Oct 15, 2022
Marshall Goldsmith on the Essentials of Leadership
Marshall Goldsmith started his career out as a business school professor but ended up as one of the world’s top executive coaches. In Episode 142 of the Knowledge Project (one of our favorite podcasts), Shane Parrish interviews him at great length, covering the essentials of leadership.
Not surprisingly, much of his leadership advice comes down to controlling one’s ego- something that’s very hard to do if you’re very used to winning all the time.
Here are takeaways of the big ideas the podcast generated, both Marshall’s and our own:
FIND SOMETHING THAT MATTERS
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- You don’t need to win international acclaim. Just find something that matters and give your whole self to it.
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- Our value as human beings should never be reliant solely on our achievements because we don’t have full control of the outcomes. There are a million factors at play. Even if our outcomes are good, then what? There is a delicate balance between our past, present and future.
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- You’ll be far more happy and successful if you stop making it about you and start making it about the customer. Easier said than done, especially with folks used to *winning* all the time.
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- No amount of achievement will make up for lost humanity. Don’t confuse the two.
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- Life is not like it is on TV. The value is in the small, private moments, not the red-carpet, highlight-reel moments.
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- If you don’t believe it, you won’t change it.
EMBODY LEADERSHIP AS A MINDSET
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- In the past, leaders knew more about a subject area than their teams. The opposite is true today. This forces conversation, inclusion and feedback. If this is not the case, you’re hiring the wrong people.
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- Leadership requires the engagement of our deepest selves. No wonder it’s hard.
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- Understanding. Feeling. Caring. Doing. They are not the same.
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- Leadership- real leadership- happens at ALL levels of any organization. Like breathing, it’s something you do, something you embody, not something bestowed upon you.
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- They say “Do your best”, but what does that actually mean?
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- With every passing generation, we expect more and more from our leaders. We want them to be saints, scholars, warriors – all at the same time. No wonder, we’re all so exhausted.
STOP LIVING IN THE PAST OR IN THE FUTURE – EMBRACE NOW
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- Stop living in the past. It should be your last priority.
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- Think of all those previous lives you had- thousands of them- and how much they gave you over the years. Amazing, really. A bit of gratitude should be in order.
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- “When I get famous.” “When I make my first million.” “When I make partner.” There is no “when,” there’s just “now.” Stop making big plans and start living for a change.
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- Our former self often makes us cringe, but really, you should thank that person. That person put in a lot of work, getting you to where you are now.
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- Any fool can live in the past or the future. Living NOW is the hard part.
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- The Buddhists have a belief that every breath is a new person. So if you feel the need to start again, just stop. And breathe.
LEAVE YOUR EGO AT THE DOOR
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- The trouble with being smart is it’s addictive”. What else is there to say, really?
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- People who are used to “winning” all the time, like to compete with everything. Even with their spouses on who had the lousiest day that day. Lucky spouse.
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- Before you open THAT BIG MOUTH of yours YET AGAIN, ask yourself…
In case you missed it, we also featured Marshall Goldsmith in our daily email. For more podcast content like this, check out one of our latest episode reviews with John Cleese on creativity.
