What Got You Here Won’t Get You There

Just read (and loved) this from Reviews: What Got You Here Won’t Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More Successful by Marshall Goldsmith | LibraryThing (thanks to Jerry Colonna for pointing out the book):

Goldsmith discusses 20 behaviors that will stifle or derail a successful career. The habits are very common and easily recognized by others, but not necessarily by oneself. These habits are:

1. Need to win at all costs.

2. Desire to add our (my) two cents to every discussion.

3. Need to rate others and impose our standards on them.

4. Needless sarcasm and cutting remarks that we (I) think make us sound witty and wise.

5. Overuse of “No,” “But” or “However.”

6. Need to show people we (I) are (am) smarter than they think we (I) are (am.)

7. Use of emotional volatility as a management tool.

8. Need to share our (my) negative thoughts, even if not asked.

9. Refusal to share information in order to exert an advantage.

10. Inability to praise and reward.

11. Annoying way in which we overestimate our (my) contribution to any success.

12. Need to reposition our (my) annoying behavior as a permanent fixture so people excuse us for it.

13. Need to deflect blame from ourselves (myself) and onto events and people from our (my) past.

14. Failure to see that we (I) am treating someone unfairly.

15. Inability to take responsibility for our (my) actions.

16. Act of not listening.

17. Failure to express gratitude.

18. Need to attack the innocent, even though they are usually only trying to help us (me).

19. Need to blame anyone but ourselves (me).

20. Excessive need to be “me.”

21. Goal obsession at the expense of a larger mission.

 

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3 comments
  1. Hey John…the whole book is worth it. I don’t agree with everything he says (and when have I ever agreed with everything someone has said) but it’s such a good package.

  2. This is good stuff. I completely agree. Though some of these tacts might work in the beginning but in long-term they miserably fail. Thanks for sharing.

    P.S. I was just looking around your blog, got the link in the email you sent to Ilya and bumped into this. :)

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