Quotes & Questions - Feedback
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Marshall Goldsmith is one of the most respected executive coaches in the business world and I find it interesting that his approach to coaching is not based on “finding your strengths” but more like “let’s stop doing the things that are holding you back.”
It’s not to say that we shouldn’t lean into our strengths. Those often don’t need much coaching.
His argument is it is much easier to stop doing something negative and the impact of that is greater than trying to spend the same time and energy building up a skill that is not one of our strengths.
In his classic book, “What Got You Here Won’t Get You There,” he lists twenty most common habits that he has been coaching leaders to stop doing:
Winning Too Much
Adding Too Much Value
Passing judgement
Making destructive comments
Starting with “No,” “But,” or “However”
Telling the world how smart we are
Speaking when angry
Negativity, or “Let me explain why that won’t work”
Withholding information
Failing to give proper recognition
Claiming credit that we don’t deserve
Making excuses
Clinging to the past
Playing favorites
Refusing to express regret
Not listening
Failing to express gratitude
Punishing the messenger
Passing the buck
An excessive need to be “me”
So how do we find out what it is we need to stop doing? That is where feedback comes in.
It’s almost the end of the year and this question of feedback seems appropriate to me. Feedback is something that I had to learn to appreciate. In the past, before I understood how valuable feedback was, there were times when I would take it as criticism. Actively soliciting feedback is something that I want to continue working on. I have come to understand that feedback is a gift.