In What Got You Here Won’t Get You There (2007), Marshall Goldsmith leverages decades of executive coaching to help successful leaders identify and overcome the subtle interpersonal flaws that hinder their career growth. Goldsmith argues that the very behaviors that propelled leaders to the top can become invisible barriers in their continued advancement and relationship-building.
Common Interpersonal Pitfalls
- Credit Stealing & Humility Deficit: Exaggerating one’s role in successes or downplaying contributions of others.
- Premature Judgment: Dismissing colleagues’ ideas without full consideration.
- Poor Listening: Failing to provide others with genuine attention and respect.
- Over-Competitiveness: Prioritizing winning over collaborative progress.
- Ineffective Communication: Offering hurtful or unfiltered remarks before considering their impact.
Each of these behaviors often arises unconsciously; leaders typically underestimate their own negative impact, while employees feel it acutely.
The 12–18 Month Change Process
- Diagnosis & Feedback Collection
- Solicit anonymous feedback and observe nonverbal cues (eye contact, seating patterns).
- Engage a neutral facilitator to interpret and present data.
- Ownership & Apology
- Publicly acknowledge specific behaviors and apologize for past harm.
- Commit to concrete improvements.
- Feedforward
- Shift focus to future behaviors rather than past mistakes.
- Gather two specific suggestions per targeted behavior from colleagues.
- Behavioral Commitment
- Select one interpersonal skill at a time (e.g., active listening).
- Practice the new behavior diligently.
- Accountability Loop
- Regularly review progress with the team.
- Demonstrate changes openly until they become habitual.
Key Insights
- Self-Awareness Gap: Leaders often misperceive their own flaws.
- Simplicity vs. Ease: Solutions may be simple conceptually but require discipline to implement.
- Power of Apology: A sincere apology can rebuild trust swiftly.
- Future Focus (Feedforward): Forward-looking feedback accelerates positive change.
- Accountability Matters: Transparent progress checks make change real and visible.
- People-First Mindset: Effective leadership prioritizes empathy over ego.
Author’s Style
Goldsmith writes with a direct, no-nonsense tone, eschewing fluff for frank observations. He peppers his narrative with anonymized case studies—over 150 CEOs—to illustrate each lesson, and shares personal anecdotes from his roles as coach, husband, and parent.
Author’s Perspective
With a PhD in organizational behavior and 40+ years coaching top executives, Goldsmith is data-driven and results-oriented. He believes that small, surface-level behavior changes (e.g., saying “thank you” more often) yield outsized impacts on team morale and organizational success. His target audience includes senior leaders as well as any high achievers aiming to refine their interpersonal effectiveness.
If you enjoyed this summary of What Got You Here Won’t Get You There by Marshall Goldsmith you may also like:
