Wisdom from an afternoon with Marshall Goldsmith and the Doerr Institute for New Leaders
Yesterday, on September 10, 2019, I had the privilege of attending a lecture by Dr. Marshall Goldsmith at the Doerr Institute for New Leaders at Rice University.
This event ticked a lot of boxes for me. I am a fan of Marshall’s work. I’m a Rice alum. I support leadership development work in universities. And I am continuing to explore my new full-time business of executive coaching.
I have been a fan of Goldsmith’s for years. He provides practical and relatable advice for leaders. As a coach himself, he also teaches other coaches and shares his knowledge and experience.
About Dr. Marshall Goldsmith
Marshall has a distinguished background. He works as a Professor of Management Practice at the Dartmouth Tuck School of business, authored or edited 38 books and numerous articles, speaks to audiences all over the world and coaches CEOs at some of the largest companies in the world.
I have often used his book “What Got You Here Won’t Get You There” in my coaching sessions with leaders. It helps them appreciate what behaviors they need to change as their roles change. He recently published a new book with Sally Helgesen titled “How Women Rise”.
For a more detailed biography, check out his website at www.marshallgoldsmith.com.
About the Doerr Institute for New Leaders at Rice University
The Doerr Institute for New Leaders sponsored the lecture. It is a cutting edge large-scale leader development enterprise at Rice University founded through a generous grant by John and Ann Doerr in 2015 . They aim to teach leadership skills to students and faculty at the university to prepare them for whatever career they choose.
The Doerr Institute for New Leaders describes their goal as ‘Our goal is to elevate the leadership capacity of Rice students across the university.‘
They hold four principles to guide their philosophy and provide the foundation for shaping tomorrow’s leaders.
- Leader development is a core function of the university
- Use of evidence-based techniques
- Use of professional people
- Objective measurement of outcomes
As a fan of science-based work, I applaud their use of evidence-based techniques and measurement of outcomes!
Key Messages from Goldsmith
In his two-hour presentation, Marshall covered many topics with the focus being on how to effectively coach leaders. Here are some of the gems he provided.
Wisdom from Peter Drucker via Marshall Goldsmith
Marshall shared three insights that he learned from Peter Drucker, the famous management thinker. He talked about Drucker being an important mentor for him who, in turn, made Marshall want to pass on knowledge.
The first insight is that our mission in life should be to make a positive difference in the world – not to prove we are smart or right. That sometimes requires staying quiet, letting go of an argument or letting someone else’s idea exist without you adding your own input.
The second insight is that every decision in life is made by the person who has the power to make the decision. Sometimes that person is not you, and you need to make your peace with that. Consider yourself in a selling mode to try and influence the decision maker.
The third insight focuses on commitment and energy regarding an issue. When facing an issue, you must ask yourself ‘Am I willing, at this time, to make the investment needed to make a positive difference on this issue?’ This applies to issues at home or work or more broadly in the world. If you cannot commit time and energy to solving a problem right now, let it go and focus on something you can control.
Other gems from Marshall Goldsmith
Marshall shared many important words of wisdom, and any of these could be an article of their own. Check out Marshall’s books for more details. Here are a few teasers to think about:
- Behavior change is easy to understand and hard to do. For example, we all know how to diet and exercise, but obesity is still a problem.
- As a person goes up the ladder, his or her suggestions become orders. Senior leaders need to understand how their words are interpreted.
- Leaders should help more and judge less.
- Give space for other people to own ideas by never saying ‘I already knew that’. Instead, say ‘Great idea!”
- Before you reply in an angry way to someone, breathe and ask yourself ‘Is it worth it?’
- When you are an individual contributor, it can be all about you. When you are a great leader, it must be all about them.
- Leaders can build their credibility by admitting they need help to be successful. That opens the door for their employees to ask for help as well.
- Be happy now. Friends and family should be the most important thing. Go for your dreams.
- Don’t sacrifice your career for your job.
My key takeaways – generosity and joy
My key takeaways from this lecture were not actually about the content. They were about Marshall himself.
He demonstrated a true graciousness and generosity. He believes that his role in life is to make the world a better place. One of the ways he does that is by helping leaders get better, so they can spread the ‘betterness’ to their teams.
Proving this generosity, he offered up use for free of any of his materials to other coaches and leaders. Also, many of his engagements – such as the one with the university and many with the military – are done pro bono. Although he does not earn money from every engagement, he meets the goal of making the world a better place.
Even beyond his generosity, what stuck out for me the most was his sense of joy. Marshall Goldsmith loves what he does. He loves sharing his ideas, teaching others and making the world a better place. I could see the joy in how his face lit up, hear the excitement in his voice and feel the energy he created in the room. He engaged the audience, laughed at himself and had fun.
He had fun at work, spread joy and made the world a better place. Yesterday was a good day.
