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What Got You Here Won't Get You There
August 24, 2012
You’ve heard the story, or maybe it’s yours…
You’re hard working, intelligent. You meet all your goals and consistently exceed expectations. Your supervisor raves about the quality of your work and that your performance rises above your peers. Yet, year after year, you are not recognized and do not get promoted.
What Got You Here Won’t Get You There by Executive Coach Marshall Goldsmith discusses reasons why professionals don’t achieve greater success, and explains that this most often occurs because common workplace habits need to be broken.
In a recent Third Sector Innovations’ training, I heard a quote, “CEOs are hired for their intellect and business expertise, and fired for their lack of emotional intelligence” (Goleman, 2006, Emotional Intelligence). Goldsmith points out that the skills that got you to a given level of success – intellect and business expertise – may not be enough, and that certain behaviors – emotional intelligence – may hold you back from greater success. He argues that bad habits often are not based in personality or intellect: “What we’re dealing with here are challenges in interpersonal behavior, often leadership behavior.” He says that these “transactional flaws” are typically unconscious and manifest when working with – and, ultimately, against – others.
There is comfort in the fact that these “flaws” are not hard wired, and can be changed with the right motivation. Goldsmith talks about ways coaching can uncover the behaviors that hold you back…but that’s the easy part. The hard part is admitting the habit, realizing the habit is detrimental to career/life growth, and then finding the motivation to change; only then can the work begin and change/growth occur.
What Got You Here Won’t Get You There is a great guide to understanding what behaviors may be interfering with your success. It can help you to better recognize yourself and decide on next steps to moving forward in your career and otherwise finding your greatness!
You’re hard working, intelligent. You meet all your goals and consistently exceed expectations. Your supervisor raves about the quality of your work and that your performance rises above your peers. Yet, year after year, you are not recognized and do not get promoted.
What Got You Here Won’t Get You There by Executive Coach Marshall Goldsmith discusses reasons why professionals don’t achieve greater success, and explains that this most often occurs because common workplace habits need to be broken.
In a recent Third Sector Innovations’ training, I heard a quote, “CEOs are hired for their intellect and business expertise, and fired for their lack of emotional intelligence” (Goleman, 2006, Emotional Intelligence). Goldsmith points out that the skills that got you to a given level of success – intellect and business expertise – may not be enough, and that certain behaviors – emotional intelligence – may hold you back from greater success. He argues that bad habits often are not based in personality or intellect: “What we’re dealing with here are challenges in interpersonal behavior, often leadership behavior.” He says that these “transactional flaws” are typically unconscious and manifest when working with – and, ultimately, against – others.
There is comfort in the fact that these “flaws” are not hard wired, and can be changed with the right motivation. Goldsmith talks about ways coaching can uncover the behaviors that hold you back…but that’s the easy part. The hard part is admitting the habit, realizing the habit is detrimental to career/life growth, and then finding the motivation to change; only then can the work begin and change/growth occur.
What Got You Here Won’t Get You There is a great guide to understanding what behaviors may be interfering with your success. It can help you to better recognize yourself and decide on next steps to moving forward in your career and otherwise finding your greatness!
