The advice that Marshall offers is contrarian to the good habits advice offered by other experts, and is built around the bad habits that can derail talented executives and most of us from a successful path. A recent and prominent example of improper behaviour at work involves the CEO of Whole Food Market, John Mackey, who got caught posting disparaging comments anonymously on financial bulletin boards that may cost him his job. This incident is tied to one of the bad habits that Marshall advises we must avoid. Winning too much: Marshall points out that our hypercompetitive culture to beat others causes every other behavioural problem, and leads rational men to do irrational things.

Most advice coming from the self-help experts typically deals with the good things that we need to do as opposed to trying to fix the flaws. For example, the best seller “Now, Discover your Strengths” from the Gallup organization is about identifying and applying your strengths because you are only good at some things, and you should not waste your time trying to improve your weaknesses. This approach underestimates the human potential in my opinion, oversimplifies the capacity of most people, and is misapplied in some corporate circles (I speak from experience.)

If you were to participate in a Gallup 2 day seminar to discover your strengths. At the end of the session, you would walk away with a certificate and five identified strengths to focus on. Intuitively you may think of Tiger Woods and golf. Just because Tiger is good at some aspects of the game such as approach or chip shots does not mean that he forgets about driving, putting, or pitch shots. You need to be balanced and well-rounded to win in sports and business, and improving or neutralizing your weaknesses is a win-win proposition for all. There is much good in knowing and playing to your strengths. At the same time there is much to be missed if we do not know our major weaknesses and ignore them.

The logic of Marshall’s coaching is centred on the behaviours that hold us back. The key to success lies in the ability to work well with everyone and inspire others. The higher up you go the more of a role model you need to be because living company values is aspirational. Equally important, a leader that engenders collaboration spirit and energizes employees creates great value for the enterprise. Managing knowledge workers who know more than you requires solid people skills, and there is no room for bad manners if you want to succeed in the long-run.

All bad habits boil down to two things: information and emotion. For example, broadcasting strong opinions about colleagues is not smart. Too much information and disclosure driven by emotion is a bad mixture. The information may be honest, but it is not necessary in a professional environment.

The essence of Marshall’s work in his new best seller “What Got You Here Won’t Get you There” is his detailed and candid discussion about the twenty habits that interfere with your success. Habits such as telling the world how smart you are all the time, winning too much, making destructive comments, not listening, punishing the messenger, disclosing too much when angry, failing to express gratitude, and passing the buck are some of the behavioural ills that will not help any of us be successful. In summary, the work of Marshall Goldsmith has no therapeutic gimmicks, but it provides a leadership guide that will help immensely and can be used at home, the workplace, and our personal lives.