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Learning from a great leader. In my role as an
executive coach, I have a very unusual way of coaching.
I don't get paid if my clients don't get better.
Better's not judged by me. Better's not judged by my
client. Better's judged by everyone around my client. There's a
great way to test if someone actually believes what they're
saying. You can ask a person one question, and instantly
determine their level of belief. And it's a very simple
question, always works. What is that simple question? Do you want
to bet on it? If they say, I believe it but I
don't want to bet on it. You know what you just learned?
They don't really believe it. They say, Here's the money, they believe
it. Now, this is something I bet on every time. This
is something I believe in. It's something that works. Now, when you
get paid for results, you learn a little humility. The client I
coached that I spent the most amount of time with did not
improve at all, and I did not get paid. The
client that I spent the least amount of time with
improved more than anyone I ever coached, 200 people probably
got better, and I did get paid. And he was fantastic
to start with. Very humbling experience. Well, I made a
chart. On one dimension it said, Time Spent with Marshall
Goldsmith. The other dimension, Improvement. There seemed to be a
clear negative correlation between spending time with me and getting better.
I thought, that's a troubling chart. Now, go talk to my
client who improved the most, who I spent the least amount
of time with, who's fantastic to start with. His name is
Alan Mulally. Alan is now the CEO of the Ford Motor
Company. CEO of the Year in the United States. Fortune Magazine
just said he was number three leader in the world. He
ranked only behind the Pope and Angela Merkel. So, Alan is
a pretty fantastic leader and he's also just a great human being.
So, I go talk to Alan. I said, Alan, of all the
people I've coached, you improved the most. I spent the least amount
of time with you. And you were great to start with. What
should I learn about coaching from you? By the way, I'm sitting there
thinking about my chart and I was thinking. If that guy never
met me, the way this chart looks, he'd really be good. Well,
I asked Alan, What should I learn about coaching from you? He
taught me two great lessons I'm going to share with you. He said,
Marshall, Lesson Number 1. Your biggest challenge as a coach
is picking great customers. If you pick great customers, you're coaching
process is always going to work. And if you pick the
wrong customer, your coaching process is never going to work. Work
with great people, pick great customers. And he said, Number 2,
don't make the coaching process about yourself and your own ego
and how smart you are. Make it about those great people
you work with, how proud you are of them, and how
hard they work. Then he said, My job isn't that different,
as the CEO of this company. He said, I don't build these
cars, I don't design the cars, I don't sell the cars.
I've got to have great people here at Ford to help me.
They're the ones doing the work. And he said, Every day
when I drive to work I tell myself, leadership is not about
me. Leadership is about them. Well, these are some great learning points
from a very, very great leader. And you know what? That applies
in so much of our lives. Now, I'm going to ask you a question. Most of us never
deeply understand these points. Have you ever attempted to
change the behavior of a successful adult that had absolutely
no interest in changing? How much luck did you
have in those religious conversion activities? Now, I'm going
to ask you another question, a troublesome question--yes, an
embarrassing question. Have you ever attempted to change the behavior
of a husband, wife, or partner that had no interest
in changing? And how's that working out for you? How's this
one? Have you ever attempted to change the behavior of Mommy
or Daddy who had no interest in change? I was teaching
my class at Dartmouth and a woman raised her hand.
I said, Who were you trying to change, Mommy or Daddy?
She said, Daddy. I said, What's old Daddy's problem? She said,
He does not have a healthy lifestyle. I said, How old
is Daddy? She said, 94 years old. I said, Leave
the old boy alone! I'm going to teach you a great
lesson now for being a great coach. What is that lesson?
In terms of coaching adults, if they do not care, do
not waste your time. If they do not care, do
not waste your time. How much of our lives have been
wasted trying to change the behavior of adults that do not
care? And what is our return on that investment? Now I'm
going to give you a great lesson for developing yourself as
a leader. What is that great lesson? If you do not
care, do not waste your time. If you're going to get
better at anything, the motivation for your improvement is going to
come from one and only one place. Where would that be?
In your heart. If it doesn't come from in here, you
won't do it anyway. So in terms of coaching others, if
they don't care, don't waste your time. In terms of coaching yourself...
Developing yourself as a leader... If you don't care, don't waste your time.
The essence of being a great coach, pick the right customers, work with great
people, work with people that care, and make sure that you realize your success
is not a function of you. Your success is more a function of them.
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