Brief
Leaders must discover their personal motivations, move past self-imposed limitations and focus more on the present than on aspirations, according to advice from CEO coach Marshall Goldsmith. “If we are ready to invest ourselves in becoming our better selves — however we define it — then, and only then, can we say that we have deserved our place,” writes John Baldoni.
Insight
Step one: “Do for yourself what you have done for others.” You have shared advice with others when they could not see it for themselves. Therefore, “you are capable of imagining a new path. You’ve done it for others. Do it for yourself.”
Step two. Ask yourself: “What do you want to do for the rest of your life?”
This exercise, called “Flip the Script,” comes from “The Earned Life: Lose Regret, Choose Fulfillment,” by Marshall Goldsmith and Mark Reiter. Goldsmith is a legend in human development because he is one of the seminal figures who pioneered the potential of executive coaching. Coaching over 300 CEOs gave him an unmatched cache.
His impact, however, emanates not from his credentials. Instead, it is his plain-spoken “street cred.” In-person, as in print, Marshall is a generous soul. He makes the complex simple, not by giving you the answers. Rather he does it by challenging you to think for yourself. After nearly 50 years of exploring human behavior, “The Earned Life” is an insight into what makes us tick and how we can tick even better.
Getting started
One of the central issues that forms the book’s backbone is what he calls “The Great Western Disease” — that is, “I’ll be happy when …” Nothing wrong with aspirations, but to let them define you, and worse, deprive you of joy on the way up is heartbreaking. So, Marshall urges a different path. Stop beating yourself up. Live in the present.
Marshall offers the Earning Checklist, which is anchored in four attributes he wrote about in his doctoral thesis when he was 27. These attributes are motivation, ability, understanding and confidence.
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