FeedForward Ebook PDF

FeedForward
Marshall Goldsmith Stakeholder Centered Coaching

www.sccoaching.com
Dear Colleague
FeedForward fits well into any program that seeks to help leaders or
team members become more aware of their impact and work on
behaviors that maximize their effectiveness.
We designed FeedForward so you can decide how to deliver it in a way

that works best for your organization. You may gather your group for
instruction using the Group Exercise towards the end. We recommend
participants to do some “homework” before and after you meet, which
you can determine as appropriate for your group.
Thank you for making a commitment to productive leadership and

improved relationships.
Your partners in learning and growing,
www.sccoaching.com 1
FEEDFORWARD
TABLE OF CONTENTS
WHAT IS IT?........................................................................................................ 4
HOW DOES IT WORK?

Get 360° Feedback............................................................................................ 6
Pick a Behavior................................................................................................... 7
Respond................................................................................................................. 7
Involve.................................................................................................................... 9
Follow Up.............................................................................................................. 9
20 BEHAVIORS.............................................................................................. 15
MARSHALL'S BEHAVIOR COACHING PROCESS

The Steps for Behavioral Coaching........................................................... 26
The Value of Behavioral Coaching for High-Potential Leaders..... 27
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Coaching Tips.................................................................................................... 29
Group Exercise Instruction Sheet............................................................. 32
Feedback Participant Preparation Sheet.............................................. 33
Mini Follow-Up Survey Instruction Sheet.............................................. 34
Behavior Aid - Withholding......................................................................... 35
Behavior Aid - Avoid Suck-ups................................................................... 36
Behavior Aid - Giving Proper Credit........................................................ 37
Notes.................................................................................................................... 38
BIBLIOGRAPHY............................................................................................ 39
ABOUT THE AUTHOR ........................................................................... 40
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WHAT IS
FEEDFORWARD?
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WHAT IS FEEDFORWARD?
FeedForward is a positive, future-focused personal development process that, used with

traditional feedback, takes the judgmental, critical sting out of feedback. Marshall Goldsmith and
Jon Katzenbach coined the term after noticing the feedback process was more successful when
FeedForward was added, shifting the focus from rehashing the mistakes of the past to
concentrating on the promise of the future.
To understand how feedback and FeedForward work together, think of a shopping mall map and
the little arrow pointing to “You Are Here.” Feedback is the arrow showing you where you are in
key relationships. FeedForward is the map that directs you to where you want to be in your
professional and personal relationships.
FeedForward has other benefits. Imagine the boss calls you and says, “Please come into my
office. I have some feedback for you.” Your first reaction is not likely to be, “Oh goody! Fun, fun,
fun!” Actually, fun is the last word that comes to mind. FeedForward helps you move toward the
goal in a more productive and less intimidating way.
More than 80,000 people who have gone through the FeedForward process say it is positive,
helpful, and, yes, fun. Why? Because:
• FeedForward is focused on a future you can change, not a past you cannot change.
• There is no judging or critiquing of the person or ideas.
• You learn from a diverse perspective.
• You can really listen because you don’t feel defensive.
• No feedback about the past (and all of the emotional baggage that comes with it) is allowed.
• It creates a rich pool of ideas with less work.
HOW DOES
FEEDFORWARD
WORK?
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HOW DOES IT WORK?
The steps in our FeedForward process are:
1. Get 360° Feedback

2. Pick a Behavior
3. Respond
4. Involve
5. Follow Up
Let’s get started…
GET 360° FEEDBACK
Getting feedback will create a more complete picture of yourself from the perspective of those
around you. If you have never asked others to complete a feedback survey about you, or been
asked to give one, then you must realize getting or giving this kind of honest feedback can make
some people feel uncomfortable. It’s important to remind those around you that what they say is
confidential and anonymous.
Next, to better prepare those you will be asking to participate in your feedback, we have a form
explaining how it will all work so they feel more comfortable with the process and understand
their role, your expectations and the level of commitment you are asking of them. You’ll find this
Feedback Participant Preparation Sheet in the Additional Resources section of this book.
Where do you find a 360° feedback survey? Your company may have one already. If it doesn’t,
here is one you can try:
• https://sccoaching.com/gla-360-assessment/
In each case, once you are on the site, ask the company to help you find a 360° feedback survey
that’s right for you. They will walk you through the process and let you know their costs.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
PICK A BEHAVIOR
After you have gotten feedback, the next step is to Pick a Behavior to improve. Remember: It’s
pick a behavior, not five or thirty or fifty. To help, we have included a list of the 20 most common
behaviors that keep leaders from functioning effectively.
If you are working with a coach, he or she will interview your key stakeholders and share a
complete analysis with you. You, your coach and key stakeholders will then sign off on the one
behavior that, when improved, would make you more successful.
If you’re going it alone, follow the same steps except for interviewing your stakeholders. Using
the feedback you’ve received, and consulting the 20 Behaviors list, you will be able to narrow
your selection down to two or three. From there you can ask your key stakeholders to vote on
which behavior you should choose, or just pick one and move on to the next step.
RESPOND
The next step in our process is Respond. Respond sets the stage for change and signals a turn
ahead. Here’s how it works. You begin by writing a “speech” that you’ll be giving your key
stakeholders (the people you asked for feedback).
Make sure to include these elements:

First — thank the person for giving you feedback.
Second — mention your strengths listed in the feedback.
Third — advertise the one behavior you’d like to improve.
Fourth — apologize for the impact of this behavior.
Fifth — ask for ideas and suggestions to improve for the future. (FeedForward)
Important thoughts: Your response “speech” should be positive, simple, focused and fast.
Advertise is a vital strategy that starts in this phase and continues into the Involve and Follow Up
phase. As you’ll read about it later, it’s a BIG key to why this process works.
Apologizing creates closure so you and those around you can move on. I’m often asked, “Do you
get those big CEOs to apologize?” The answer is yes. If they don’t, I won’t work with them. It’s that
important!
HOW DOES IT WORK?
Here is a sample response:
“Mr. Co-Worker, I just got this 360° feedback. The first thing I’d like to say is thank you very much
for participating in this process. I really appreciate it. Next, a lot of my feedback is very positive—
ethical, dedicated, hardworking, caring about our company and our customers. I want to say how
grateful I am about all of this positive feedback that I have received.
“AND there is something I would like to improve. In the past, I have come off as a somewhat
stubborn, opinionated, know-it-all, trying to win too much. If I’ve done that to you or the people
around you, I am sorry. Please accept my apologies. And Mr. and Ms. Co- Worker, please give me
some ideas to help me be a more positive and open-minded listener in the future.”
Write your speech:
HOW DOES IT WORK?
INVOLVE
This next step gets the key stakeholders in your life involved in your improvement. Involve
begins with something leaders struggle with—asking for help. Peter Drucker said, “The
leader of the past knew how to tell. The leader of the future knows how to ask.”
Ask your key stakeholders for ideas or suggestions on how to execute the new behavior.
Don’t ask for feedback about the past. Ask for FeedForward ideas to put into practice for
the future. When your stakeholders are engaged in your progress, they are more likely to
offer the positive reinforcement you will need when your energy and commitment are low,
and that will challenge you to grow.
BONUS TIP
Regarding suggestions from stakeholders
Whatever that person says, listen. Take notes, and say, “Thank you.”
Do not judge or critique in any way. Just say, “Thank you.” And write
down the person’s suggestions. Let the person know that you may not
be able to try all ideas, but you will commit to one. (You can’t commit
to everything, but you can commit to something).
FOLLOW UP
After seventeen years of research on this topic, we know who changes and who does not, why
people change, and why they do not. The key to making change last is to follow up and stick with
it.
Follow-up is important not only to change our behavior but to change perception. People
sometimes wonder, “Do leaders really change their behavior or are they merely perceived as
changing because they do all this follow-up?” Answer: It is much more difficult to change another
person’s perception than it is to change our behavior. One research principle in psychology is
called “cognitive dissonance theory.” Summed up, it means we view people in a manner that’s
consistent with our previous stereotype. If I have a stereotype of you that says you’re a bad
listener, I’m going to look for that bad listener in whatever you do or say, and that will reconfirm
my belief.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
Let me give you an example to illustrate why follow-up and advertising the behavior you want to
improve is so important, not only for changing the behavior but for changing perception.
Situation A: Say I get feedback that indicates I make too many destructive comments. I don’t talk
to my co-workers, I don’t follow up, and I don’t advertise what I’m looking to improve. I think, “All I
need to fix this is to quit making the comments, and the problem will go away.” Wrong. Here’s
why this doesn’t work. Let’s say that I go seven months without making a destructive comment
about anyone. After seven months I slip and make a destructive comment. You’re my co-worker,
you hear me, what’s your first reaction? “Marshall hasn’t changed.” That one negative comment,
even though it’s my first in seven months, will cue your previous negative stereotype and you will
believe I have not changed.
Situation B: I’ve gotten feedback. I want to do a better job of being a great team player, not
making destructive comments. You’re my co-worker, and you don’t necessarily believe I’m going
to change, but you pretend to go along with it and take notes. What happens, though, when I
follow up and re-advertise a month later? I say, “Remember, I said I wanted to do a great job of
being a great team player, not making destructive comments. It’s been a month. Based on my
behavior last month, give me some ideas for how I can improve for next month.” Every month I
follow up, advertise what I’m trying to improve, you share ideas, and this goes on for several
months. One day I say, “Those stupid idiots in finance, idiot accountants.” You hear me. You come
to me and say, “Marshall, you’ve been doing so well. You went eight months without doing that.” I
say, “You’re right, my apologies.”
In situation A, did my behavior change? Yes. Did the other person’s perception change? No.
In situation B, did my behavior change? Yes. Did the other person’s perception change? Yes.
In leadership, it’s not what you say that counts; it’s what they hear that counts.
Here is a sample script for doing follow-up and advertising. The same guidelines apply as before
—no criticizing or judging the ideas offered, and keep it positive, fast, and focused:
“Mr. Co-Worker, last month I said I wanted to be a more positive and open- minded listener. Based on
my behavior last month, if you had an idea or two to help me next month, what might they be?”
What happens if I follow up and advertise regularly, over several months? I’ll answer this not
from a theory point of view but from a research point of view. Check out the charts on the
following pages.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
Chart #1: What happens when leaders get feedback but they don’t follow up or advertise
the behavior they’re trying to change? Improvement looks like random chance.
Chart #2: A little follow-up, a little better.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
Chart #3: Some follow-up, a lot better.
Chart #4: Frequent follow-up, much better
HOW DOES IT WORK?
Chart #5: Consistent or periodic follow-up, massive improvement
These people all went through the same program, in many cases taught by the same person or
they had the same coach at the same time. What can we learn from this? If you take the process
seriously, learn from everyone around you, and follow up on a regular basis, you’re going to get
better. Follow-up works, you will get better, and not as judged by you, but as judged by all the
important people in your life.
20 BEHAVIORS
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20 BEHAVIORS
Peter Drucker, the world’s greatest authority on management, said, “We spend a lot of time
teaching leaders what to do. We do not spend enough time teaching leaders what to stop.”
Here’s a list of 20 of the most common behaviors that keep leaders from functioning effectively.
Read through the list; you may find some habits that you recognize are not helpful in your life.
The list will help you Pick a Behavior (step two in the Feedforward process) that you are going to
work hard to improve.
1. Winning too much—If it’s important, we want to win. If it’s meaningful, we want to win. Trivial,
we want to win. Not worth it, we want to win anyway. Successful people like to win; it’s just that
we like to win TOO much. The Harvard Business Review asked me, “What is the number one
problem of the people you work with?” My answer: “Winning too much.”
2. Adding too much value—Let’s say I’m smart, young, enthusiastic, and I come to you with an
idea. You think it’s a great idea, but rather than saying it’s great, your natural tendency is to say,
“That’s a nice idea. Why don’t you add this to it?” The problem is that the quality of the idea may
go up five percent, but my commitment to its execution goes down by fifty percent. Why?
Because it’s no longer my idea. David Ulrich says, “Effectiveness of execution is a function of two
things: the quality of the idea times one’s commitment to make it work.” So when we get wrapped
up in improving the quality a little bit, we damage the commitment a lot.
3. Passing too much judgment—the need to rate others and impose our standards on them. As
we talk about FeedForward, four words to remember are “Help More” and “Judge Less.” The key
to not passing judgment is to take a deep breath and look in the eyes of that person and ask
yourself, “What’s more important, this little judgmental comment I’m about to make, or my
relationship with this human being?” If we have the discipline to stop and think, you know what
we learn? That little comment we’re about to make really doesn’t matter. But our relationship
with that human being matters a whole lot.
4. Destructive comments—sarcastic comments and remarks made at the expense of others.

Starting with negative qualifiers such as “No”, “But” or “However” unconsciously say to everyone,
“I’m right. You’re wrong!”
I once coached a CIO. While reviewing his feedback report, he looked at me and said “But, coach.”
I said, “That is free. If you ever speak to me again and you start a sentence with no, but, or
however, I’m going to fine you twenty dollars for charity.” He said, “But, coach.” I said, “Twenty.”
“No.” “Forty.” “No, no, no.” “Sixty, eighty, a hundred.” He lost four hundred twenty dollars in an
hour and a half.
20 BEHAVIORS
At the end of an hour and a half, what did he say to me? “Thank you.” He said, “I had no idea. I did
that twenty one times with you throwing it in my face. How many times would I have done it had
you not been throwing it in my face? No wonder people think I’m stubborn.” This guy got better
at stopping destructive comments just by using a simple technique: Don’t start sentences with
no, but, or however. Along the way, he also became a better listener.
5. That’s great, but... This is subtly different from number four and number ten, enough so it
needed its own place on the list. This “but” is the KING of all “buts” because is combines the
attributes from destructive comments and withholding recognition—leaving those around you
feeling dismissed. “But” is a real morale breaker and innovation destroyer. If your company is
working toward creating a more innovative culture, then get serious about removing the word
from your leadership team’s vocabulary and watch what happens.
6. Telling the world how smart we are—the need to show people we’re smarter than they think
we are. I remember another CIO who got this one as feedback. He struggled for months to find
an effective way to deal with it. Finally, during a FeedForward session, I asked, “What’s so
important about telling people how smart you are even when you know it’s damaging your
relationship and effectiveness?” He answered, “I feel like a phony, and if I don’t keep telling
people how smart I am, they may figure out I am a phony.”
I told him, “Believe it or not, people already know how smart you are. What they don’t know is
how smart you think they are.” He did a brave thing to break his habit: He asked his team to give
him a signal when it was happening. Then he would say two things he thought were smart about
the person he was with. It changed his life!
7. Speaking when angry or out of control—using emotional volatility as a management tool.

When we get angry and start speaking when we’re out of control, it helps to take a deep breath,
look in the mirror and ask ourselves a couple of hard questions: “How much of this problem is
out there? How much of this problem is in here?” Eighty percent of the time, you know what
we’re going to learn? When we speak when we’re angry or out of control the solution isn’t out
there. It’s inside us.
8. Negativity, or “Let me explain why that won’t work”—the need to share our negative
thoughts even when we aren’t asked. I was shocked recently when I read a study showing the
average American is spending fifteen hours a month complaining about upper management. I
thought, “That’s impossible.” Since I didn’t do the research, I concluded they must be wrong.
Guess what? I interviewed my first two hundred clients and you know what I learned? They were
exactly right. I am amazed how much of our lives get wasted critiquing other people, or
complaining about upper management.
20 BEHAVIORS
Because we often confuse disclosure with honesty, we excuse inappropriate or unnecessary

disclosure by saying, “But it’s honest.” There are a thousand honest things we can say that we
don’t have to say. I may not like one of my co-workers, but I don’t have to tell the world about it.
A CEO was coaching one of her direct reports and the direct report complained about something.
The CEO said, “Have you ever gone to a Broadway play and watched one of the actors in the
middle of the play say, ‘Oh, by the way, I have a hurt foot today, and I’ve got a headache, and my
aunt died last week, and I have a cold and isn’t it too bad?’” “Of course not,” the direct report
replied. “You know why the actor doesn’t complain?” the CEO said. “Because that person is a
professional.” Before you speak, ask yourself: Is this a comment a professional would make in
this job?
The CEO went on to give the direct report this helpful technique: As a leader, every day you go
out, it’s show time. Everybody is looking at your face, they’re listening to your comments, and
they’re looking at you for inspiration. Don’t whine, don’t complain, and don’t make excessive
negative comments. Every day when you go to work, say, “I’m going to be up. I’m going to be
positive. I’m going to make a difference today.”
9. Withholding information—refusing to share information so that you gain or maintain an

advantage over others. Here’s a way for managers to improve communication and let your team
know that you aren’t holding back any information they need. Once a quarter, have a one-on-one
dialogue with each of your direct reports using these six questions:
Question #1: Where are we going? If you’re the manager, say, “Here’s where I see us
going and here is where I see our part of the business going. What do you think?”
Really listen and have a dialogue.
Question #2: Where are you going? I would say, “Here’s where I see you and your part
of the business going,” and then ask, “Where do you think you and your part of the
business should be going?” These first two questions create alignment two ways—one
with the manager and the team member, and two with the larger picture and the
smaller picture.
Question #3: Tell the person, “Here’s what I think you’re doing well.” Then ask that
person, “What do you think you’re doing well?” A lot of times we don’t recognize other
people enough, not out of maliciousness but out of ignorance. We don’t recognize
what they’ve done because we actually don’t know.
20 BEHAVIORS
Question #4: Offer suggestions for improvement. Give the person positive ideas of
how they can do things better in the future and ask them: “If you were the coach for
you, what ideas would you have?”
Question #5: Ask, “How can I help?”
Question #6: Ask, “As a manager, any suggestions for me?”
10. Failing to give proper recognition—the inability to praise and reward. One of the fastest
ways a manager can demotivate a team is to have no clue about the unique level of contribution
each individual has made on a project— let alone not verbalize it. A CEO I worked with, who had
an unusually low score in this area, listed each person on his staff and the specific contribution
that each person made to him, the company and the customer. As he read the list in our session,
he cried as he realized how ungrateful and blind he had been.
So he created cards, one for each staff member, listing that person’s contribution to him, the
company and the customer. He kept the cards in his back pocket. At random times during the
week as he would see people, he would try to remember as much from their card as he could
without looking. Ultimately, this CEO could tell every detail of each person’s contribution by heart
—and he regularly let them know how much he appreciated it. His commitment to this exercise
and the effect it had on the staff helped turn the company from unprofitable to profitable.
11. Claiming credit we don’t deserve—overestimating our contribution to any success. We

don’t realize how difficult it is for us to let other people take credit. We also don’t realize how we
unconsciously can be perceived as taking this credit ourselves.
Say your team comes up with a project and does great work. You’re the manager, so you get the
recognition. Everybody’s applauding you! What a fantastic job you’ve done! Don’t just sit there
and think, “Aren’t I wonderful?” Take a second, acknowledge what your team members have
done and give them credit.
Challenge yourself by making a list of all the people you work with. Ask yourself, “What are my
biggest achievements?” Then, for each of these achievements, ask yourself a tough question:
“How much of this was because of me and how much of this was because of somebody else?
How much of this is where I deserve the credit or how much of this is an area where they should
get the credit?” Go out of your way to share the credit, or even to give credit and not take any for
yourself.
20 BEHAVIORS
12. Making excuses—shifting responsibility to others and repositioning our annoying behavior
as a permanent fixture so people will excuse us for it. I’ve seen feedback forms from literally
thousands of people evaluating their bosses. How often have I seen leadership feedback that
sounds like this: “We think you’re a great leader because we love the quality of your excuses.” Or
how about this one: “I really thought you were screwing up but when you made those excuses,
that turned it around for me.”
Fight the incredible urge to make excuses when you get input, and just learn to shut up and
listen. And before you ever start making the excuses, ask yourself this question: “Who am I
impressing here?” The answer, in almost every case, is nobody.
13. Clinging to the past—the need to deflect blame away from ourselves and onto events and
people from the past. One of the biggest challenges of clinging to the past is saying, “This is the
way we’ve always done it” or “That has never worked in the past.” Using the past as kind of an
excuse for the future.
America experienced a financial meltdown in 2008. One of the reasons was a lot of mathematical
models were used to determine the future of the United States economy. These mathematical
models were all based on one assumption:
What never has happened never can happen. Guess what? Sometimes what never has happened
happens. And as soon as this happened in our economy, every mathematical model fell apart. It’s
important to keep an open mind. Don’t cling to the past. Look at the future, and ask yourself not
just what has happened, but also ask, “What can happen?”
14. Playing favorites—failing to see we are treating someone unfairly. A CEO I worked with
struggled to see how his favorites were costing him his company. One of his favorites would
create policies and procedures that drained morale while making his own job easier. Another
favorite would work as an “island” on projects that required extensive collaboration, conveniently
omitting information that the group needed—just so he could maintain his position. How did this
go on, you ask? Simple. They were good suck-ups.
Here are some guidelines on how to avoid playing favorites and encouraging suck-ups. First, rank
your direct reports, in order, in each of the following categories:
1. How much do they like me? Now, you don’t know how much they like you. What’s
important isn’t what you know; it’s what you think. We all say we hate suck- ups. What
we really hate are blatant suck-ups, obvious suck-ups, and embarrassing suck-ups.
We hate bad suck-ups. We like those good suck-ups that don’t really look like they’re
sucking up.
20 BEHAVIORS
2. How much are they like me? How much do they remind me of that ever-so- special
me? It sounds like this: “Ah, he’s a jerk, but he’s an engineer.” Or to put it another way,
“Fine person, but he’s not an engineer.” What’s the message? If you’re not an
engineer, you don’t have a brain.
3. What is their contribution to our company and our customers?
4. How much positive personal recognition do I give them?
If we’re honest with ourselves, too often our willingness to give recognition is more highly
correlated with number one, "Do they like me?" or number two, "Do they remind me of myself?"
than it is with number three, "What kind of job are they doing for this company?
15. Refusing to express regret—the inability to take responsibility for our actions, admit we
were wrong, or acknowledge how our actions affect others. One of the greatest things a leader
can say when they make a mistake is, “I’m sorry.” What happens when leaders stand up, admit
what they did wrong, express regret and ask people to help them? Does people’s respect for
them go down? No. It goes up!
We all screw up sometimes. Don’t hide from it. Apologize. By the way, this isn’t just true at work;
it’s true at home. One thing I ask my clients to do is make a list of everyone in life that you need
to apologize to—and then apologize to them. So far, I’ve never had a client with nobody’s name
on that list.
16. Not listening. Peter Drucker says, “One of the common qualities of great leaders is they are
great listeners.” Well, listening sounds simple. It’s often not as easy as we think and we often
make mistakes in listening. And a lot of it isn’t just what we say, it’s how we look. Let me ask you a
question. Has anyone ever looked at you and said, “You’re not listening, you’re not listening”?
Well, my guess is the answer to that is probably a big yes. How many of us have then said, “What
do you mean, I’m not listening?” and repeated what the other person said verbatim to prove they
were wrong? Well, did this really improve your relationship with that other human being? I don’t
think so. Next time somebody looks at you and says, “You’re not listening,” you know what you’re
going to say? “I’m sorry. Please accept my apologies. I’m going to try to do better.” Because, you
see, even if we were listening, how much of an “I care about you” message were we sending to
that other person by contradicting them? Zero. What’s the other person really saying? “Why don’t
you care?"
20 BEHAVIORS
So, two important qualities of listening:

1) Listen. Listen to hear what people have to say. Fight the urge to talk or express our opinions
when other people speak to us. Learn to shut up and do some other things we’ve talked about,
like say thank you to them for having the guts to tell us the truth.
2) Look like you’re a good listener. Show that by the way you react and the way you sound;
communicate a message to the other human being that says I care about you, what you’re saying
has value.
17. Failure to express gratitude—the most basic form of bad manners. To do a better job of
recognizing people, try this: Make a list of the key people that impact your life—friends, family,
direct reports, co-workers, key customers. Twice a week—once on Wednesday and once on
Friday—look at that list and ask yourself: Did anybody on this page do something I should
recognize? If they did, send them an e-mail, voicemail, or little note and say thank you. If they
didn’t, don’t do anything. You don’t want to look like a hypocrite or a phony.
18. Punishing the messenger—a misguided need to attack the innocents who are only trying to
help us. Another client struggled with hearing feedback. And by struggle, I mean he fired people
who spoke the truth for very long. It was so bad; his direct reports gave him the nickname
Emperor—like the one from the children’s story who had no clothes. What was he teaching the
staff ? If you want to survive here, don’t tell me the truth.
19. Passing the buck—the need to blame everyone but ourselves. Passing the buck occurs
when, say, you have an argument with your manager and at the end of the day your manager
says, “Well you want to do X, but we’re going to do Y, and it’s a done deal.” But rather than just go
try to make it work, we have a tendency to say, “He made me tell you we’re going to do it this
way.” That’s passing the buck, or even worse, “That fool made me tell you we’re going to do it this
way.”
The problem with passing the buck is if we say, “He made me tell you we’re going to do it this
way” or “She made me tell you we’re going to do it this way,” what do our direct reports learn to
think of us as leaders? We’re not leaders, just messengers. Even worse, when we say, “That idiot
told me we’re going to do it this way,” and basically stab our boss in the back in front of our direct
reports, what do we teach our direct reports to do when they disagree with us? Stab us in the
back.
20. An excessive need to be me—exalting our faults and virtues simply because they are who
we are. Just about anybody can change. The motivation for that change has to come from one
place, though—inside us. None of us have to be a certain way if we don’t want to be. But when
we cling to the excuse, “That’s just the way I am,” then that’s the way we stay.
20 BEHAVIORS
One of our client’s feedback report showed he didn’t recognize people well. To which he said,
“That’s just the way I am.” Then he asked, “Why do they need so much recognition anyway?” On
and on he went. I finally looked at him and said, “If you gave other people better recognition,
would they perform more poorly or perhaps better?” He responded, “Well, they’d perform
better.” “Would customer satisfaction go down or go up?” “It would go up.” “Would you make less
money or more money?” “We’d probably make more money.” I finally said, “Can you explain to
me again why you are doing a bad job of giving these people recognition?” He looked at me and
he said, “Well, that’s just the way I am.” But I think he realized that “just the way I am” didn’t have
to be just the way he was.
NOTE: Goal obsession—the overarching behavior which underlies all of these behaviors. Goal
obsession occurs when we get so wrapped up in achieving a goal that we forget our ultimate
mission.
My favorite example of this is a fascinating study by a couple of people, Darley and Batson, at
Princeton Theological Seminary. They took all these ministers. To half of them they said, “You’re
late! Get across campus. You’ve got to deliver a sermon on the topic of the Good Samaritan.”
Well, on the way across campus, they plant an actor playing the role of a hurt person. The actor’s
going, “I need help. Help me, help me, help me, help me!” Ninety percent of the ministers in
Princeton Theological Seminary, when told they were ten minutes late to deliver a sermon on the
topic of the Good Samaritan, ignored the pleas of a person in need. In two cases, the actor tries
to grab the ministers. In both cases, they brushed the person off and moved on to deliver that
sermon. And, by the way, so would we. It is very difficult for successful, goal-driven people—
especially when we write down that goal and state that goal—it is incredibly difficult to stop, back
away and ask a question, “What’s more important here—this goal or the broader mission?
20 BEHAVIORS
What behavior did you pick?
What do you hope to accomplish by changing this behavior?
MARSHALL'S BEHAVIORAL
COACHING PROCESS
www.sccoaching.com
COACHING PROCESS
Many of us work in organizations that preach the following sermon: “We want to create an
environment where we tear down the silos that isolate us, and build positive, collaborative, win-
win relationships with our colleagues.”
Yet too often, as leaders, our actions don’t line up with this corporate happy talk. Worse, no one
holds us accountable (primarily because of a silent cultural norm called “Say Nothing About It,”
which leaders help create and perpetuate).
This accountability breakdown creates cynicism, lack of trust and low morale, which sap
organizations of energy and momentum. This disconnect, between what our words say is
important and what our actions say is important, is a huge frustration for employees. This issue,
and many like it, is what behavioral coaching addresses.
While the coaching process can improve consistency—which will restore faith in the leadership of
the organization—the following conditions must be in place:
The person who is being coached must make a sincere effort to change.
Behavioral coaching only works if you are willing to make the needed
commitment.
The organization has faith in the process and the individual who is going through
that process, and will create an environment to support that person. If not, don’t
bother going through this process.
The person going through the coaching process has the intelligence or functional
skills to do the job. If a manager does not have the capacity or experience
required, don’t expect behavioral coaching to help. This process won’t turn a bad
engineer into a good engineer!
The person is committed to the same mission as the organization. Coaching is a
“how to get there” process, not a “where to go” process. If the people being
coached are headed in the wrong direction, behavioral coaching will only help
them get there faster!
If these conditions exist, the behavioral coaching process is set up for success!
COACHING PROCESS
THE STEPS FOR BEHAVIORAL COACHING
1. Involve the leaders being coached in determining the desired behavior in their
leadership roles. Leaders cannot be expected to change behavior if they don’t have a clear
understanding of what desired behavior looks like. The people we coach (in agreement with their
managers) work with us to determine desired leadership behavior.
2. Involve the leaders being coached in determining key stakeholders. Not only do clients
need to be clear on desired behaviors, they need to be clear (again in agreement with their
managers) on key stakeholders. There are two major reasons why people deny the validity of
feedback: wrong items or wrong raters. By having our clients and their managers agree on the
desired behaviors and key stakeholders in advance, we help ensure their “buy in” to the process.
3. Collect feedback. In my coaching practice, I personally interview all key stakeholders. The
people I am coaching are all potential CEOs, and the company is making a real investment in
their development. However, at lower levels in the organization (which are more price sensitive),
traditional 360° feedback can work very well. In either case, feedback is critical. It is impossible to
get evaluated on changed behavior if there is not agreement on what behavior to change.
4. Reach agreement on key behaviors for change. As I have become more experienced, my
approach has become simpler and more focused. I generally recommend picking only one to two
key areas for behavioral change with each client. This helps ensure maximum attention to the
most important behavior. My clients and their managers (unless my client is the CEO) agree upon
the desired behavior for change. This ensures that I won’t spend a year working with my clients
and have their managers determine that we have worked on the wrong thing!
5. Have the coaching clients respond to key stakeholders. The person being reviewed should
talk with each key stakeholder and collect additional Feedforward suggestions on how to
improve on the key areas targeted for improvement. In responding, the person being coached
should keep the conversation positive, simple and focused. When mistakes have been made in
the past, it is generally a good idea to apologize and ask for help in changing the future. I suggest
that my clients listen to stakeholder suggestions and not judge the suggestions.
6. Review what has been learned with clients and help them develop an action plan.
As stated earlier, my clients have to agree to the basic steps in our process.
COACHING PROCESS
On the other hand, outside of these basic steps, all of the other ideas that I share with my clients
are suggestions. I just ask them to listen to my ideas in the same way they are listening to the
ideas from their key stakeholders. I then ask them to come back with a plan of what they want to
do. These plans need to come from them—not me. After reviewing their plans, I almost always
encourage them to live up to their own commitments. I am much more of a facilitator than a
judge. I usually just help my clients do what they know is the right thing to do.
7. Develop an ongoing follow-up process. Ongoing follow-up should be efficient and focused.
Questions like, “Based upon my behavior last month, what ideas do you have for me next
month?” Keep the focus on the future. Within six months conduct a two- to six-item mini-survey
with key stakeholders. They should be asked whether the person has become more or less
effective in the areas targeted for improvement.
8. Review results and start again. If the person being coached has taken the process seriously,
stakeholders almost invariably report improvement. Build on that success by repeating the
process during the next twelve to eighteen months. This follow-up will assure continued progress
on initial goals and uncover additional areas for improvement. Stakeholders will appreciate the
follow-up. No one minds filling out a focused, two- to six- item questionnaire if they see positive
results. The person being coached will benefit from ongoing, targeted steps to improve
performance.
THE VALUE OF BEHAVIORAL COACHING FOR

HIGH-POTENTIAL LEADERS
While behavioral coaching is only one branch in the coaching field, it is the most widely used type
of coaching. Most requests for coaching involve behavioral change. While this process can be
very meaningful and valuable for top executives, it can be even more useful for high-potential
future leaders. These are the people who have great careers in front of them. Increasing
effectiveness in leading people can have an even greater impact if it is a twenty- year process,
instead of a one-year program.
Finally, people often ask, “Can executives really change their behavior?” The answer is definitely
yes. If they didn’t change, we would never get paid (and we almost always get paid). At the top of
major organizations, even a small positive change in behavior can have a big impact. From an
organizational perspective, the fact that the executive is trying to change anything (and is being a
role model for personal development) may be even more important than what the executive is
trying to change. One key message that I have given every CEO that I coach is “To help others
develop—start with you!”
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
www.sccoaching.com
COACHING TIPS
Tip #1: It's Not About You

One of the greatest lessons I’ve learned about coaching over the years is that it’s not about
me. It’s about the clients.
You know, the client I coached who improved the most is the client I spent the least amount
of time with. He told me, “I manage 50,000 people and my job is no different than yours. If
these are not great people, I’m not going to get great results. That’s why every day when I
come to work, I tell myself, ‘Leadership is not about me. Leadership is about them.’”
This CEO taught me a valuable, humbling lesson. He said, “Don’t make the coaching
process about you. Make it about your clients and everyone around your clients. The way
your coaching process works, if you have the right clients, you will always succeed. If you
have the wrong clients, even God’s not going to succeed. Don’t make it about you. Make it
about getting great clients.” What did I say to him? “Thank you very much.”
Tip #2: They Have to Care

When does behavioral coaching not work? When people don’t care. Have you ever tried to
change the behavior of a husband, wife or partner who had absolutely no interest in changing?
How much luck did you have there? Don’t coach people who don’t care.
My mother was a first grade school teacher. In my mother’s mind, I was always in the first grade,
my father was in the first grade, all of our relatives were in the first grade—and she corrected us
like we were in the first grade. With my dad, she sounded like this... “Bill, Bill, Bill!” How irritating
and annoying! Well, we ended up getting a talking bird. You guessed it, after a while, the bird
starts going, “Bill, Bill, Bill!” Now old dad’s being corrected by a bird. He’s 80 years old, on his little
cane, and he looked up at the bird and my mother and said, “Honey, I’m 80 years old, let it go!”
Remember, if they don’t care, don’t waste your time! Behavioral coaching only works with people
who care.
Tip #3: It’s Got To Be Behavioral

Behavioral coaching only solves behavioral problems. I get ridiculous requests for coaching. A
pharmaceutical company called me up, “Marshall, we want you to coach Dr. X.” I said, “Great.
What’s his problem?” They said, “He’s not updated on recent medical technology.” I said, “Neither
am I.” Behavioral coaching can’t make a bad doctor a good doctor or a bad scientist a good
scientist. Behavioral coaching only helps people with behavioral issues.
COACHING TIPS
Tip #4: You Fire Integrity Issues, Not Coach ’Em

Never coach an integrity violation. You fire integrity violations, not coach them. How many
integrity violations does it take to ruin the reputation of your company? Um, that would be. . .
one. Sometimes it’s just the wrong person in the wrong company in the wrong job. When that
happens, you know the best thing you can do? Encourage them to leave. Because when you do
behavioral coaching you’re not helping them be a better professional, you’re helping them be a
better phony. It’s not really them.
In other cases, people get written off by upper management and they’re not going to be given a
fair chance and the companies don’t have enough guts to fire them. They do this phony
behavioral coaching. It’s not really about development or behavior. If you want to help people,
help them. If you want to fire people, fire them. Don’t jerk them around.
Tip #5: Get Clear

I begin by getting a clear contract with my clients. If I coach my clients, they will receive
confidential feedback from everyone around them; they will pick important behavior to improve;
and they will follow up, apologize for previous mistakes, involve their co-workers, and get
measured twice. If they refuse to do these things, I don’t work with them. Again, in my coaching
process, I don’t get paid if my clients don’t get better, period.
Tip #6: Internal Coaches

Three conditions must exist for internal coaching to work. One, credibility: the client has to give
you the credibility to talk with you. Two, confidentiality: the client has to believe the coaching is
confidential and won’t be used against them later in a performance appraisal discussion. Three,
time: it takes time to build the reputation of having the first two. If the internal coach is given the
credibility and can be seen doing coaching in a confidential way, and given the time, there is no
reason why internal coaches cannot be just as effective as external coaches. The key to their
success: they coached only high-potential future leaders and not people who were going to be
fired.
COACHING TIPS
Tip #7: Don’t Be Condescending

One of the mistakes a lot of people with behavioral training make is that we come off as overly
empathetic and almost talk down to our clients. This overly sensitive, I’m-in-touch- with-your-pain
approach can be a huge turnoff to real- world business executives. My clients are adults. These
are successful people. I don’t feel sorry for them or pity them. These folks are doing great and
just have a couple of things they want to do even better. So don’t come off as “Poor you” or “I feel
sorry for you” or “Isn’t this whole process traumatic?” I keep things positive, simple, focused and
fast. My clients are executives. That’s what they respond to. They don’t have time for things that
are highly complicated. And the last thing they need is the feeling that someone they hired to
help them is talking down to them.
Tip #8: Work It!

One of the biggest struggles for external coaches is marketing and self- promotion. The average
income from coaching for someone who says they’re a life or executive coach is very, very low.
Some might say $20,000 to $30,000 per year from coaching. A lot of people who are really
talented as a life or executive coach are not skilled with personal marketing. Make peace with
self-promotion. If you’re going to be an external executive coach, you have to market yourself.
And there’s nothing wrong with that.
If you think you’re going to have clients just because you do a great job, you make no more sense
than a company that thinks it’s going to have clients because it makes good products and doesn’t
market. Any great company has to market itself in the same way that you as an executive coach
need to market yourself. My suggestion: Establish a clear identity as a coach. My job is helping
successful leaders achieve positive lasting change in behavior for themselves or people on their
teams. That’s all I do. Establish a clear brand identity as a coach, figure out who you want to be,
focus on being a world authority at that, and don’t be ashamed to promote yourself.
Tip #9: Talk Less

One thing we often do in coaching is talk too much. It starts with giving you my best idea, then I
keep talking and feel the need to give you my second best idea, and on and on, until I’ve given
you my seventy-fifth best idea. What happens to the quality of our ideas as we keep babbling?
They get worse and worse. People don’t remember our first great idea; they remember our last
stupid idea.
GROUP EXERCISE
INSTRUCTION SHEET
Objective: Exchange ideas to support an individual’s identified behavior for change.
Group Size: 2 to 1000
Materials: Pen and paper
Set Up: Participant Role and Responsibilities Each participant takes a turn in a sharing or learning
role. In the sharing role, participant offers suggestions to help their partner implement their
behavior change in the future. (No dialogue about what has been tried in the past.)
In the learning role, participant writes down all ideas to try for the future without judging or
critiquing. (No dialogue about if the idea is good, bad or how it hasn’t worked in the past.)
Directions: Find a partner. Decide who plays which role first—sharer or learner. Partners have
60 seconds to discuss behavior to be changed. Take 2-3 minutes for idea sharing and writing.
Switch roles, and take 2-3 minutes more for sharing and writing. Switch partners and start again.
Debrief:
What did you learn?
What suggestion most expanded your understanding?
What are you going to try?
What will change because of this?
How will you be accountable to try these suggestions?
To whom will you be accountable to try these suggestions?
FEEDBACK PARTICIPANT
PREPARATION SHEET
Thank you for participating in my personal development and growth. As part of the process, I
need your anonymous and confidential feedback. A survey will be sent to you to fill out. All the
data will be compiled and I will use the whole group’s input to pick a behavior to improve.
As part of the ongoing process, I will be checking in with you to get ideas for how I can improve.
To be best prepared, here are suggested guidelines for us:
My role and responsibilities:
Listen to ideas fully without criticizing or judging. I may only say “Thank you.”
I will write down shared ideas and pick one to try over the next month. (I can’t
promise to try everything, but I can promise to try something.)
Work on behavior and change.
Schedule monthly follow-up sessions (a three to five minute meeting).
Your role and responsibilities:
Promise to let go of the past.

Tell the truth about my progress.
Be supportive and positive.
During follow-up sessions, come with one or two suggestions to try in the
future that will help me change the behavior. (No feedback, just FeedForward.)
Thank you in advance for all I am sure to learn from you and for your willingness to help me
succeed.
MINI FOLLOW-UP SURVEY
INSTRUCTION SHEET
Do you believe this person has become more (or less) effective in the past six
months on the following items? (Please circle the number that best matches your
observation of any change in effectiveness.)
How has this person followed up with you on areas that he/she has been trying to improve?
(Check one)
___ No Perceptible Follow-Up
___ Little Follow-Up
___ Some Follow-Up
___ Frequent Follow-Up
___ Consistent (Periodic) Follow-Up
What can this individual do to become a more effective team member?
BEHAVIOR AID — WITHHOLDING
Schedule a quarterly meeting and use these six questions to help overcome the perception
of withholding:
Number one: Where are we going? If you’re the manager, say, “Here’s where I see
us going and here is where I see our part of the business going. What do you
think?” Really listen and have a dialogue.
Number two: Where are you going? You say, “Here’s where I see you and your
part of the business going.” Then ask, “Where do you think you and your part of
the business should be going?” These first two questions create alignment two
ways. One with the manager and the person, and two with the larger picture and
the smaller picture.
Number three: Tell the person, “Here’s what I think you’re doing well.” Then ask
that person, “What do you think you’re doing well?” A lot of times we don’t
recognize other people enough—not out of maliciousness but out of ignorance.
We don’t recognize what they’ve done because we actually don’t know.
Number Four: Suggestions for improvement. I recommend FeedForward more

than feedback in this stage of the game. Give the person positive ideas of how
they can do things better in the future and ask them: “If you were the coach for
you, what ideas would you have?”
Number Five: “How can I help?”
Number Six: “As a manager, any suggestions for me?”
Just by sharing this needed information, you can undo the perception or reality of withholding
information.
BEHAVIOR AID — AVOID SUCK-UPS
Here are some guidelines on how to avoid playing favorites and encouraging suck-ups.
First, rank your direct reports, in order, in each of the following categories:
Number One: How much do they like me? You don’t know how much they like
you. What’s important isn’t what you know; it’s what you think. We all say we hate
suck-ups. What we really hate are blatant suck-ups, obvious suck-ups, and
embarrassing suck-ups. We hate bad suck-ups. We like those good suck-ups that
don’t really look like they’re sucking up.
Number Two: How much are they like me? How much do they remind me of that
ever-so- special me? It sounds like this: “Ah, he’s a jerk, but he’s an engineer.” Or to
put it another way, “Fine person, but he’s not an engineer.” What’s the message? If
you’re not an engineer, you don’t have a brain.
Number Three: What is their contribution to our company and our customers?
Number Four: How much positive personal recognition do I give them?
BEHAVIOR AID — GIVING PROPER CREDIT
Instructions: Take the names of the top ten people you want to make sure you are giving
proper credit. Then answer these three questions about each person.
Number One: What is this person’s contribution to my success?
Number Two: What is this person’s contribution to the company’s success?
Number Three: What is this person’s contribution to our customers?
NOTES PAGE
Behavior to improve:
Suggestions for implementation:
What do I think of my own progress?
What more do I want from this behavior change?
BIBLIOGRAPHY
BOOKS
Goldsmith, Marshall with Mark Reiter. What Got You Here Won’t Get You There. Hyperion 2007.
ARTICLES
Goldsmith, Marshall. “Bad Behavior.” Leadership Excellence 2006.
Goldsmith, Marshall. “Coaching for Behavioral Change.” The Art and Practice of Leadership
Coaching. Wiley 2005.
Goldsmith Marshall. “Expanding the Value of Coaching.” The Art and Practice of Leadership
Coaching. Wiley 2005.
Goldsmith, Marshall. “The Six Question Process.” Insights 2002.
Goldsmith, Marshall. “Try Feedforward Instead of Feedback.” Leader-to-Leader 2002.
Goldsmith, Marshall and Howard Morgan. “Team Building without Time Wasting.” Coaching for
Leadership. Jossey-Bass 2002.
Goldsmith, Marshall and Howard Morgan. “Leadership is Contact Sport.” Strategy + Business
2004.
All articles can be found at www.marshallgoldsmithlibrary.com
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
MARSHALL GOLDSMITH
Recognized as world’s top ranked executive coach, the #1 leadership
thinker and the #7 business thinker in the world by Harvard Business
Review and Thinkers 50.
Dr. Goldsmith’s Ph.D. is from UCLA’s Anderson School of Management where

he was recognized as one of 100 distinguished graduates in the 75 year history
of the School (in 2010). He teaches executive education at Dartmouth’s Tuck
School of Business and frequently speaks at other leading business schools
around the world. He also served on the Board of the Peter Drucker Foundation
for ten years.
Marshall has coached more than 150 CEOs and other top executives of Fortune companies to measurably
improve their leadership effectiveness and that of their executive teams. Marshall has also worked with the
highest level leaders in government and NGOs as he worked with US Army Generals, Navy Admirals, Girl Scout
executives, International and American Red Cross leaders, where he became a National Volunteer of the Year.
Professional / Coaching Awards and Recognition

Marshall's work has been recognized by almost every professional organization in his field.
His acknowledgments include:
➢ Institute for Management Studies – Lifetime Achievement Award (one of only two ever awarded)
➢ American Management Association – 50 great thinkers and leaders who have influenced the field of
management over the past 80 years
➢ Businessweek – 50 great leaders in America
➢ Wall Street Journal – top ten executive educators
➢ Forbes – five most-respected executive coaches
➢ Leadership Excellence – top five thinkers on leadership
➢ Economic Times (India) – top CEO coaches of America
➢ Economist (UK) – most credible executive advisors in the new era of business
➢ National Academy of Human Resources – Fellow of the Academy (America’s top HR award)
➢ World HRD Congress – 2011 global leader in HR thinking
➢ Tata Award (India) – 2011 Global HR Excellence
➢ Fast Company – America’s preeminent executive coach
➢ Leader to Leader Institute – 2010 Leader of the Future Award
Publications & Media

He is the million-selling author or editor of 33 books, including:
➢ Triggers: Creating Behavior That Lasts – Becoming the Person You Want to Be
➢ MOJO – New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller
➢ What Got You Here Won’t Get You There – WSJ #1 business book and winner of the Harold Longman Award for
Business Book of the Year
➢ Succession: Are You Ready? – WSJ bestseller
➢ The Leader of the Future – Business Week bestseller
➢ The AMA Handbook of Leadership, The Organization of the Future and The Leadership Investment are all American
Library Association Choice award winners for academic business books of the year
* His books have been translated into 28 languages and became bestsellers in eight countries

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FeedForward

Marshall Goldsmith Stakeholder Centered Coaching

We designed FeedForward so you can decide how to deliver it in a way

Thank you for making a commitment to productive leadership and

Your partners in learning and growing,

HOW DOES IT WORK?

MARSHALL'S BEHAVIOR COACHING PROCESS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR ........................................................................... 40

FeedForward is a positive, future-focused personal development process that, used with

The steps in our FeedForward process are:

1. Get 360° Feedback

Let’s get started…

GET 360° FEEDBACK

Make sure to include these elements:

Here is a sample response:

Write your speech:

Chart #2: A little follow-up, a little better.

Chart #3: Some follow-up, a lot better.

Chart #4: Frequent follow-up, much better

Chart #5: Consistent or periodic follow-up, massive improvement

4. Destructive comments—sarcastic comments and remarks made at the expense of others.

7. Speaking when angry or out of control—using emotional volatility as a management tool.

Because we often confuse disclosure with honesty, we excuse inappropriate or unnecessary

9. Withholding information—refusing to share information so that you gain or maintain an

Question #5: Ask, “How can I help?”

Question #6: Ask, “As a manager, any suggestions for me?”

11. Claiming credit we don’t deserve—overestimating our contribution to any success. We

3. What is their contribution to our company and our customers?

4. How much positive personal recognition do I give them?

So, two important qualities of listening:

What behavior did you pick?

What do you hope to accomplish by changing this behavior?

THE STEPS FOR BEHAVIORAL COACHING

THE VALUE OF BEHAVIORAL COACHING FOR

Tip #1: It's Not About You

Tip #2: They Have to Care

Tip #3: It’s Got To Be Behavioral

Tip #4: You Fire Integrity Issues, Not Coach ’Em

Tip #5: Get Clear

Tip #6: Internal Coaches

Tip #7: Don’t Be Condescending

Tip #8: Work It!

Tip #9: Talk Less

Objective: Exchange ideas to support an individual’s identified behavior for change.

Group Size: 2 to 1000

Materials: Pen and paper

My role and responsibilities:

Your role and responsibilities:

Promise to let go of the past.

What can this individual do to become a more effective team member?

Number Four: Suggestions for improvement. I recommend FeedForward more

Number Five: “How can I help?”

Number Six: “As a manager, any suggestions for me?”

Number Four: How much positive personal recognition do I give them?

Number One: What is this person’s contribution to my success?

Number Two: What is this person’s contribution to the company’s success?

Number Three: What is this person’s contribution to our customers?

Suggestions for implementation:

What do I think of my own progress?