14 Time-Saving Steps for Working with Teams

Today’s leaders face a dilemma: as the need to build effective teams is increasing, the time available to build these teams is often decreasing. When the team members develop their own behavioral change strategy, many efficiencies can occur.

Step One. Begin by asking all members of the team to confidentially record their individual answers to two questions: (1) “On a 1 to 10 scale (with 10 being ideal), how well are we doing in terms of working together as a team?” and (2) “On a 1 to 10 scale, how well do we need to be doing in terms of working together as a team?”

Before beginning a team-building process, it is important to determine whether the team feels that team building is both important and needed. Some people may report to the same manager, but legitimately have little reason to work interactively as a team. Other groups may believe that teamwork is important, but feel that the team is already functioning smoothly and that a team-building activity would be a waste of time.

Step Two. Have a team member calculate the results. Discuss the results with the team. If the team members believe that the gap between current effectiveness and needed effectiveness indicates the need for team building, proceed to the next step in the process.

In most cases team members believe that improved teamwork is both important and needed. Recent interviews involving members from several hundred teams (in multinational corporations) showed that the “average” team member believed that his or her team was currently at a 5.8 level of effectiveness but needed to be at an 8.7 level.

Step Three. Ask the team members, “If every team member could change two key behaviors that would help us close the gap between where we are and where we want to be, which two behaviors should we all try to change?” Have each team member record his or her selected behaviors on flip charts.

Step Four. Help team members prioritize all the behaviors on the charts (many will be the same or similar) and (using consensus) determine the two most important behaviors to change (for all team members).

Step Five. Have each team member hold a one-on-one dialogue with all other team members. During the dialogues each member will request that his or her colleague suggest two areas for personal behavioral change (other than the two already agreed on above) that will help the team close the gap between where we are and where we want to be.

These dialogues occur simultaneously and take about five minutes each. For example, if there are seven team members, each team member will participate in six brief one-on-one dialogues.

Step Six. Let each team member review his or her list of suggested behavioral changes and choose the two that seem to be the most important. Have all team members then announce their two key behaviors for personal change to the team.

Step Seven. Encourage all team members to ask for brief (five-minute), monthly “progress reports” from all other team members on their effectiveness in demonstrating the two key behaviors common to all team members and the two key personal behaviors. Specific suggestions for improvement can be solicited in areas in which behavior does not match desired expectations.

Step Eight. Conduct a mini-survey, follow-up process in approximately four months. From the mini-survey each team member will receive confidential feedback from all other team members on his or her perceived change in effectiveness. This survey will include the two common items, the two personal items, and an item that assesses how much the individual has been following up with the other team members. The mini-surveys are simple enough to be put on a postcard and might look like the sample in Figure 9.1.

Step Nine. Have an outside supplier calculate the results for each individual (on all items) and calculate the summary results for all team members (on the common team items). Each team member can then receive a confidential summary report indicating the degree to which colleagues see his or her increased effectiveness in demonstrating the desired behaviors. Each member can also receive a summary report on the team’s progress on the items selected for all team members.

“Before and after” studies have clearly shown that if team members have regularly followed up with their colleagues they will almost invariably be seen as increasing their effectiveness in their selected individual “areas for improvement.” The group summary will also tend to show that (overall) team members will have increased in effectiveness on the common team items. The mini-survey summary report will give team members a chance to receive positive reinforcement for improvement (and to learn what has not improved) after a reasonably short period of time. The mini-survey will also help to validate the importance of “sticking with it” and “following up.”


Step Ten. In a team meeting have each team member discuss key learnings from their mini-survey results, and ask for further suggestions in a brief one-on-one dialogue with each other team member.

Step Eleven. Review the summary results with the team. Facilitate a discussion on how the team (as a whole) is doing in terms of increasing its effectiveness in the two key behaviors that were selected for all team members. Provide the team with positive recognition for increased effectiveness in teamwork. Encourage team members to keep focused on demonstrating the behaviors that they are trying to improve.

Step Twelve. Have every team member continue to conduct brief, monthly, “progress report” sessions with all other team members. Re-administer the mini-survey eight months after the beginning of the process and again after one year.

Step Thirteen. Conduct a summary session with the team one year after the process has started. Review the results of the final mini-survey, and ask the team members to rate the team’s effectiveness on where we are versus where we need to be in terms of working together as a team. Compare these ratings with the original ratings that were calculated one year earlier. (If team members followed the process in a reasonably disciplined fashion, the team will almost always see a dramatic improvement in teamwork.) Give the team positive recognition for improvement in teamwork, and have each team member (in a brief one-on-one dialogue) recognize each of his or her colleagues for improvements in behavior that have occurred over the past twelve months.

Step Fourteen. Ask the team members if they believe that more work on team building will be needed in the upcoming year. If the team believes that more work would be beneficial, continue the process. If the team believes that more work is not needed, declare victory and work on something else!

The process described above works because it is highly focused, includes disciplined feedback and follow-up, does not waste time, and causes participants to focus on self-improvement. Most survey feedback processes ask respondents to complete too many items. In such surveys most of the items do not result in any behavioral change and participants feel they are wasting time. Participants almost never object to completing four-item mini-surveys that are specifically designed to fit each team member’s unique needs. The process also works because it provides ongoing feedback and reinforcement.

Try it! The “downside” is very low. The process takes little time and the first mini-survey will quickly show whether progress is being made. The “upside” can be very high and may produce a great return for your team and an even greater return for your organization.

Life is good.

Marshall

My newest book, MOJO, is a New York Times (advice), Wall Street Journal (business), USAToday (money) and Publisher's Weekly (non-fiction) best seller. It is now available online and at major bookstores.

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Building Effective Teams Without Wasting Time

Teams are becoming more and more common and important. As the traditional, hierarchical school of leadership diminishes in significance, a new focus on networked team leadership is emerging to take its place. Leaders are finding themselves members of all kinds of teams, including virtual teams, autonomous teams, cross-functional teams, and action-learning teams.

Many of today’s leaders face a dilemma: as the need to build effective teams is increasing, the time available to build these teams is often decreasing. A common challenge faced by today’s leaders is the necessity of building teams in an environment of rapid change with limited resources. The process of re-engineering and streamlining, when coupled with increased demand for services, has led to a situation in which most leaders have more work to do and fewer staff members to help them do it.

Research involving thousands of participants has shown how focused feedback and follow-up can increase leadership and customer service effectiveness (Hesselbein, Goldsmith, and Beckhard, 1996). A parallel approach to team building has been shown to help leaders build teamwork without wasting time. While the approach described sounds simple, it will not be easy. It will require that team members have the courage to ask for input and suggestions regularly and the discipline to develop a behavioral change strategy to follow up, and to “stick with it.”

To implement the our team-building process successfully, the leader (or external coach) will need to assume the role of coach or facilitator and fight the urge to be the “boss” of the project. Greater improvement in teamwork will generally occur if the team members develop their own behavioral change strategy rather than if the leader develops the strategy and imposes it on the team. This process should not be implemented if the leader has the present intention of firing or removing a team member.

Here's a challenge to you as a team leader. Try it! The “downside” is very low. The process takes little time and the first mini-survey will quickly show whether progress is being made. The “upside” can be very high. As effective teamwork becomes more and more important, the brief amount of time that you invest in this process may produce a great return for your team and an even greater return for you organization.

Life is good.

Marshall

My newest book, MOJO, is a New York Times (advice), Wall Street Journal (business), USAToday (money) and Publisher's Weekly (non-fiction) best seller. It is now available online and at major bookstores.

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Steps in Our Behavioral Coaching Process

The following steps outline our behavioral coaching process. Every coach in our network has to agree to implement the following steps. If the coach will follow these basic steps, our clients almost always get better!

1)    Involve the leaders being coached in determining the desired behavior in their leadership roles.  Leaders cannot be expected to change behavior if they don’t have a clear understanding of what desired behavior looks like.  The people that we coach (in agreement with their managers) work with us to determine desired leadership behavior.

2)    Involve the leaders being coached in determining key stakeholders.  Not only do clients need to be clear on desired behaviors, they need to be clear (again in agreement with their managers) on key stakeholders.  There are two major reasons why people deny the validity of feedback, wrong items or wrong raters.  By having our clients and their managers agree on the desired behaviors and key stakeholders in advance, we help ensure their “buy in” to the process.

3)    Collect feedback.  In my coaching practice, I personally interview all key stakeholders.  The people that I am coaching are all potential CEOs, and the company is making a real investment in their development.  However, at lower levels in the organization (that are more price sensitive), traditional 360 feedback can work very well.  In either case, feedback is critical.  It is impossible to get evaluated on changed behavior is there is not agreement on what behavior to change!

4)    Reach agreement on key behaviors for change.  As I have become more experienced, my approach has become simpler and more focused.  I generally recommend picking only 1-2 key areas for behavioral change with each client.  This helps ensure maximum attention to the most important behavior.  My clients and their managers (unless my client is the CEO) agree upon the desired behavior for change.  This ensures that I won’t spend a year working with my clients and have their managers determine that we have worked on the wrong thing!

5)    Have the coaching clients respond to key stakeholders.  The person being reviewed should talk with each key stakeholder and collect additional “feedforward” suggestions on how to improve on the key areas targeted for improvement.  In responding, the person being coached should keep the conversation positive, simple and focused.  When mistakes have been made in the past, it is generally a good idea to apologize and ask for help in changing the future.  I suggest that my clients listen to stakeholder suggestions and not judge the suggestions. 

6)    Review what has been learned with clients and help them develop an action plan.  As was stated earlier, my clients have to agree to the basic steps in our process. On the other hand, outside of the basic steps, all of the other ideas that I share with my clients are suggestions.  I just ask them to listen to my ideas in the same way they are listening to the ideas from their key stakeholders.  I then ask them to come back with a plan of what they want to do.  These plans need to come from them, not me.  After reviewing their plans, I almost always encourage them to live up to their own commitments.  I am much more of a facilitator than a judge.  I usually just help my clients do what they know is the right thing to do.

7)    Develop an ongoing follow-up process. Ongoing follow-up should be very efficient and focused.  Questions like, “Based upon my behavior last month, what ideas do you have for me next month?” can keep a focus on the future.  Within six months conduct a two-to-six item mini-survey with key stakeholders. They should be asked whether the person has become more or less effective in the areas targeted for improvement.

8)    Review results and start again. If the person being coached has taken the process seriously, stakeholders almost invariably report improvement. Build on that success by repeating the process for the next 12 to 18 months. This type of follow-up will assure continued progress on initial goals and uncover additional areas for improvement. Stakeholders will appreciate the follow-up.  No one minds filling out a focused, two-to-six-item questionnaire if they see positive results. The person being coached will benefit from ongoing, targeted steps to improve performance.

Life is good.

Marshall

My newest book, MOJO, is a New York Times (advice), Wall Street Journal (business), USAToday (money) and Publisher's Weekly (non-fiction) best seller. It is now available online and at major bookstores.

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Involving Key Stakeholders in the Coaching Process

In my work as a behavioral coach, I have gone through three distinct phases.

In phase one – I believed that my clients would become better because of me.  I thought that the coach was the key variable in behavioral change.  I was wrong.  We have recently completed research with over 86,000 respondents on changing leadership behavior .  We have learned that the key variable for successful change is not the coach, teacher or advisor.  The key variables that will determine long-term progress are the people being coached and their co-workers.

In phase two – I spent most of my time focusing on my coaching clients.  I slowly learned that a motivated, hard-working client was more important than a brilliant coach!  I learned that their ongoing efforts meant more than my clever ideas.  My results improved!  

In phase three (where I am now) – I spend most of my time not with my coaching client but with the key stakeholders around my client.  By doing this, my clients results have dramatically improved .

How do I involve key stakeholders?  I ask them to help the person that I am coaching in four critically important ways:

1)    Let go of the past.  When we continually bring up the past, we demoralize people who are trying to change.  Whatever happened in the past happened.  It cannot be changed.  By focusing on a future that can get better (as opposed to a past that cannot), the key stakeholders can help my clients improve.  (We call this process feedforward, instead of feedback ).

2)    Be helpful and supportive, not cynical, sarcastic or judgmental.  As part of our coaching process, my clients involve key co-workers and ask them for help.  If my clients reach out to key stakeholders and feel punished for trying to improve, they will generally quit trying.  I don’t blame them!  Why should any of us work hard to build relationships with people who won’t give us a chance?  If my clients’ co-workers are helpful and supportive, my client experience increased motivation and are much more likely to improve.

3)    Tell the truth.  I do not want to work with a client, have them get a glowing report from key stakeholders and later hear that one of the stakeholders said, “He didn’t really get better, we just said that”.  This is not fair to my client, to the company or to me.

4)    Pick something to improve yourself.  My clients are very open with key stakeholders about what they are going to change.  As part of our process, our clients ask for ongoing suggestions.  I also ask the stakeholders to pick something to improve and to ask my client for suggestions.  This makes the entire process “two-way” instead of “one way”.  It helps the stakeholders act as “fellow travelers” who are trying to improve, not “judges” who are pointing their fingers at my client.  It also greatly expands the value gained by the corporation in the entire process.

Life is good.

Marshall

My newest book, MOJO, is a New York Times (advice), Wall Street Journal (business), USAToday (money) and Publisher's Weekly (non-fiction) best seller. It is now available online and at major bookstores.

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When Behavioral Coaching Won’t Help

Since we use a “pay only for results” process in behavioral coaching, we have had to learn to qualify our coaching clients. This means that we only work with clients that we believe will benefit from our coaching process. We refuse to work with leaders who don’t care.

Have you ever tried to change the behavior of a successful adult that had no interest in changing? How much luck did you have? Probably none! We only work with executives who are willing to make a sincere effort to change and who believe that this change will help them become better leaders.  Our most successful coaching clients are committed to being role models for leadership development and their company’s values.

Some large corporations “write people off”. Rather than just fire them, they engage in a pseudo behavioral coaching process that is more “seek and destroy” than “help people get better”. We only work with leaders that are seen as potentially having a great future in the corporation. We only work with people who will be given a fair chance by their management. We refuse to work with leaders who have been “written off”.

There are several different types of coaching. We only do behavioral coaching for successful executives – not strategic coaching, life planning or organizational change. I have the highest respect for the coaches that do this kind of work. That is just not what our network does. Therefore, we only focus on changing leadership behavior.

If our clients have other needs, we refer them to other coaches. Finally, I would never choose to work with a client that has an integrity violation. We believe that people with integrity violations should be fired, not coached. When will our approach to behavioral coaching work? If the issue is behavioral, the coaching client is given a fair chance and they are motivated to improve, the process described in this article will almost always work. If these conditions do not exist, this process should not be used.

Life is good.

Marshall

My newest book, MOJO, is a New York Times (advice), Wall Street Journal (business), USAToday (money) and Publisher's Weekly (non-fiction) best seller. It is now available online and at major bookstores.

http://www.MarshallGoldsmithLibrary.com

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The Value of Behavioral Coaching for Executives

While behavioral coaching is only one branch in the coaching field, it is the most widely used type of coaching. Most requests for coaching involve behavioral change. While this process can be very meaningful and valuable for top executives, it can be even more useful for high-potential future leaders.

These are the people who have great careers in front of them. Increasing effectiveness in leading people can have an even greater impact if it is a 20-year process, instead of a one-year program.

People often ask, “Can executives really change their behavior?” The answer is definitely yes. If they didn’t change, we would never get paid (and we almost always get paid). At the top of major organizations even a small positive change in behavior can have a big impact. From an organizational perspective, the fact that the executive is trying to change anything (and is being a role model for personal development) may be even more important than what the executive is trying to change.

One key message that I have given every CEO that I coach is “To help others develop – start with yourself!”

The “Pay for Results” Behavioral Coaching Approach

Our coaching network provides coaches for leaders around the world. All of the behavioral coaches that work with us use the same general approach.

We first get an agreement with our coaching clients and their managers on two key variables:

1) What are the key behaviors that will make the biggest positive change in increased leadership effectiveness and

2) Who are the key stakeholders that can determine (six to eighteen months later) if this change has occurred.

We then get paid only after our coaching clients have achieved a positive change in key leadership behaviors as determined by key stakeholders. I believe that many behavioral coaches are paid for the wrong reasons. Their income is a largely a function of “How much do my clients like me?” and “How much time did I spend in coaching?”

Neither of these is a good metric for achieving a positive, long-term change in behavior. In terms of liking the coach - I have never seen a study that showed that clients’ love of a coach was highly correlated with their change in behavior. In fact, if coaches become too concerned with being loved by their clients – they may not provide honest feedback when it is needed.

In terms of spending clients’ time – my clients’ are all executives whose decisions often impact billions of dollars. Their time is more valuable than mine. I try to spend as little of their time as necessary to achieve the desired results. The last thing they need is for me to waste their time!

Life is good.

Marshall

My newest book, MOJO, is a New York Times (advice), Wall Street Journal (business), USAToday (money) and Publisher's Weekly (non-fiction) best seller. It is now available online and at major bookstores.

http://www.MarshallGoldsmithLibrary.com

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Eleven Reasons to Try FeedForward

After I present the FeedForward exercise, participants are asked why this exercise is seen as fun and helpful as opposed to painful, embarrassing or uncomfortable. Their answers provide a great explanation of why feedforward can often be more useful than feedback as a developmental tool.

1. We can change the future. We can't change the past. Feedforward helps people envision and focus on a positive future, not a failed past. Athletes are often trained using feedforward. Racecar drivers are taught to, "Look at the road ahead, not at the wall." Basketball players are taught to envision the ball going in the hoop and to imagine the perfect shot. By giving people ideas on how they can be even more successful, we can increase their chances of achieving this success in the future.

2. It can be more productive to help people be "right," than prove they were "wrong." Negative feedback often becomes an exercise in "let me prove you were wrong." This tends to produce defensiveness on the part of the receiver and discomfort on the part of the sender. Even constructively delivered feedback is often seen as negative as it necessarily involves a discussion of mistakes, shortfalls, and problems. Feedforward, on the other hand, is almost always seen as positive because it focuses on solutions - not problems.

3. Feedforward is especially suited to successful people. Successful people like getting ideas that are aimed at helping them achieve their goals. They tend to resist negative judgment. We all tend to accept feedback that is consistent with the way we see ourselves. We also tend to reject or deny feedback that is inconsistent with the way we see ourselves. Successful people tend to have a very positive self-image. I have observed many successful executives respond to (and even enjoy) feedforward. I am not sure that these same people would have had such a positive reaction to feedback.

4. Feedforward can come from anyone who knows about the task. It does not require personal experience with the individual. One very common positive reaction to the previously described exercise is that participants are amazed by how much they can learn from people that they don't know! For example, if you want to be a better listener, almost any fellow leader can give you ideas on how you can improve. They don't have to know you. Feedback requires knowing about the person. Feedforward just requires having good ideas for achieving the task.

5. People do not take feedforward as personally as feedback. In theory, constructive feedback is supposed to "focus on the performance, not the person". In practice, almost all feedback is taken personally (no matter how it is delivered). Successful people's sense of identity is highly connected with their work. The more successful people are, the more this tends to be true. It is hard to give a dedicated professional feedback that is not taken personally. Feedforward cannot involve a personal critique, since it is discussing something that has not yet happened! Positive suggestions tend to be seen as objective advice - personal critiques are often viewed as personal attacks.

6. Feedback can reinforce personal stereotyping and negative self-fulfilling prophecies. Feedforward can reinforce the possibility of change. Feedback can reinforce the feeling of failure. How many of us have been "helped" by a spouse, significant other or friend, who seems to have a near-photographic memory of our previous "sins" that they share with us in order to point out the history of our shortcomings. Negative feedback can be used to reinforce the message, "this is just the way you are". Feedforward is based on the assumption that the receiver of suggestions can make positive changes in the future.

7. Face it! Most of us hate getting negative feedback, and we don't like to give it. I have reviewed summary 360 degree feedback reports for over 50 companies. The items, "provides developmental feedback in a timely manner" and "encourages and accepts constructive criticism" almost always score near the bottom on co-worker satisfaction with leaders. Traditional training does not seem to make a great deal of difference. If leaders got better at providing feedback every time the performance appraisal forms were "improved", most should be perfect by now! Leaders are not very good at giving or receiving negative feedback. It is unlikely that this will change in the near future.

8. Feedforward can cover almost all of the same "material" as feedback. Imagine that you have just made a terrible presentation in front of the executive committee. Your manager is in the room. Rather than make you "relive" this humiliating experience, your manager might help you prepare for future presentations by giving you suggestions for the future. These suggestions can be very specific and still delivered in a positive way. In this way your manager can "cover the same points" without feeling embarrassed and without making you feel even more humiliated.

9. Feedforward tends to be much faster and more efficient than feedback. An excellent technique for giving ideas to successful people is to say, "Here are four ideas for the future. Please accept these in the positive spirit that they are given. If you can only use two of the ideas, you are still two ahead. Just ignore what doesn't make sense for you." With this approach almost no time gets wasted on judging the quality of the ideas or "proving that the ideas are wrong". This "debate" time is usually negative; it can take up a lot of time, and it is often not very productive. By eliminating judgment of the ideas, the process becomes much more positive for the sender, as well as the receiver. Successful people tend to have a high need for self-determination and will tend to accept ideas that they "buy" while rejecting ideas that feel "forced" upon them.

10. Feedforward can be a useful tool to apply with managers, peers and team members. Rightly or wrongly, feedback is associated with judgment. This can lead to very negative - or even career-limiting - unintended consequences when applied to managers or peers. Feedforward does not imply superiority of judgment. It is more focused on being a helpful "fellow traveler" than an "expert". As such it can be easier to hear from a person who is not in a position of power or authority. An excellent team building exercise is to have each team member ask, "How can I better help our team in the future?" and listen to feedforward from fellow team members (in one-on-one dialogues.)

11. People tend to listen more attentively to feedforward than feedback. One participant is the feedforward exercise noted, "I think that I listened more effectively in this exercise than I ever do at work!" When asked why, he responded, "Normally, when others are speaking, I am so busy composing a reply that will make sure that I sound smart - that I am not fully listening to what the other person is saying. In feedforward the only reply that I am allowed to make is ‘thank you'. Since I don't have to worry about composing a clever reply - I can focus all of my energy on listening to the other person!"

This isn't meant to imply that leaders should never give feedback or that performance appraisals should be abandoned. The intent is to show how feedforward can often be preferable to feedback in day-to-day interactions. Aside from its effectiveness and efficiency, feedforward can make life a lot more enjoyable. When managers are asked, "How did you feel the last time you received feedback?" their most common responses are very negative. When managers are asked how they felt after receiving feedforward, they reply that feedforward was not only useful, it was also fun!

Quality communication - between and among people at all levels and every department and division - is the glue that holds organizations together. By using feedforward - and by encouraging others to use it - leaders can dramatically improve the quality of communication in their organizations, ensuring that the right message is conveyed, and that those who receive it are receptive to its content. The result is a much more dynamic, much more open organization - one whose employees focus on the promise of the future rather than dwelling on the mistakes of the past.

Life is good.

Marshall

My newest book, MOJO, is a New York Times (advice), Wall Street Journal (business), USAToday (money) and Publisher's Weekly (non-fiction) best seller. It is now available online and at major bookstores.

http://www.MarshallGoldsmithLibrary.com

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Try Feedforward Instead of Feedback

Providing feedback has long been considered to be an essential skill for leaders. As they strive to achieve the goals of the organization, employees need to know how they are doing. They need to know if their performance is in line with what their leaders expect. They need to learn what they have done well and what they need to change.

Traditionally, this information has been communicated in the form of "downward feedback" from leaders to their employees. Just as employees need feedback from leaders, leaders can benefit from feedback from their employees. Employees can provide useful input on the effectiveness of procedures and processes and as well as input to managers on their leadership effectiveness. This "upward feedback" has become increasingly common with the advent of 360 degree multi-rater assessments.

But there is a fundamental problem with all types of feedback: it focuses on a past, on what has already occurred - not on the infinite variety of opportunities that can happen in the future. As such, feedback can be limited and static, as opposed to expansive and dynamic.

Over the past several years, I have observed more than ten thousand leaders as they participated in a fascinating experiential exercise. In the exercise, participants are each asked to play two roles. In one role, they are asked provide feedforward - that is, to give someone else suggestions for the future and help as much as they can. In the second role, they are asked to accept feedforward - that is, to listen to the suggestions for the future and learn as much as they can. The exercise typically lasts for 10-15 minutes, and the average participant has 6-7 dialogue sessions.

In the exercise participants are asked to:

- Pick one behavior that they would like to change. Change in this behavior should make a significant, positive difference in their lives.

- Describe this behavior to randomly selected fellow participants. This is done in one-on-one dialogues. It can be done quite simply, such as, "I want to be a better listener."

- Ask for feedforward - for two suggestions for the future that might help them achieve a positive change in their selected behavior.  If participants have worked together in the past, they are not allowed to give ANY feedback about the past. They are only allowed to give ideas for the future.

- Listen attentively to the suggestions and take notes. Participants are not allowed to comment on the suggestions in any way. They are not allowed to critique the suggestions or even to make positive judgmental statements, such as, "That's a good idea."

- Thank the other participants for their suggestions. - Ask the other persons what they would like to change.

- Provide feedforward - two suggestions aimed at helping the other person change.

- Say, "You are welcome." when thanked for the suggestions. The entire process of both giving and receiving feedforward usually takes about two minutes.

- Find another participant and keep repeating the process until the exercise is stopped.

When the exercise is finished, I ask participants to provide one word that best describes their reaction to this experience. I ask them to complete the sentence, "This exercise was …". The words provided are almost always extremely positive, such as "great", "energizing", "useful" or "helpful." The most common word mentioned is "fun!" What is the last word that most of us think about when we receive feedback, coaching and developmental ideas? Fun!

Life is good.

Marshall

My newest book, MOJO, is a New York Times (advice), Wall Street Journal (business), USAToday (money) and Publisher's Weekly (non-fiction) best seller. It is now available online and at major bookstores.

http://www.MarshallGoldsmithLibrary.com

#MOJOtweet

http://www.LeadingNews.org

http://www.MarshallGoldsmithFeedForward.com

Marshall's Upcoming Schedule

Making the Changes We Need to Make

Now let's turn the spotlight on you, because few of us are immune to the success delusion. Pick one of your own quirky or unattractive behaviors; something that you know is annoying to friends, family or coworkers. Now ask yourself: Do I continue to do this because I think it is somehow associated with the good things that have happened to me? Examine it more closely. Does this behavior help you achieve results - or is it one of those irrational superstitious beliefs that have been controlling your life for years? The former is ‘because of' behavior, the latter ‘in spite of.' Overcoming the success delusion requires vigilance and constantly asking yourself, "Is this behavior a legitimate reason for my success, or am I just kidding myself?"

The first step in achieving positive change in behavior is to realize that it is hard for successful leaders to change - for all of the reasons that we have discussed. Realize that the same beliefs that have helped you get to where you are, may be holding you back from where you want to go. All of my personal coaching clients are either CEOs or people who have the potential to be CEOs in major corporations. I don't get paid if they don't achieve positive, measurable change - not as judged by themselves, but as determined by their key stakeholders. These top executives are brilliant people, who have achieved amazing success and who want to get even better. Even with all of this motivation and ability, everyone one of my clients will verify that changing behavior may be simple - but it is far from easy.

How can you achieve positive change? Get in the habit of asking the key people in your life how you can improve. Recruit them in helping you get from where you are (which can be a pretty great place) to where you want to be (which can be even better). Realize that your first inclination when people point your ‘areas for improvement' may well be to believe that they are ‘wrong' or ‘confused'. Accept the fact that your belief in your previous success- and your contribution to your team's success - is probably over-stated. Give them the ‘benefit of the doubt'. Be open to the fact that they may well be right and you may well be the one who is ‘confused'. Face the reality that you are only going to change what you choose to change - and that the motivation and commitment to change has to come from inside you.

I have often heard Ed Zander, the CEO of Motorola, teach his high-potential leaders the value of encouraging participation, while also being clear that every decision should not be made by a vote or through achieving consensus. Leaders have to make decisions. After listening to input from people you respect, only work on the changes that you believe are right for you and your organization. The desire for change has to come from inside you. Finally, watch out for over-commitment. Keep the change process positive, simple, focused and fast. Realize that your natural inclination will be to think that you can do more than you actually will do. In the past I suggested that leaders pick 1-3 areas for behavioral change. That was when I was young and idealistic. I now suggest that leaders pick one key behavior and get better at that. Keep on following-up with the people that you respect, and you can keep on getting better.

One of my clients, George Borst, the CEO of Toyota Financial Services, was very successful in changing the behavior that he picked for improvement - becoming a more effective coach. As we reviewed the positive results from his co-workers, he had a great realization. "If I am going to keep improving as a leader, I am going to have to be working on this stuff for the rest of my life - aren't I!"

As the wise older General noted, as you move up the ranks and get that star - don't let it go to your head. Realize that every promotion can make it harder to change. Always balance the confidence that got you here - where you are - with the humility required to get you there - where you have the potential to go.

Life is good.

Marshall

My newest book, MOJO, is a New York Times (advice), Wall Street Journal (business), USAToday (money) and Publisher's Weekly (non-fiction) best seller. It is now available online and at major bookstores.

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How the Success Delusion Makes Us Superstitious

The four success beliefs of successful people:

Belief 1: I Have Succeeded
Belief 2: I Can Succeed
Belief 3: I Will Succeed
Belief 4: I Choose to Succeed

all filter through us and create in us something that we don't want to believe about ourselves. Our success delusion is actually a form of superstition . "Who, me?" you say. "I am an educated and logical person. I am not superstitious!"

That may be true for "childish" superstitions such as bad luck ensuing from walking under a ladder, or breaking a mirror, or letting a black cat cross our path. Most of us scorn superstitions as silly beliefs of the primitive and uneducated. Deep down inside, we assure ourselves that we're above these silly notions. No so fast. To a degree, we're all superstitious. In many cases, the higher we climb the organizational totem pole, the more superstitious we become.

Psychologically speaking, superstitious behavior comes from the belief that a specific activity that is followed by positive reinforcement is actually the cause of that positive reinforcement. The activity may be functional or not - that is, it may affect someone or something else, or it may be self-contained and pointless - but if something good happens after we do it, then we make a connection. My undergraduate background is in mathematics. Mathematically speaking, superstition is merely the confusion of two words - correlation and causality. B. F. Skinner showed how hungry pigeons would repeat meaningless twitches when the twitches, by pure chance, were followed by random small pellets of food.

In much the same way, successful leaders can repeat dysfunctional behavior when this behavior is followed by large pellets of money - even if the behavior has no connection with the results that led to the money. One of my greatest challenges is helping leaders see how their confusion of ‘because of' and ‘in spite of' behavior can lead to the "superstition trap."

Life is good.

Marshall

My newest book, MOJO, is a New York Times (advice), Wall Street Journal (business), USAToday (money) and Publisher's Weekly (non-fiction) best seller. It is now available online and at major bookstores.

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Belief 4: I Choose to Succeed

Successful people believe that they are doing what they choose to do, because they choose to do it. They have a high need for self-determination. When we do what we choose to do, we are committed. When we do what we have to do, we are compliant. A child can see the difference between commitment and compliance. Even a skeptical wise-guy teenager like me could see that some teachers had chosen the profession (and loved to teach) and others did it to just make a living - and the best teachers were clearly the former. They were committed to their students rather than being controlled by external forces (their paycheck).

Successful people have a unique distaste for feeling controlled or manipulated. I see this daily in my work. Even when I've gotten the greatest advance build-up as someone who can help people change for the better, I still meet resistance. I have now made peace with the fact that I cannot make people change. I can only help them get better at what they choose to change. Basketball coach Rick Pitino wrote a book called Success Is a Choice. I agree. "I choose to succeed" correlates closely with achievement in virtually any field.

People don't stumble on success; they choose it. Unfortunately, getting successful people to say "and I choose to change" is not an easy transition. It means turning that muscular commitment on its head. Easy to say, hard to do. The more we believe that our behavior is a result of our own choices and commitments, the less likely we are to want to change that same behavior. There's a reason for this, and it's one of the best-researched principles in psychology. It's called cognitive dissonance. It refers to the disconnect between what we want believe and what we actually experience in the world.

The underlying theory is simple. The more we are committed to believing that something is true, the less likely we are to believe that its opposite is true, even in the face of clear evidence that shows we are wrong. Cognitive dissonance usually works in favor of successful people when they apply it to achieving their mission. The more we are committed to believing that we are on the right path, the less likely we are to believe that our strategy is flawed, even in the face of initial evidence that indicates we may be wrong. It's the reason successful people don't buckle and waver when times are hard.

Their commitment to their goals and beliefs allows them to view reality through rose-tinted glasses - and that's a good thing in many situations. Their commitment encourages people to "stay the course" and to not "give up" when "the going gets tough." Of course, this same principle can work against successful people when they should "change course." The old saying ‘winners never quit' is often true. Sometimes it is important for even the most successful people to quit doing something that isn't working. It is hard for winners to quit!

Life is good.

Marshall

My newest book, MOJO, is a New York Times (advice), Wall Street Journal (business), USAToday (money) and Publisher's Weekly (non-fiction) best seller. It is now available online and at major bookstores.

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Belief 3: I Will Succeed

Successful people are optimists. Anyone who has ever been in sales knows - if you believe you will succeed you might not - but if you don't believe that you will succeed you won't! Optimists tend to chronically over-commit. Why? We believe that we will do more than we actually can do. It can be extremely difficult for an ambitious person, with an “I will succeed' attitude to say "no" to desirable opportunities.

The huge majority of leaders that I work with today feel as busy - or busier - than they have ever felt in their lives. They are not so busy because they are losers. They are so busy because they are winners. They are ‘drowning in a sea of opportunity'. Perhaps this has happened to you. You do something wonderful at work. Suddenly, lots of people want to associate themselves with your success. They think, quite logically, that since you pulled off a miracle once, you can do it again - this time for them. Soon opportunities are thrust upon you at a pace you have never seen before. Since you believe, "I will succeed," it is hard to say "no". If not careful, you can get overwhelmed - and that which brought about your rise will bring about your fall.

In my volunteer work, my client was the executive director of one of the world's most important human services organizations. His mission was to help the world's most vulnerable people. Unfortunately, his business was booming. When people came to him for help, he didn't have the heart or inclination to say no. Everything was driven by his belief that "we will succeed." As a result, he promised more than even the most dedicated staff could deliver. His biggest challenge as a leader was not letting his personal optimism lead to staff burnout, turn over and missed commitments. This ‘I will succeed' belief can sabotage our chances for success when it is time for us to change behavior.

I make no apology for the fact that I'm obsessed about following-up with my clients to see if they actually use what I teach them - and achieve positive change in behavior . Almost every participant who attends my leadership training program intends to apply what has been learned back at work. Most do, and they get better! Many do absolutely nothing and might as well have spent their time watching sit-coms.

When I ask the ‘do-nothings', "Why didn't you actually implement the behavioral changes that you said you would?" by far the most common response is, "I meant to, but just didn't have the time to get to it." In other words, they were over-committed. They sincerely believe that they would ‘get to it later', but ‘later' never came. Our excessive optimism and resulting over-commitment can be as serious an obstacle to change as our denial of negative feedback or our belief that our flaws are actually the cause of our success.

Life is good.

Marshall

My newest book, MOJO, is a New York Times (advice), Wall Street Journal (business), USAToday (money) and Publisher's Weekly (non-fiction) best seller. It is now available online and at major bookstores.

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Belief 2: I Can Succeed

Successful people believe that they have the capability to have a positive influence on the world - and to make desirable things happen. It's not quite like a carnival magic act where the mentalist moves objects on a table with her mind. But it's close. Successful people literally believe that through the sheer force of their personality, talent and brainpower, they can steer a situation in their direction. It's the reason why some people raise their hand and say, "Put me in coach" when the boss asks for volunteers - and others cower in the corner, praying that they won't be noticed.

This is the classic definition of self-efficacy, and it may be the most central belief driving individual success. People who believe they can succeed see opportunities, where others see threats. They are not afraid of uncertainty or ambiguity, they embrace it. They take more risks and achieve greater returns. Given the choice, they bet on themselves. Successful people have a high ‘internal locus of control'.

In other words, they do not feel like victims of fate. They see their success as a function of their own motivation and ability - not luck, random chance or fate. They carry this belief even when luck does play a crucial role in success.

Several years ago six of my partners wanted to get involved in a very large deal. Since I was the senior partner, they needed my approval. I was dead set against the deal and told them that it was idiotic. I finally agreed, but kicking and screaming. Seven years later my personal return from their ‘idiotic' investment exceeded seven digits to the left of the decimal. There was no way to credit my windfall other than my pure, dumb luck.

When I told this story to some of my successful friends, they refused to see it this way. They insisted that my good fortune was really a deserved payoff for years of hard work and dedication. This was a classic successful person's response. Successful people tend to believe that good fortune is ‘earned' through an individual's motivation and ability, even when it is not. Of course, this belief makes about as much sense as inheriting money and believing that you are a self-made man. If you are born on third base, you shouldn't think you hit a triple.

Successful people believe that there is a causal link between what they have done and the results that follow - even when no link exists. This belief is delusional, but it is also empowering. This belief is certainly better than the alternative. Take the example of people who buy lots of lottery tickets. They tend to be less successful. This is why the state-run lottery is actually a ‘regressive tax' on the poor. If you believe success is a function of luck, you might as well buy lottery tickets. (This is why you seldom see millionaires scratching tickets.) To make matters worse, serious scratchers often blow the money if they actually win the lottery. Why? The same misguided beliefs that led to the purchase of the tickets are reinforced when they win.

Successful people trade this ‘lottery mentality' for an unshakable belief in themselves. This presents another obstacle in helping them change behavior. When we believe that our good fortune is directly and causally linked to our behavior, we can easily make a false assumption. "I am successful. I behave this way. Therefore, I must be successful because I behave this way. It can be especially challenging to help successful leaders realize that their success is happening in spite of some of their behavior.

Life is good.

Marshall

My newest book, MOJO, is a New York Times (advice), Wall Street Journal (business), USAToday (money) and Publisher's Weekly (non-fiction) best seller. It is now available online and at major bookstores.

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Belief 1: I Have Succeeded

Our positive beliefs about ourselves help us become successful. These same beliefs can make it tough for us to change. The same beliefs that helped us get to here - our current level of success, can inhibit us from making the changes needed to get to there - the next level that we have the potential to reach .

Belief 1: I Have Succeeded

Successful people have one consistent idea coursing through their veins and brains - "I have succeeded. I have succeeded. I have succeeded." This strong belief in our past success gives us faith to take the risks needed for our future success. You may not think that this applies to you. You may think that this is ego run amok. But look closely at yourself. How do you have the confidence to wake up in the morning and charge into work, filled with optimism and eagerness to compete?

It's not because you are reminding yourself of the screw-ups you have created and the failures that you have endured. On the contrary, it's because you edit out failures and choose to run the highlight reel of your successes. If you're like the successful people I know, you're focused on the positives, calling up mental images when you were the star, dazzled everyone and came out on top. It might be those five minutes in the executive meeting when you had the floor and nailed the argument that you wanted to make. (Who wouldn't run that highlight in their head as if it were the Sports Center Play of the Day?) It might be your skillfully crafted memo that the CEO praised and routed to everyone in the company. (Who wouldn't want to re-read that memo in a spare moment?)

When our actions lead to a happy ending and make us look good, we love to replay it for ourselves. When it comes to the thoughts successful people hold in our heads, we are not self-depreciating, we are self-aggrandizing - and that's a good thing! Without it, we wouldn't be so excited about getting up in the morning. I once got into a conversation about this with a major league baseball player. Every hitter has certain pitchers whom he historically hits better than others. He told me, "When I face a pitcher whom I've hit well in the past, I always go up to the plate thinking I ‘own' this guy. That gives me confidence." That's not surprising.

To successful people the past is made up of rose-colored prologue. But he took that thinking one step further. "What about pitchers that you don't hit well?" I asked. "How do you deal with a pitcher who ‘owns' you?" "Same thing," he said. "I go up to the plate thinking I can hit this guy. I have done it before with pitchers a lot better than he is." In other words, not only did he lean on his past success to maintain his positive attitude - he relied on it even when his past performance was not so rosy - i.e. when the evidence actually contradicted his self-confidence.

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Successful people don't drink from a glass that is half empty! When achievement is the result of a team effort - not just individual performance - we tend to over-estimate our contribution to the final victory. I once asked three business partners to estimate their individual contribution to the partnership's profits. Not surprisingly, the sum of their answers amounted to over 150% of the actual profit. Each partner thought that she was contributing more than half! This over-estimation of our past success is true in almost any workplace. If you ask your colleagues (in a confidential survey) to estimate their percentage contribution to your enterprise, the total will always exceed 100%. There is nothing wrong with this. (If the total adds up to less than 100%, you probably need new colleagues!)

This "I have succeeded" belief, positive as it is in most cases, can become a major obstacle when behavioral change is needed. Successful people consistently over-rate themselves relative to their peers. I have asked over 50,000 participants in my training programs to rate themselves in terms of their performance relative to their professional peers - 80-85% rank themselves in the top 20% of their peer group - and about 70% rank themselves in the top 10%.

The numbers get even more ridiculous among professionals with higher perceived social status, such as physicians, pilots and investment bankers. MDs may be the most delusional. I once told a group of Doctors that my extensive research had conclusively proven that half of all MDs had graduated in the bottom half of their medical school class. Two of doctors insisted that this was impossible! We all tend to accept feedback from others that is consistent with the way we see ourselves. We all tend to reject or deny feedback from others that is inconsistent with the way we see ourselves.

Successful people feel great about their previous performance! The ‘good news' is that these positive memories build our self-confidence and inspire us to try to succeed even more. The ‘bad news' is our delusional self-image can make it very hard to hear negative feedback and admit that we need to change.

Life is good.

Marshall

My newest book, MOJO, is a New York Times (advice), Wall Street Journal (business), USAToday (money) and Publisher's Weekly (non-fiction) best seller. It is now available online and at major bookstores.

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Why We Resist Change

UNUM, the insurance company, ran an ad some years ago showing a powerful grizzly in the middle of a roaring stream, with his neck extended to the limit, jaws wide open and teeth flaring. The bear was about to clamp on an unsuspecting salmon jumping up stream. The headline read: YOU PROBABLY FEEL LIKE THE BEAR, WE'D LIKE TO SUGGEST THAT YOU ARE THE SALMON.

The ad was designed to sell disability insurance, but it struck me as a powerful statement about how we all delude ourselves about our achievements, our status and our contributions. We often:

- Overestimate our contribution to a project

- Have an elevated opinion of our professional skills and standing among our peers

- Exaggerate our project's impact on profitability by discounting real and hidden costs

Many of our delusions can come from our association with success, not failure. Since we get positive reinforcement from our past successes, we think that they are predictive of great things to come in our future.

The fact that successful people tend to be delusional isn't all bad. Our belief in our wonderfulness gives us confidence. Even though we are not as good as we think we are, this confidence actually helps us be better than we would become if we did not believe in ourselves. The most realistic people in the world are not delusional - they are depressed!

Although our self-confident delusions can help us achieve, they can make it difficult for us to change. In fact, when others suggest that we may need to change, we may view them with unadulterated bafflement.

It's an interesting three-part response. First we are convinced that the other party is confused. They are misinformed, and they just don't know what they are talking about. They must have us mixed up with someone who truly does need to change. Second, as it dawns upon us that the other party is not confused - maybe their information about our perceived shortcomings is accurate - we go into denial mode. This criticism may be correct, but it can't be that important - or else we wouldn't be so successful. Finally, when all else fails, we may attack the other party. We discredit the messenger. "Why is a winner like me," we conclude, "listening to a loser like you?"

These are just a few of our initial responses to what we don't want to hear - denial mechanisms. Couple this with the very positive interpretation that successful people assign to

(a) their past performance

(b) their ability to influence their success (as opposed to just being lucky)

(c) their optimistic belief that their success will continue in the future, and

(d) their over-stated sense of control over their own destiny (as opposed to being controlled by external forces), and you have a volatile cocktail of resistance to change.

Life is good.

Marshall

My newest book, MOJO, is a New York Times (advice), Wall Street Journal (business), USAToday (money) and Publisher's Weekly (non-fiction) best seller. It is now available online and at major bookstores.

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Why It's Difficult for Successful Leaders to Change

Any human, in fact, any animal will tend to repeat behavior that is followed by positive reinforcement. The more successful we become, the more positive reinforcement we get - and the more likely we are to experience the success delusion.

"I behave this way. I am successful. Therefore, I must be successful because I behave this way."

Wrong!

The higher we move up the organizational ladder, the more our employees let us know how wonderful we are! Our behavior is often followed by positive reinforcement, even when this behavior makes absolutely no sense. One night over dinner, I listened as a very wise military leader shared his learnings from years of experience with an eager, newly-minted General, "Recently, have you started to notice that when you tell jokes, everyone erupts into laughter - and that when you say something ‘wise' everyone nods their heads in solemn agreement? The new General replied, "Why, yes, I have." The older General laughed and continued, "Let me help you. You aren't that funny, and you aren't that smart! It's only that star on your shoulder. Don't ever let it go to your head."

We all want to hear what we want to hear. We want to believe those great things that the world is telling us about ourselves. Our belief in ourselves helps us become successful. It can also make it very hard for us to change. As the wise older General noted - we aren't really that funny, and we aren't really that smart. We can all get better - if we are willing to take a hard look at ourselves. By understanding why changing behavior can be so difficult for successful leaders - we can increase the likelihood of making the changes that we need to make - in our quest to become even more successful.

Life is good.

Marshall

My newest book, MOJO, is a New York Times (advice), Wall Street Journal (business), USAToday (money) and Publisher's Weekly (non-fiction) best seller. It is now available online and at major bookstores.

http://www.MarshallGoldsmithLibrary.com

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