise, no one will care if the words on the wall are not perfect. If our actions are foolish, the wonderful words posted on the wall will only make us look more ridiculous.
- Successful people avoid High Risk, Low-reward situations and do everything in their Power to increase the odds in their favour.
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