What Got You Here Won’t Get You There

by Marshall Goldsmith
ISBN: 978-1-4013-0130-9, Publisher: Hyperion, 2007
Reviewed by: Julie Garland McLellan*

The skills and attributes that underpin a successful executive career are subtly different than those that will support a successful board career. This book was written for executives but the lessons apply to the boardroom. Possibly they apply even more in that environment. “The higher you go, the more your problems are behavioural” concludes Marshall Goldsmith after some twenty years of coaching senior executives in Fortune 500 companies.

Goldsmith coaches people to make simple changes. These simple changes are difficult to make.

His message is delivered simple and straight. It is a difficult read because you recognise yourself in the examples of undesirable behaviours. Goldsmith cuts through the clutter with the simple advice that we all do all of these things from time to time; we only need to fix the behaviours that are holding us back.

As Goldsmith only deals with successful people he is working to fine-tune an already high performance. This is not a ‘self-help 1.01’ book. It is for people who have become successful while exhibiting certain behaviours but who are now held back by those behaviours. It is hard to change behaviours that are associated with success. This book is not about a quick fix. It is about a long and consistent process that, if followed, will help to build new habits.

Board members struggle to gain entry to the coterie of successful directors. Choosing the right habits to build could accelerate acceptance. Choosing the wrong ones could leave you as you are; only more frustrated. The process relies on external feedback and validation to select the behaviours that need changing. This is daunting for board members given the confidential nature of boardrooms and the team-based nature of the role. Having a third party gather the feedback and qualify the participants to provide feedback makes this easier. If you don’t have a professional coach to help you extract the value from this book you will need a trustworthy friend who understands boards and boardroom dynamics.

The book is a call to action. It is especially relevant for aspiring directors or those at the start of their career. It is also great for those sudden changes in board careers such as taking on a committee chairmanship or moving into a different sector. When you are new you need to be more adept at the behavioural skills to compensate for your lack of track record.

It would be exciting to apply this long process to the board performance review to build a lasting improvement in the quality of board interactions.

This is a worthwhile book; it is good but not easy.

 

 * Julie Garland McLellan is a professional non-executive director, board and governance consultant and mentor. She is the author of “The Director’s Dilemma”, “All Above Board: Great Governance for the Government Sector” and numerous articles on corporate strategy and governance.