What prevents us from making the changes we know will make us more effective leaders?

Great question. I may be the only executive educator who actually measures whether the participants in my leadership development courses actually do what I teach--and then measures if they are seen as becoming more effective leaders.

At the end of my sessions, I ask leaders (who have received 360-degree feedback) to follow up with their co-workers and ask for ongoing ideas about how they can continue to become more effective. A year later, about 70% do some version of this recommended follow-up (as reported by their co-workers, not by them); 30% do absolutely nothing.

I am not ashamed of these numbers;  I am happy. Not only are 70% of those who do their follow-up seen as becoming better leaders, the 30% who do absolutely nothing don't get any worse!

But to your question, what prevents the 30% from making the changes they know will make them more effective leaders?

Dropping the Ball

I had the chance to interview many of the 'do-nothings' with one of my clients a year later to ascertain why they had dropped the ball on their follow-up commitment.

Their answers had nothing to do with integrity, ethics, or values. The 'do-nothings' were good people with good values. They were intelligent people who felt bad about not following up with their co-workers.

If it wasn't lack of intelligence or values, why did 30% of the participants in my courses leave with the idea that they were going to put what they were taught into practice--and then let an entire year pass with no visible effort?

Excuses, Excuses

The answer has to do with a daydream. I have indulged in this daydream for years. In fact, you too may have had this same recurring daydream.

This daydream explains why the participants in my courses don't end up doing what they know they should. It also probably explains why you don't do many things in your life and career that you know you should.

The daydream goes like this:

"I am incredibly busy right now. In fact, I feel as busy as I have ever felt in my life. Sometimes my life feels a little out of control. But I am dealing with some very unique and special challenges right now. I think the worst of this will be over in a few months. Then I am going to take a couple of weeks to get organized, spend some time with my family, start my 'healthy life' program, and work on personal development."

One Tough Question

Have you ever had a daydream that vaguely resembles this dream? How long have you been having this same, repetitive dream? Most leaders I meet have been having it for years.

I have learned a hard lesson trying to help real people change real behavior in the real world. The 'couple of weeks' that you are fantasizing about are not going to happen. Look at the trend line. There is a good chance that tomorrow is going to be even crazier than today!

If you want to make real change, ask yourself this tough question: What am I willing to change now? Not 'in a few months.' Not 'when I get caught up.' Now. 

Now, take a deep breath. Forget your glorious plans. Accept the craziness of your life. Do what you can do now. Let go of everything else. And make peace with what is.

List the 'personal improvement' activities that you have been 'planning' to do - but have not quite 'got around to' yet.

Challenge yourself on each activity.

Get started on the activity within two weeks - or take it off the list - and quit tormenting yourself.

Life is good.

Marshall

Every two years there is a global survey to determine the world’s top 50 business thinkers. In 2009 Marshall's friend the late CK Prahalad was ranked #1 and Marshall was ranked #14. To participate in the 2011 Thinkers 50, visit http://www.thinkers50.com/vote.

My newest book, MOJO, is a New York Times (advice), Wall Street Journal (business), USAToday (money) and Publisher's Weekly (non-fiction) best seller. It is now available online and at major bookstores.

General Mills CEO Steve Sanger once told 90 of his colleagues: 'Last year my team told me that I needed to do a better job of coaching my direct reports. I just reviewed my 360-degree feedback. I have been working on becoming a better coach for the past year or so. I'm still not doing quite as well as I want, but I'm getting a lot better. My coworkers have been helping me improve. Also, I feel good about the fact that my scores on 'effectively responds to feedback' are so high this year.'

While listening to Steve speak openly to coworkers about his efforts to develop himself, I realized how much the world has changed. Twenty years ago, few CEOs received feedback from their colleagues--or candidly discussed that feedback and their personal developmental plans. Today, many respected leaders are setting a positive example by striving to develop themselves.

Organizations that crank out great leaders tend to have CEOs like Steve Sanger who are actively involved in leadership development. These organizations tend to actively manage their talent. They identify high-potential people, differentiate compensation, serve up the right development opportunities, closely watch turnover, and offer CEO support and involvement.

One of the best ways top executives can get their leaders to improve is to work on improving themselves. Leading by example can mean a lot more than leading by public-relations hype.

- Michael Dell is a perfect example. As a successful leader, he could easily have an attitude that says, 'I am Michael Dell and you aren't! I don't need to work on developing myself.' Michael, however, has the opposite approach. He sincerely discusses his personal challenges with leaders across the company. He is a living case study from whom everyone at Dell is learning. His leadership example makes it hard for any leader to act arrogant or to communicate that he or she has nothing to improve upon.

- Johnson & Johnson has successfully involved its executives in leadership development. Its top executive team regularly participate in a variety of leadership-building activities. Having a dialogue with the CEO about his business challenges and developmental needs makes it a lot easier for employees to discuss their own business challenges and developmental needs.

- At Northrop Grumman, CEO Kent Kresa and his leadership team reversed the company's poor image and engineered an amazing turnaround. From the beginning, Kent led by example. He communicated clear expectations for ethics, values, and behavior. He made sure that he was evaluated by the same standards that he set for everyone else.

As you work hard to improve yourself, you encourage the people around you to do the same thing.

Life is good.

Marshall

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Marshall Goldsmith Effective Leadership Video Training

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My newest book, MOJO, is a New York Times (advice), Wall Street Journal (business), USAToday (money) and Publisher's Weekly (non-fiction) best seller. It is now available online and at major bookstores.

When achievement is the result of a team effort - not just individual performance - we tend to overestimate our contribution to the final victory. I once asked three business partners to estimate their individual contribution to the partnership's profits. Not surprisingly, the sum of their answers amounted to more than 150% of the actual profit!  Each of the three partners thought she was contributing more than half.

This overestimation of our past success is true in almost any workplace. If you ask your colleagues (in a confidential survey) to estimate their percentage contribution to your enterprise, the total will always exceed 100%. There is nothing wrong with this. (If the total adds up to less than 100%, you probably need new colleagues.)

This "I have succeeded" belief, positive as it is in most cases, can become a major obstacle when behavioral change is needed.

Delusions of Superiority

Successful people consistently overrate themselves relative to their peers. I have asked more than 80,000 participants in my training programs to rate themselves in terms of their performance relative to their professional peers. We found that 80% to 85% rank themselves in the top 20% of their peer group, and about 70% rank themselves in the top 10%. The numbers get even more ridiculous among professionals with higher perceived social status, such as physicians, pilots, and investment bankers.

(M.D.s may be the most delusional. I once told a group of doctors that my extensive research had conclusively proven that half of all M.D.s had graduated in the bottom half of their medical school class. Two of the doctors insisted that this was impossible.)

Please remember this as you progress in the corporate world. The higher up we go - the more successful we become - the harder it may be for us to hear negative feedback. I ask my CEO clients to complete a simple exercise. Complete this sentence, "I am success because of ___," Then complete this sentence, "I am a success in spite of ___."

I have never met anyone who was so wonderful that he or she had nothing on the "in spite of" list. (If I did meet such a person, I would suggest that he or she work on "humility.") My readers are generally successful people. Make your own two lists: figure out your "in spite of" - and get to work.

Life is good.

Marshall

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My newest book, MOJO, is a New York Times (advice), Wall Street Journal (business), USAToday (money) and Publisher's Weekly (non-fiction) best seller. It is now available online and at major bookstores.

Editor's Note:  This is a story about how to retain peak performers and how to become a peak performer.

Retaining a peak performer: You've invested a lot in your top talent. You certainly don't want to see that investment go down the drain as they head over to the competition!  Here are some questions to unearth what's important to them and find out what you can offer to keep them in your organization.  

What accommodations do you make for unforeseen family issues? What transfers or global assignments can they anticipate? People may not ask these questions directly, but your answers will determine if they employ their talents with you or with the competition.

What Really Matters?
To peak performers: We encourage you to ask and answer the big questions about what really matters to reawake your passion for what you do. You might even decide to write your grandchildren.

This is what I actually did: Dear Yet to be Born Grandchildren, Greetings from the past! I was lucky to spend time with Peter Drucker. He encouraged people to ask, 'Who is the customer?' before they do anything.

I finally understood the importance of that question when Larissa MacFarquhar, a writer for the New Yorker, wrote a profile about me. Larissa spent two months traveling with me, and interviewing my family, my clients, and people who work with me. She then wrote a long story and published it for 800,000 people to read. This was a little scary, since some of the New Yorker profiles can be pretty negative, and I didn't get to read it ahead of time.

I originally thought that my 'customers' in doing this profile should be my clients--the people who pay me to do my work. I thought that maybe I should 'be careful of what I say' and try to act appropriately.

Maybe I should be careful not to embarrass anyone. But, as Larissa began to follow me around, I figured out who I really wanted to be my customers for this profile. It was you, my grandchildren. I decided that this profile was a special opportunity for you to get to know me.

I decided to just act like myself. If I had acted like someone who was too careful of what he said, it would have been a story about an imaginary person, not me.

Your grandmother and I discussed this, since she's in charge of our money. I told her to assume that we were going to lose $150,000 in business because of this profile.

I figured that by just acting like me, I might annoy someone who wouldn't want to work with me anymore. I figured that it would be worth the $150,000 to have a brilliant writer spend two months on a story about me that I could send to you.

As it turns out, I was glad that I just acted like me. I received approximately 300 e-mails about the profile. They almost all said the same thing: 'The good news is: It sounds just like you. The bad news is: It sounds just like you!' My fears about losing business as a result of this profile were unfounded. Not only did I not lose any business, I was later interviewed in the Harvard Business Review and many other publications.

I ended up with more clients--not fewer.

From this experience, I learned this lesson: Just be you. You are good enough. In the long run, any success you achieve, if you don't act like yourself, won't seem real anyway--you'll just feel like an imposter.

Do What's in Your Heart
I was one of the original developers of 360-degree feedback. I help successful leaders achieve a positive, longterm change in their behavior. I also try to help my clients (and everyone around them) have a happier life.

My greatest contributions in my career have come from stuff I invented.

No one can tell you how to do anything that hasn't been done before. To do anything creative, you simply have to make it up yourself as you go.

If you have an idea that sounds good to you, go for it. Just be you. Do what is in your heart. You may fail, but at least you try. Don't waste your life worrying too much about being normal.

Lots of people are normal. It is more fun to be different. Just be you.

When your grandchildren read the story of your life, make sure that it is really about you.

Life is good.

Marshall

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Marshall Goldsmith Effective Leadership Video Training

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My newest book, MOJO, is a New York Times (advice), Wall Street Journal (business), USAToday (money) and Publisher's Weekly (non-fiction) best seller. It is now available online and at major bookstores

Is your company competing for top talent? Do you participate in hiring decisions or developing leaders? If so, pay attention! The workforce is changing dramatically--in two years, there will be more members of the Millennial Generation than Baby Boomers. The work environment requires increased global savvy, virtual skill, and technological knowledge.

Rapid change is the order of the day, with global mergers, acquisitions and shifts--and the resulting talent and leadership challenge will likely determine the success or failure of your organization between now and 2020.

As they consider opportunities to advance their careers, talented 'high potentials' share five concerns.

1. To what degree can I trust you to develop my talents and skills? One talented manager asked for training, and was told that there was no budget for it. Despite the company's message of valuing the development of people, if training isn't in the budget, that statement isn't credible. When it comes to development, do your actions match your words? Will you use skilled coaches and mentors to help talented people leverage their strengths as well as identify and overcome blind spots?

2. To what extent will this job challenge me? Most satisfying jobs combine leveraging individual strengths with a strong learning curve--neither so flat as to lead to boredom nor so steep to lead to anxiety. One fast tracker remarked, 'Please help me anticipate routine, not make me discover it as an unpleasant surprise.' Peak performers seek challenges that prepare them for leadership positions.

3. How do you honor requests for 'next steps' in my career progression? With flatter organizations, the path upward requires lateral moves. People want to know how a lateral move will round out their skills and prepare them for taking larger roles. Help them see the big picture.

4. What opportunities will this job really lead to? People now expect to have several different careers (not just jobs), and they want to know how the skills they develop in this position will translate into other positions--and to other careers. As top talent is more likely to organization-hop, you must address this issue or expect that the best and brightest will eventually leave.

5. How much will you support my living a balanced life? People are interested in work-life integration issues.

What accommodations do you make for unforeseen family issues? What transfers or global assignments can they anticipate? People may not ask these questions directly, but your answers will determine if they employ their talents with you or with the competition.

Life is good.

Marshall

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Marshall Goldsmith Effective Leadership Video Training

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My newest book, MOJO, is a New York Times (advice), Wall Street Journal (business), USAToday (money) and Publisher's Weekly (non-fiction) best seller. It is now available online and at major bookstores

Dealing with Feedback Confidential 360-degree feedback is the best way for successful people to identify what they need to improve in their relationships. Successful people tend to have two big problems dealing with negative feedback:

1. they don't want to hear it from us, and
2. we don't want to give it to them.

Successful people are incredibly delusional about their achievements. Over 95 percent of them believe that they perform in the top half of their group! Giving people negative feedback means proving they are wrong. This works about as well as making them change--it's not going to happen.

Feedback rarely breaks through to successful people, even when you depersonalize the feedback by talking about the task. Their identities are often so closely connected to what they do that they take it personally when receiving negative feedback. They accept feedback that is consistent with their self-image and reject all other feedback.

It's also easy to see why we don't want to give feedback. Successful people have power over us--over our paycheck, advancement, job security.

The more successful these people are, the more power they have. Combine that power with the predictable 'kill the messenger' response to negative feedback, and you can see why emperors continue to rule without clothes.

When was the last time your efforts to prove the boss wrong worked as a career-enhancing maneuver? Traditional face-to-face negative feedback also focuses on the past (a failed past), not a positive future. We can't change the past. We can change the future. Negative feedback exists to prove us wrong (or at least we take it that way). Feedback can be used by others to reinforce our feelings of failure, or at least remind us of them-- and our reaction is rarely positive.

When your spouse or partner reminds you of your shortcomings, how well do you accept this? Negative feedback shuts us down. We close ranks, turn into our shell, and shut the world out.

I'm not trying to prove that negative feedback creates dysfunction.

Feedback is useful for telling us where we are and what we need to change.

Without feedback, we wouldn't ever know if we are getting better. We all need honest, helpful feedback to see where we are, where we need to go, and to measure our progress.

Such feedback is hard to find. But I have a foolproof method for securing it. When I work with a client, I first get confidential feedback from a dozen or more coworkers (selected by my client). Each interview lasts about one hour and focuses on: What is my client doing right, what does my client need to change, and how my (already successful) client can get even better! Since my clients pick their raters, it is hard for them to deny the validity of the feedback. I enlist these coworkers to assist the change process. I tell them: 'I'll be working with your boss for the next year. I don't get paid if he doesn't get better, and 'better' is defined by you and other coworkers.' People like hearing this.

Four Commitments: I then present these coworkers with four requests--the Four Commitments:

Commitment #1: Let go of the past.

Whatever real or imagined sins you have committed against people in the past, they are long past correction. You can't do anything to erase them. So, you need to ask people to let go of the past. This isn't easy. Most of us have never forgiven our parents, children, and spouses for not being perfect, and never forgiven ourselves. Without getting this first commitment, you can't shift people's minds away from critic toward helper.

Commitment #2: Tell the truth.

You don't want to work hard for a year, trying to get better based on what people tell you that you're doing wrong--and then find out that they really don't mean it. They are only saying what they think you want to hear. I'm not naive. I know people can be dishonest. But if you demand honesty from people, you can proceed with confidence that you're going in the right direction--and that you won't get a rude surprise at the end.

Commitment #3: Be supportive and helpful--not negative.

This is asking a lot of people--to be supportive, without being a cynic, critic, or judge.

People are just as likely to suspect or resent their bosses as respect and admire them. So you have to remove their judgmental impulses. Then they're more inclined to be helpful. They realize that if you get better, they win too: they get a kinder, gentler, better boss.

Commitment 4: Pick something to improve yourself.

This commitment helps everyone to focus on improving. You're creating parity, even a bond, between you and the other person.

Imagine if you announced that you were going on a diet. Most people wouldn't care. But if you ask a colleague to help you monitor your eating habits and stay on track, you get a more involved and sincere response. When you add reciprocity: 'Now, what would you like to change in yourself? I'd like to help you,' you enlist more support. Suddenly, you and your co-workers are engaged in the same struggle to improve.

Win-Win Exchange

In this two-way exchange, you and the other person also gain the strength to stick with it. Getting other people involved--and committed to changing something too--enriches the experience.

You not only change for the better because you're getting support from your coworkers, they change too because of what they learn by supporting you. Put equal emphasis on changing yourself and the people helping you.

Before you solicit feedback about yourself, find a few people to tell you the truth about yourself. If they qualify on all four commitments, invite them to supply and receive feedback.

Life is good.

Marshall

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Marshall Goldsmith Effective Leadership Video Training

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My newest book, MOJO, is a New York Times (advice), Wall Street Journal (business), USAToday (money) and Publisher's Weekly (non-fiction) best seller. It is now available online and at major bookstores

Most of any leader's annoying habits and interpersonal flaws are rooted in information compulsion.

Sharing and withholding are two sides of the same tarnished coin. For example, when you insist on adding more value, passing judgment, making destructive comments, announcing that you already know, or explaining why something won't work, you are compulsively sharing information-- convinced that you are making people smarter or inspiring them to do better, when you are more likely having the opposite effect. When you fail to give recognition, or claim credit you don't deserve, or refuse to apologize, or don't express your gratitude, you are withholding information.

Other annoying habits are rooted in a different compulsion--one that's centered on emotion. When you get angry, play favorites, or punish the messenger, you are succumbing to emotion-- and displaying it for all to see.

You either share information and emotion, or withhold them. It's good to share information that helps people and good to withhold information when it harms people (many secrets should be kept). The same goes for emotion: it's worth sharing sometimes, and other times, not worth it at all.

What Is Appropriate? When dealing with information or emotion, you need to consider if what you are sharing is appropriate. Appropriate information helps the other person; inappropriate information risks hurting someone. Discussing a rival company's good fortune can be positive if it gets your people to work harder, but it's inappropriate when it soils other people's reputations. Instruction is usually appropriate, to a point. It's the difference between someone giving you simple directions to their house and telling you every wrong turn you can make along the way. At some point, with too many red flags, you will get lost, confused, or wary of making the trip at all.

Emotion, too, must be shared appropriately.

For example, love is often an appropriate emotion, but even saying 'I love you' can be inappropriate if you employ it too often or at awkward moments. Conversely, anger can be a useful tool if you parse it out in small doses at opportune moments.

When sharing information or emotion, ask, 'Is this appropriate?' and 'How much should I convey?' Pause and pose these questions as guidelines for anything you do or say.

You can change your annoying behavior-- and your colleagues will notice.

Life is good.

Marshall

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My newest book, MOJO, is a New York Times (advice), Wall Street Journal (business), USAToday (money) and Publisher's Weekly (non-fiction) best seller. It is now available online and at major bookstores.

Like many young Ph.D. students, I was deeply impressed with my own intelligence, wisdom and profound insights into the human condition. I consistently amazed myself with my ability to judge others and see what they were doing wrong.

UCLA Professor Fred Case was my advisor and head of the Los Angeles City Planning Commission - where I was doing my dissertation research. At this point in my career, he was clearly the most important person in my professional life. He was also a man that I sincerely respected. He had done an amazing amount to help the city become a better place. He was also doing a lot to help me.

Although he was normally in a very upbeat mood, one day Dr. Case seemed annoyed. He looked at me and growled, "Marshall, what is the problem with you? I am getting feedback from some people at City Hall that you are coming across as negative, angry and judgmental. What's going on?"

"You can't believe how inefficient the city government is!" I ranted. I immediately proceeded to give several examples of how taxpayer's money was not being used in the way that I thought it should be. I was convinced that the city could be a much better place if the leaders just listened to me.

"What a stunning breakthrough!" Dr. Case sarcastically remarked, "You, Marshall Goldsmith, have discovered that our city government is inefficient! I hate to tell you this Marshall, but my barber who is cutting hair down on the corner figured this out several years ago. What else is bothering you?"

Undeterred by this temporary setback, I angrily proceeded to point out several minor examples of behavior that could be classified as favoritism toward rich political benefactors.

Dr. Case was now laughing. "Stunning breakthrough number two!" he chuckled. "Your profound investigative skills have led to the discovery that politicians may give a more attention to their major campaign contributors than to people who support their opponents. I am sorry to report that my barber has also known this for years. I am afraid that we can't give you a Ph.D. for this level of insight."

As he looked at me, his face showed the wisdom that can only come from years of experience. He said, "I know that you think that I may be old and 'behind the times', but I have been working down there at City Hall for years. Did it ever dawn on you that even though I may be slow, perhaps even I have figured some of this stuff out?"

Then he delivered the advice I will never forget. "Marshall," he explained, "you are becoming a 'pain in the butt'. You are not helping the people who are supposed to be your clients. You are not helping me and you are not helping yourself. I am going to give you two options:

• "Option A - Continue to be angry, negative and judgmental. If you chose this option, you will be fired, you probably will never graduate and you may have wasted the last four years of your life.
• "Option B - Start having some fun. Keep trying to make a constructive difference, but do it in a way that is positive for you and the people around you.

"My advice is this: You are young. Life is short. Start having fun.

"What option are you going to choose, son?"

I finally laughed and replied, "Dr. Case, I think it is time for me to start having some fun!"

He smiled knowingly and said, "You are a wise young man."

Most of my life is spent working with leaders in huge organizations. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that things are not always as efficient as they could be - almost every employee has made this breakthrough discovery. It also doesn't take a genius to learn that occasionally people are more interested in their own advancement than the welfare of the company. Many employees have already figured out this one as well.

Real leaders are not people who can point out what is wrong. Almost anyone can do that. Real leaders are people who can make things better.

Dr. Case taught me a great lesson. His coaching didn't just help me get a Ph.D. and become a better consultant. He helped me have a better life.

Life is good.

Marshall

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My newest book, MOJO, is a New York Times (advice), Wall Street Journal (business), USAToday (money) and Publisher's Weekly (non-fiction) best seller. It is now available online and at major bookstores.

photo:learningfromlyrics.com

Can you see in yourself what others see in you, or do you see in others what you don't see in yourself?

As a Ph.D. student at UCLA in the 70s, I had a self-image of being 'hip.' I believed I was involved in discovering deeper human understanding, self-actualization, and profound wisdom.

Early in my Ph.D. program, I was a student in a class with 12 other people led by a wise teacher, Dr. Bob Tannenbaum. Bob had invented 'sensitivity training', published a popular article in the Harvard Business Review, and was a full professor.

In Bob's class, we could discuss anything we wanted. I started talking about people in Los Angeles. For three weeks, I did a monologue about how 'screwed up' people in Los Angeles were. 'They wear sequined blue jeans; they drive gold Rolls Royces; they are plastic and materialistic; all they care about is impressing others; they don't understand what is important in life.' (It was easy for me to be an expert on LA, since I grew up in small town Kentucky.) After listening to me babble for three weeks, Bob looked at me quizzically and asked, 'Who are you talking to?'

'I'm speaking to the group,' I said.

'Who in the group are you talking to?'

'I'm talking to everybody,' I said, not knowing where he was headed.

'When you speak, you look at only one person and address your comments toward only one person. You seem interested in the opinion of only one person. Who is that person?'

'That is interesting,' I replied. After careful consideration, I said, 'You?' He said, 'That's right, me. There are 12 other people in this room. Why don't you seem interested in any of them?' Now that I'd dug myself into a hole, I decided to dig faster. I said, 'Dr. Tannenbaum, you understand the significance of what I am saying. You know how 'screwed-up' it is to try to run around and impress people all the time. You have a deeper understanding of what is really important in life.'

Bob then asked me, 'Marshall, is there any chance that for the last three weeks all you've tried to do is impress me?' I was amazed at Bob's lack of insight! 'Not at all!' I declared. 'You haven't understood one thing I've said! I've told you how screwed up it is to try to impress other people. You've missed my point, and I'm disappointed in your lack of understanding!' He scratched his beard and concluded, 'No. I think I understand.' I looked around and saw 12 people thinking, 'Yes. We understand.' For six months, I disliked Dr. Tannenbaum.

I devoted much energy into figuring out his psychological problems and knowing why he was confused. Then it dawned on me that the person with the issue about impressing other people wasn't him, or people in LA. The person with the issue was me. I looked in the mirror and said, 'Dr. Tannenbaum was right.'

Two Lessons
I learned two big lessons:

1. It's easier to see our problems in others than to see them in ourselves. Often when I become self-righteous or angry about some perceived injustice, I realize that the deeper issue is often not with them but in me.

2. Although we may deny our problems to ourselves, they may be obvious to the people who observe us. There is often a discrepancy between the self we think we are and the self that the rest of the world sees in us. If we can listen and think about what others see in us, we can compare the self that we want to be with the self that we are presenting and begin to make the real changes that are needed to align our stated values with our actual behavior.

Today I help executives develop a profile of desired leadership behavior.

Then I provide them with confidential feedback that enables them to compare their behavior (as perceived by others) with this profile of desired behavior. I help them deal with this feedback in a positive way, learn from it, and become a better role model for the desired leadership behavior. The lesson I learned from Bob shaped the course of my life.

What really bothers you? Might some of your concerns be a reflection of your problems? How can honest feedback from others help you align your values with your behavior?

Life is good.

Marshall

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Marshall Goldsmith Effective Leadership Video Training

Marshall Goldsmith Speeches & Trainings

My newest book, MOJO, is a New York Times (advice), Wall Street Journal (business), USAToday (money) and Publisher's Weekly (non-fiction) best seller. It is now available online and at major bookstores.

Most people are occupied with efforts rather than results. They worry over what the organization or their boss owes them and should do for them and obsess over the authority they 'should have,' thus rendering themselves ineffectual.

Although knowledge workers may know more about what they are doing than their managers do and have years of education and experience, they rarely know how to effectively influence up. Even the greatest wisdom and knowledge not applied to action and behavior is meaningless.

To influence upper management and convert good ideas into meaningful action, follow these 10 guidelines:

1. When presenting ideas, realize that it is your responsibility to sell-- not their responsibility to buy. Influencing up is similar to selling products or services to customers.

They don't have to buy--you have to sell! Great salespeople take responsibility for achieving results, refusing to blame their customers for not buying their products. Most professionals blame management for not buying their ideas; hence, upward feedback often turns into 'upward buck-passing.' You become disempowered when you focus on what others have done to make things wrong--not what you can do to make things right.

By developing your ability to present ideas, and not blaming management for not buying your ideas, you accomplish much more. The knowledge worker is expected to take responsibility for being understood. It is arrogance to assume that laymen can or should make the effort to understand the specialist. The effective upward influencer needs to be a good teacher.

Good teachers realize the communicating knowledge is often a greater challenge than possessing knowledge.

2. Focus on contribution to the larger good--not just the achievement of your objectives. An effective salesperson would never say to a customer, 'You need to buy this product, because if you don't, I won't achieve my objectives!' They relate to the needs of the buyers, not to their own needs. Similarly, effective upward influencers relate to the larger needs of the organization, not just to the needs of their unit or team. When influencing up, focus on the impact of the decision on the organization. In most cases, the needs of the unit and the needs of the corporation are directly connected. In some cases they are not.

Don't assume that executives can automatically 'make the connection' between the benefit to your unit and the benefit to the larger corporation.

3. Strive to win the big battles and don't waste your energy and 'psychological capital' on trivial points.

Leader's time is limited. Don't waste time on issues that will only have a negligible impact on results --focus on issues that will make a real difference. Be willing to 'lose' on small points. Be sensitive to the need to win trivial nonbusiness arguments on things like restaurants, sports teams or cars. People become more annoyed with you for having to be 'right' on trivia than your need to be right on important business points.

You are paid to do what makes a difference and to win on important issues.

4. Present a realistic cost-benefit analysis of your ideas--don't just sell benefits. Every organization has limited resources, time, and energy. The acceptance of your idea may well mean the rejection of another idea that someone else believes is wonderful. Be prepared to have a realistic discussion of the costs of your idea. Acknowledge that something else may have to be sacrificed to implement your idea. When you prepare for a realistic discussion of costs, you can 'prepare for objections' to your idea, acknowledge the sacrifice that someone else may have to make, and point out how the benefits of your plan outweigh the costs.

5. Challenge up on issues involving ethics or integrity--never remain silent on ethics violations. Enron, WorldCom, and other organizations show how ethics violations--only one violation of corporate integrity--can damage or destroy even the most valuable companies.

If your management ever asks you to do anything that violates corporate ethics, refuse to do it and immediately let upper management know of your concerns. Such action ultimately benefits your company, your customers, your co-worker and yourself. When challenging up, try not to assume that management has intentionally requested you to do something wrong. In some cases, inappropriate requests may be made because of misunderstandings or poor communication. Try to present your case in a manner that is intended to be helpful, not judgmental.

6. Realize that your managers are just as human as you are--don't say, 'I am amazed that someone at this level didn't already know this!' It is realistic to expect upper managers to be competent; it is unrealistic to expect them to be superhuman. Is there anything in human history that indicates when people achieve high levels of status, power and money, they become completely wise and logical? How often do you think, 'I would assume someone at this level 'should know what is happening', 'should be more logical', 'wouldn't make that mistake', or 'would never engage in such inappropriate behavior.' Even the best of leaders are human. We all make mistakes. When your managers make mistakes, focus more on helping them than judging them.

7. Treat managers with the same courtesy that you would treat partners or customers. While you must avoid 'kissing up' to upper management, you also must avoid the opposite reaction. Many managers spend hours 'trashing' the company and its executives or making destructive comments about other co-workers. Before speaking, ask four questions: Will this comment help our company? Will this comment help our customers? Will this comment help the person that I am talking to? Will this comment help the person that I am talking about? If the answers are no, don't say it! There is a big difference between total honesty and dysfunctional disclosure. It's vital to 'challenge up' on integrity issues. It is often inappropriate to 'trash down' when making personal attacks.

8. Support the final decision of the team--don't say, 'They made me tell you' to direct reports. Assuming that the final decision of the team is not immoral, illegal, or unethical--go out and try to make it work! Managers who consistently say, 'they told me to tell you' to co-workers are seen as 'messengers' not leaders. Even worse, don't say, 'those fools told me to tell you'. By revealing your lack of commitment to the final decision, you may sabotage the chances for effective execution. When communicating difficult decisions, ask, 'How would I want someone to communicate to their people if they were passing down my final decision and they disagreed with me?' Treat your manager in the same way that you would want to be treated if the roles were reversed.

9. Make a positive difference--don't just try to 'win' or 'be right'. You can easily become more focused on what others are doing wrong, than how you can make things better. An important guideline in influencing up is to always remember your goal to make a positive difference for your organization. Corporations are different than academic institutions. In an academic institution the goal may be sharing ideas, not impacting the world. Hours of acrimonious debate can be perfectly acceptable.

In a corporation, sharing ideas without having an impact is worse than useless. It is a waste of the stockholders money and a distraction from serving customers. The most common area for improvement for most executives is the compulsion of 'winning too much'.

Focus on making a difference. The more other people can 'be right' or 'win' with your idea, the more likely your idea is to be successfully executed.

10. Focus on the future--let go of the past. Avoid whining about the past.

Have you ever managed someone who incessantly whined about how bad things are? When people consistently whine, they inhibit any chance they have for impacting the future. Their managers view them as annoying, and their direct reports view them as inept.

Nobody wins. Successful people love getting ideas aimed at helping them achieve their goals for the future. They dislike being 'proven wrong' because of mistakes in the past. By focusing on the future, you can concentrate on what can be achieved tomorrow, as opposed to what was not achieved yesterday. This future orientation will dramatically increase your odds of effectively influencing up and build better long-term relationships.

How much energy have you invested in acquiring your knowledge? How much energy have you invested in learning to present this knowledge so that you can make a real difference? By learning to influence up, you can make a large, positive difference for the future of your organization!

Life is good.

Marshall

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Marshall Goldsmith Effective Leadership Video Training

Marshall Goldsmith Speeches & Trainings

My newest book, MOJO, is a New York Times (advice), Wall Street Journal (business), USAToday (money) and Publisher's Weekly (non-fiction) best seller. It is now available online and at major bookstores.