Business Education Forum: What Got You Here Won't Get You There
Dr. Marshall Goldsmith (center) with Joan Steltmann, LFGSM Vice President of Enterprise Advancement, and LFGSM President & CEO, John Popoli.
Featuring Executive Coach and New York Times bestselling author Dr. Marshall Goldsmith
On September 10, 2007, nearly 200 people packed the Motorola Innovation Center Auditorium in Schaumburg, IL, to participate in a lively workshop that challenged them to examine the habits that might be preventing further career advancement. The workshop was facilitated by Marshall Goldsmith, PhD, America’s pre-eminent executive coach who has worked with 80 of the Fortune 500’s CEOs. Goldsmith is a New York Times bestselling author of 23 books, including the recently heralded What Got You Here Won’t Get YouThere.
The event was sponsored by the Alumni Office at Lake Forest Graduate School of Management, which offers its part-time MBA program in Schaumburg at the Motorola Galvin Center, as well as at campuses in Lake Forest and Downtown Chicago.
Entitled “What Got You Here Won’t Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More Successful!,” the event featured an interactive presentation, networking reception and book signing. Participants were asked to get out of their seats to engage in several activities with other guests. In one session, called “Feed-forward” (as opposed to “feedback”), individuals solicited non-judgmental forward-looking advice about how to overcome the negative workplace behaviors that challenge them. Some participants wanted to become better listeners, while others reported being plagued by the habit of making disparaging comments about colleagues.
“The event was invigorating from start to finish,” said Debra Lofchie, Vice President for Human Resources at GFX International, and a 2005 Lake Forest MBA alumna. “The information was fresh, and simply stated. The lessons were powerful and immediately applicable in my day-to-day life at work and at home!”
Goldsmith’s insights were both profound and simple. He encouraged people to identify and focus on just one thing they’d like to change about their behavior. Before the evening was over, many had committed to avoid starting their sentences with “No,” “But” or “However.” Yet others promised to simply say “Thank you” when their employees offered ideas or feedback, rather that falling into the trap of adding too much value and inadvertently taking an employee’s idea and turning it into their own.
“Marshall’s approach to helping successful people become even more successful resonates with LFGSM because it’s exactly what we do in our MBA and Corporate Education Programs,” said Joan Steltmann, Vice President of Enterprise Advancement. “It was an honor to learn from Marshall and to make his insights - and his optimistic energy - available to the alumni, students, donors, faculty and friends who attended the event.”
About Marshall Goldsmith, PhD
Dr. Goldsmith has been named one of the five most-respected executive coaches by Forbes and a top-ten executive educator by the Wall Street Journal. He works with some of the most influential leaders in Fortune 500 companies. The American Management Association recently named Dr. Goldsmith one of 50 great thinkers and business leaders who have impacted the field of management.
In 2007, Dr. Goldsmith’s new book, What Got You Here Won’t Get You There, was ranked as America’s #1 best-selling business book in both the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. Marshall’s twenty-three books include: The Leader of the Future (a Business Week bestseller), and Coaching for Leadership.