What Got You Here, Won’t Get You There Book Summary - What Got You Here, Won’t Get You There Book explained in key points

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What Got You Here, Won’t Get You There summary

Name: What Got You Here, Won’t Get You There
Rating: 4.2 (208 reviews)
Author: Marshall Goldsmith

Marshall Goldsmith

How Successful People Become Even More Successful!

4.2 (208 ratings)

18 mins

Topics

Routines & Habits Leadership Skills Success

Table of Contents

What Got You Here, Won’t Get You There
Summary of 9 key ideas

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Key idea 1 of 9

What’s in it for me? Be a better leader, a better colleague and a better person.

Picture a stereotypical business executive. Suit, tie, all of that. Now picture his personality. If you’re like most people, you imagine his personality to be mild-mannered, highly competitive, busy and a little self-obsessed. And that’s not so far from the mark!

Highly successful people are full of unpleasant personality traits and bad habits. The worst part, though, is that many of them are proud of those characteristics. They think they’re partly what made them so successful!

That’s where Marshall Goldsmith’s experience as an executive coach comes in. He’s worked with these successful people, explaining that, actually, these bad habits are holding them back from even more success. These blinks discuss some of the most harmful behavior successful people engage in, and how that behavior can be remedied right away.

In these blinks, you’ll find out

how Gerald Levin of Time Warner hurt his reputation;
why your flaws are not virtues; and
how to say “thank you” more often.

Many of us become increasingly superstitious as we achieve greater levels of success.

Even if you don’t literally knock on wood every time you speak well of your own good fortune, you might still be prone to superstitious thinking. And you’re not alone! Many of us engage in superstitious behavior – attaching too much value to bad practices we mistakenly associate with success.

After all, when we behave in a particular way and then achieve the desired goal, we naturally think that we should behave the same way again. We believe that our success occurred because of our behavior. When, in fact, it’s quite possible that we succeeded in spite of our behavior.

The author once observed this mindset firsthand. He was working with an executive that consistently delivered superb results, but had one major flaw—he was a terrible listener. But since his performance was otherwise unimpeachable, his colleagues simply accepted this trait and decided it was useless to express their opinions.

Meanwhile, the executive became convinced that his bad listening skills were actually crucial to his success. They shielded him from bad ideas and protected his creativity.

This kind of flawed logic isn’t easy to correct because successful people are often defensive when criticized. Just imagine how the executive would respond if you told him to be a better listener! Especially considering the fact that he thought his behavior was working entirely to his advantage.

But in the future, that advantage might become a handicap. And that’s why mistakenly attributing success to bad behavior can be dangerous.

Just think of our executive: As he climbs up the corporate ladder, his people skills will become more and more valuable. And how long will his colleagues suffer his blatant disregard for their input?

Avoiding mistakes is a major part of a job well done, so let’s recognize that fact in the workplace.

Let’s say you’ve just closed a major deal. You probably think it’s only a matter of time before your boss calls you into his office and commends you for your work.

But what if, during the negotiation, you suddenly realized the deal wouldn’t be profitable for the company and decided to back off the prospect? Would you still expect much kudos from your boss? Probably not.

Bad behavior often lingers because many of us believe that our personalities are rigidly fixed.

In the previous blinks, we learned that even successful people have bad habits that are holding them back. And one reason their behavior lingers is that people’s behavior is often considered to be part of their personality. Whether these traits are positive (“I’m loyal”) or negative (“I interrupt people”), we think of our behavior as immutable. So we excuse ourselves by saying, “What can I do? That’s just who I am!”

This is especially true of successful people, who tend to believe that they’re entitled to a couple of flaws. But a flaw isn’t a virtue! And the truth is, these bad habits alienate people and hold us back in the long term.

Wanting to win is what drives your success; just don’t let it override your common sense.

Too often, successful people can’t tell the difference between wanting to win and wanting to win too much. The first part can be a good motivator, but the second is a problem.

It’s natural to want to win, but it’s important not to take it too far. And this isn’t just a professional issue; it’s also a personal one.

Learn to listen to others without trying to improve upon their ideas.

As we saw in the previous blink, successful people have the annoying habit of wanting to win way too much. Well, the need to win also triggers the need to improve upon other people’s ideas. But this urge won’t help you in the long-term, because the higher you climb, the less it matters. At the top, it’s about helping make other people winners, not scoring personal victories.

But unfortunately, many experienced leaders have a hard time listening to new ideas without adding their own two cents. Imagine an employee comes into your office with a great idea. She’s super enthusiastic and you agree – it’s a great idea! And yet, you still feel like you could improve it with a few small changes. Although you might think that you’re helping, your suggestions will probably reduce your employee’s enthusiasm and commitment to the project. Because now it will be your idea, not hers.

Being obsessed with goals can warp your values and cloud your judgment.

As you can see, successful people have lots of annoying habits. But underneath most of these behaviors, there’s a single root cause: goal obsession, which is what you get when you focus so much on specific outcomes that you forget the big picture.

Of course, focusing on goals is a useful quality, motivating us to accomplish, despite the obstacles, what we set our minds to. But when it goes beyond reason, goal obsession warps us, distorting our sense of right and wrong.

Inviting critical feedback will help you change bad habits that are holding you back from even greater success.

In theory, everyone appreciates feedback. But in reality, successful people have a difficult time dealing with criticism.

And that’s because these individuals are often highly delusional when it comes to their achievements. For instance, the author once polled three business partners, asking how each individually contributes to the firm’s profits. The three partners’ combined estimate added up to more than 150 percent! In other words, each man thought he was contributing to more than half of the firm’s profit.

Both apologizing and expressing gratitude can have a powerful effect.

Although most parents teach their kids good manners, some successful people think that saying “thank you” or “sorry” represents submissive behavior. But that’s simply not true. If anything, we all need to use those magical words more often.

It might seem like a simple thing, but using the word “sorry” can have a powerful effect. Straightforwardly apologizing can lead to closure, ultimately allowing you to move forward.

If you want to change, take your time and ask the people around you for consistent feedback.

If you want to discard your annoying habits for good, you’ll need other people to recognize your progress. And seeking consistent feedback is the best way to gain recognition.

To that end, make a plan to follow up with your coworkers every month (for a period of twelve to eighteen months) and ask whether your behavior is improving.

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What is What Got You Here, Won’t Get You There about?

Your people skills become increasingly important the further you climb up the ladder of success. What Got You Here, Won’t Get You There (2007) describes some of the bad habits that commonly hold back successful people and explains how to change them.

Who should read What Got You Here, Won’t Get You There?

Managers wanting to become more successful
Anyone who wants to gain respect in the office and improve relationships with coworkers
Leaders and executives who are proud of their personality flaws

About the Author

Marshall Goldsmith is an executive coach with more than 30 years experience in measuring and analyzing behavior in organizations. Having worked with over 100 top executives, he was ranked as a top ten executive educator by the Wall Street Journal.

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