How Successful People Become Even More Successful

Transitioning from an independent contributor or entry level manager to a successful leader requires a change in focus. Goldsmith provides twenty areas to examine and provides helpful insight into how to address them.

"What Got You Here..." is soundly conceived, well written, and useful for most organizational leaders who want to improve. It has become a staple in my coaching practice, especially with senior leaders.

Bill Catlette
Contented Cow Partners

At the top everyone is smart and accomplished - ok, feel free to argue this one - but all else being equal, Goldsmith argues that it is our behavioral issues and people skills that will ultimate determine how high we can go. Our ability to listen, solicit feedback, identify our behavioral flaws and shift the focus from ourselves to others are integral components of our career path. The author provides a great overview of the most common personality pitfalls and behavioral issues and offers many suggestions to help us improve. An interesting read and well worth everyone's time.

This is one of my all time favorite books. Marshall Goldsmith drives home the point that what got you to the place where you are today in your career won’t get you to the next level. I couldn’t agree more. I’m often brought in to coach people who find that they’re unable to move their careers forward. Many are confused by this because they’ve been promoted based on their current skill levels. Goldsmith’s advice is not only spot on, it’s also pragmatic.

I’m often asked what my favorite book is and this one always comes to mind. Give it a read and see for yourself.

This book is focused on leaders but is applicable to all. Simple truths that sometimes someone just needs to put the mirror to your face to recoginize what you are doing and how it hinders your career and personal development.

Good book. Parts seem to drag on by rehashing the same point after I already understood what Goldsmith was referring to. However the book is worth reading, you just have to be patient with the stories. The application section is the best part. I think we can all learn something from this book whether it be a large problem we need to change within our interpersonal relationships or a few smaller problems. The fact is we all need to continually change and evolve. To be the best you can be means you have to keep learning, keep improving and keep trying to better yourself. I think this book provides some helpful ideas of how to help you conitinually strive to be the best you that you can be.

Well organized. Unlike many self-help books, this one is specifically designed for people that have been successful in business to date. We all have something we want to improve. The challenge is to look at the it examples in the book and figure out which deficiencies pertain to you. Which seems counter intuitive, because it is designed for people that are already successful. But, the reality is it pertains to all of us.

Valuable information. Marshall Goldsmith is top notch, and I'm sure we all have blind spots as outlined in this book. The only reason I didn't give it five stars is that it wasn't tight. It didn't move quickly enough; could have been edited to 75% of its current length.

Blunt, revealing and thought-provoking. In-your-face (mine anyway) analysis and explanation of why and how people fail to recognize what is keeping them back or in the same position. I definitely fell into a few of these traps and now working on a plan to improve my interaction with others. I plan to re-read again and again.

This was recommended by my boss. Frankly, I see the point, and there are some good tips, but it is written in a very arrogant tone, and 3/4 of the way through it I was bored. Still worth a read, but don't expect life altering revelations.

At last, a wonderful business book that is filled with sound advice from the world's leading coach AND is fun to read! Organized around the 21 executive habits that interfere with leaders reaching their full potential, this is a book that everyone can understand, enjoy, and use! In an entertaining style that speaks in his authentic voice, Marshall Goldsmith demonstrates what makes him such a remarkable coach and thought leader: his clarity, focus, and humor allow him to show the things we do that get in our own way and the way of others and demystify the route to improvement. When I hit Habit #14: Playing favorites, his example was so undeniable and funny that he made his point unmistakably. And I was laughing so hard at his example with dogs that I had to share it with someone else. Marshall Goldsmith is not just a brilliant coach, he's a brilliant writer. Buy this book and share it with colleagues, friends, and family - everyone can benefit from it.

A must read for anyone wanting to move from where they are currently. Applying most of what Goldsmith says will move you 'up the ladder' to reach heights that may seem unreachable. Personal attitude adjustments are needed as you read and apply his techniques. I'm glad this was a required text for my class, otherwise I probably would not have read this book. Thanks to my TTU professor.

A must read for anyone wanting to move from where they are currently. Applying most of what Goldsmith says will move you 'up the ladder' to reach heights that may seem unreachable. Personal attitude adjustments are needed as you read and apply his techniques. I'm glad this was a required text for my class, otherwise I probably would not have read this book. Thanks to my TTU professor.

When reading leadership books, I make extensive notes and begin to integrate concepts among other leadership books (part of a meta-analysis process). This is the first book I've read by Marshall, and I would have benefited if I read it before writing my leadership book.

There's a great wealth of insight in this book. Much like James Hunter leadership development, Marshall emphasizes the gap between knowing about leadership and practicing real leadership. Both emphasize feedback, but Marshall goes into more detail and adds feedforward and follow-up.

Marshall adds clarity to why people fail to change and apply leadership practices with explanations such as his description of cognitive dissonance.

One thing I really appreciate is how much Marshall shares about his executive coaching process. I found this to be a must-read for anyone who provides leadership coaching services.

When I write my second edition of my book, I'll share some of Marshall's insights into how leadership is radically changing in the 21st Century.

Excellent insight for professionals who want to move up the career ladder. Blunt, honest feedback on those behaviors you didn't even know you were doing that prevent you from being successfully a higher level position.

The comic picture format quickly conveys information that takes much longer to do in a text only format.

The pictures also come to mind more quickly for me than the words when I find myself in a similar situation.

Great book for helping bring into focus negative habits I didn't realize I had that are holding me back, an how I can change them.

Every leader should read this book! It brings a lot into perspective. You will be analyzing yourself halfway through the book and really understand what you need to change to achieve your objectives

This was the first self help book , I read , that was in form of a comic book. This is an excellent way of conveying the idea. This book will be a great and interesting tool to help me and my team understand where they are making mistakes. It will help them in becoming an effective leader.

When climbing the ladder of leadership, we lose sight of how we're perceived by others. This can cause us to be blind to habits that are received negatively and work against our goals. Goldsmith explores 20 common habits that get in our way. I'm not a "comic book" type of person- use of that format got me out of my box and gave good visuals on building a team.

I loved every page and feel enriched as I approach my corporate life. It will be my hand book to handle challenges both internally for myself and with external forces beyond my control. What was especially appealing was a hand book sort of approach to implementing the thoughts and suggestions provided herein.

I loved the practical nature of this book. At the time I read it, I was leading a small group of leaders, and it helped me adjust my leadership style so I could be more effective. The first thing that stood out was, the higher you go the more your problems are behavioral and determine how high you go. The number one challenge of every behavioral problem is winning too much. Successful people struggle with this, and it’s the root cause of why they argue too much, put other people down, ignore people, and do so many things to annoy people because the urge to win trumps their common sense.

This is a great leadership tool. It will help you to recognize some things that you do regularly that are not good, and give some great tips on how to be a better leader.

This book was recommended in an article I read recently. I didn’t realize it was 10 years old. The author came across to me as sexist, always focusing on men, rarely recognizing that a woman could be in a leadership position. He is very concerned with trying to impress readers with how smart and rich he is and how many influential people he has met. Interesting, since this book is supposed to help people recognize and address those kinds of behaviors in themselves. I thought this book would be more about organizational leadership, so I was a bit disappointed there as well. I gave it a 3 because it’s a quick read and did have some practical advice.