Marshall Goldsmith Blog

After reviewing over 100 custom-designed leadership profiles for major corporations –helping write over 50, I can say that one item I have never read is “effectively fawns over executive management.” While almost every company says it wants people to “challenge the system,” “be empowered to express your opinion,” and “say what you really think,” there sure are a lot of people who are stuck on sucking up!

Almost all of the leaders I have met say that they would never encourage such a thing in their organizations. I have no doubt that they are sincere. Most of us are easily irritated ─ if not disgusted ─ by derriere kissers. Which raises a question: If leaders say they discourage sucking up, why does it happen so often? Here’s a straightforward answer: Without meaning to, we all tend to create an environment where people learn to reward others with accolades that aren’t really warranted. We can see this very clearly in other people. We just can’t see it in ourselves.

So now you may be thinking, “This guy Goldsmith is right. It’s amazing how leaders send out subtle signals that encourage subordinates to mute their criticisms and exaggerate their praise of the powers that be. And it’s surprising how they can’t see themselves doing it. Of course, Goldsmith isn’t talking about me. I don’t do this in my company.” And maybe you’re right. But how can you be so sure that you’re not in denial?

I use an irrefutable test with my clients to show how we unknowingly encourage sucking up. I ask a group of leaders the following question: “How many of you own a dog that you love?” Big smiles cross these executives’ faces as they wave their hands in the air. They beam as they tell me the names of their always-faithful mutts. Then we have a contest. I ask them, “At home, who gets most of your unabashed affection?” The multiple choices: one, your husband, wife, or partner; two, your kids; or three, your dog. More than 80% of the time, the clear winner is — the dog!

I then ask them if they love their dogs more than the members of their families. The answer is always a resounding no. My follow-up: “So why does the dog get most of your unqualified positive recognition?” They reply with answers that all sound about the same. “The dog is always happy to see me.” “The dog never talks back.” “The dog gives me unconditional love, no matter what I do.” In other words, the dog is a suck-up.

I can’t say that I am any better. I have two dogs at home. I travel all the time, and the dogs go absolutely nuts when I return from a trip. I pull into the driveway, and my first inclination is to open the front door, go straight to the dogs, and exclaim, “Daddy’s home!” Invariably, the dogs jump up and down and wag their little tails. I give them a big hug. One day, my daughter, Kelly, was home from college. She watched my typical love fest with the dogs. She then looked at me disgustedly, held her hands in the air like little paws, and barked, “Woof woof.”

Point taken.

If we aren’t careful, we can treat people at work like dogs: by rewarding those who heap unthinking, unconditional admiration upon us. What behavior do we get in return? A virulent case of the suck-ups.

Here’s how leaders can stop encouraging this behavior. Begin by admitting that we all have a tendency to favor those who favor us, even if we don’t mean to. We should then rank our direct reports in three areas. First, how much do they like me? (I know you aren’t sure. What matters is how much you think they like you.) Second, what is their contribution to our company and our customers? Third, how much positive, personal recognition do I give them? In many cases, if we are honest with ourselves, how much recognition we give someone is more often highly correlated with how much they seem to like us than it is with how well they perform. If that is the case, we may be encouraging the kind of behavior that we despise in others. Without meaning to, we are basking in hollow praise, which makes us hollow leaders.

Life is good.

Marshall

www.MarshallGoldsmithLibrary.com

Adapted from Fast Company Issue 77 “All of Us Are Stuck on Suck-Ups”.

As you may know I have 9.5 million frequent flier miles, which means I’m traveling much of the time.

I’m often asked for a list of my upcoming events, so I’ve decided to begin including information about upcoming public seminars in my personal blog.

I’ll make these separate posts, so you can read them if you like, or just look for the informational posts if you prefer.

Here is a start:

You can spend a full day with me and Linkage, Inc. - click here to register

Mar 18, 2008
New York, NY

May 12, 2008
Chicago, IL

I’ll be expanding on my newest best selling book, “What Got You Here Won’t Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More Successful.”

You’ll learn some new strategies for how to attack problems that often come with success.

Here is what Linkage says:

At Linkage, we believe that the best leadership coaching occurs when helping individual leaders drive personal behavioral change against the backdrop of their business strategy. To that end, Linkage proudly presents What Got You Here Won’t Get You There, a practical 1-day program for leaders featur­ing coaching guru, Marshall Goldsmith.

As a participant, hear from Marshall Goldsmith about how to unlock the keys to your professional success. Learn to use proven tools and processes to identify the behavioral habits that stand between you and your next level of achievement in the context of your own professional environment. Leave empowered to change what keeps you from where you want to be. And reap the added benefits-by working to improve yourself as a leader-of naturally encouraging others around you to do the same.

Marshall’s one-on-one coaching comes with a six-figure price tag. In this 1-day event, get Marshall’s great advice without the hefty fee! Marshall Goldsmith was named one of the five most respected ex­ecutive coaches by Forbes and a top-ten executive educator by the Wall Street Journal. He has worked with some of the most influential leaders in Fortune 500 companies.

Click here to register for a full day Linkage seminar with Marshall Goldsmith either in New York or Chicago.

***

“What Happy Coaches Know” Webinar Series

Noon EST/9AM Pacific - second Tuesdays - look for me July 8th (click here to register)

Here is “What Happy Coaches Know” says:

“2008 What Happy Coaches Know” is a complimentary webinar series featuring top coaches including Marshall Goldsmith.

Coaching is a vital skill set in today’s competitive global economy. Being a leader is not enough. To succeed, you must optimize your performance and know how to imbue others in your organization with leadership skills through coaching strategies.

Practical, actionable insights are the focus of “What Happy Coaches Know”, a new webinar series the second Tuesday each month at noon EST/9AM Pacific. Co-hosted by Cathy Greenberg and Marilyn McLeod.

Find registration link here for “What Happy Coaches Know” webinar series.

Click here for webinar schedule and more information.

In our study on leadership development, we found that managers who asked their co-workers for suggestions for improvements, listened to these suggestions, learned from the people around them, and consistently followed up to check on progress were seen by their direct reports and colleagues as becoming more effective leaders.

Managers who didn’t ask and follow up were not seen as becoming more effective leaders—even though they participated in exactly the same leadership development programs. In hindsight, these findings are common sense.

When people ask us for input, listen to our ideas, try to learn from us, and follow up to check on their progress, our relationship with them almost invariably improves and they become more effective in their dealings with us.

Yet while asking may be common sense, it is far from common practice. My good friend Jim Kouzes (who with Barry Posner co-authored the best-selling book The Leadership Challenge), has reviewed ratings from tens of thousands of people who completed questionnaires evaluating the leadership skills of their managers. “Asking for input on how he or she can improve” scores in last place in terms of direct-report satisfaction with managers.

Life is good.

Marshall

www.MarshallGoldsmithLibrary.com

I’ve learned during my career that no matter how much you have achieved, to get to the next level you are going to have to get even better. As you go through my online library at www.MarshallGoldsmithLibrary.com, you’ll find solid suggestions and proven advice to take you on your journey to “there.”

As an executive educator, my mission is to help successful leaders achieve positive, lasting change in behavior for themselves, their people, and their teams. My personal-coaching clients are either CEOs or executives who have the potential to become CEOs in major organizations. They have already achieved megasuccess—and are fully committed to getting even better.

As a board member of the Peter Drucker Foundation for 10 years, I had the privilege of listening to Peter speak on many occasions. One of the reasons that he is quoted so frequently is that he had the gift of distilling meaningful concepts into short phrases. One of my favorite Peter Drucker quotes is, “The leader of the past knew how to tell—the leader of the future will know how to ask.”

My first suggestion for you is simple. Start asking. If you are a leader in today’s rapidly changing world, you are probably managing knowledge workers. Drucker’s definition of “knowledge workers” was employees who know more about what they are doing than their boss does. It is hard to tell people who already know more about their work than we do what to do and how to do it. That’s why we have to ask, listen, and learn from them. We should focus on helping them become more effective as opposed to judging them from our superior vantage point.

Start asking your direct reports, “How can I do a better job of helping you become even more effective?” Asking works. And this isn’t just a theory. Extensive research shows it’s a fact. My partner, Howard Morgan, and I published a study on leadership development involving more than 86,000 respondents from eight major corporations. Our findings are hard to debate.

Life is good.

Marshall

www.MarshallGoldsmithLibrary.com