What Got You Here Won't Get You There by Marshall Goldsmith

Author:Marshall Goldsmith
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Profile Books Ltd
Published: 2009-07-15T16:00:00+00:00

The Four Commitments

When I work with a coaching client, I always get confidential feedback from many of my client’s coworkers at the beginning of the process. The fewest I have ever interviewed is eight and the most is thirty-one. My average is about fifteen. The number of interviewees depends upon the company’s size and the executive’s job. Before I begin these interviews, I involve my client in determining who should be interviewed. Each interview lasts about an hour and focuses on the basics: What is my client doing right, what does my client need to change, and how my (already successful) client can get even better!

Today, all of my personal coaching clients are either CEOs or executives who have the potential to be CEOs in major corporations. If my client is the CEO, I get his or her opinion on who should be interviewed. If my client is not the CEO, the CEO must also approve my list of interviewees. (I don’t want the CEO to feel that I left out important people.) One reason so many people deny the validity of feedback is that they believe that the feedback was delivered by the “wrong people.” Since my clients pick their raters, it is hard for them to deny the validity of the feedback.

I have been asked if my clients ever just “pick their friends” and ignore valuable feedback from people who may be critical. In theory I see how this could happen, but I’ve never had this experience.

As part of my interview process, I enlist each of my client’s coworkers to help me out. I want them to assist, not sabotage the change process. I let the coworker know how my process works by saying, “I’m going to be working with my client for the next year or so. I don’t get paid if he doesn’t get better. ‘Better’ is not defined by me. It’s not defined by my client. ‘Better’ is defined by you and the other coworkers who will be involved in this process.”

The raters usually respond well to that. People like hearing that they are the customer and they have the power to determine if I get paid. After all, if change happens, the raters taste victory with a dramatically improved boss and work environment.

I then present these coworkers with four requests. I call them The Four Commitments. I need them to commit to:

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