Leaders can become more effective by identifying certain negative behaviour ‘triggers’, according to leadership coach and author Marshall Goldsmith, ahead of his appearances at the HR Directors Business Summit in February, which HR magazine is media partner of.
Goldsmith’s definition of a ‘trigger’ is any stimulus that adversely impacts behaviour, making someone behave in a way that is far removed from the person they want to be. “For example, I ask people ‘do you think you should encourage honest input?’ and everyone says yes,” Goldsmith told HR magazine. “I say ‘should you punish people who try to tell the truth?’ and they’ll say of course not, never.
“So I say imagine you’re driving a car and there’s lots of traffic, and the person in the front seat says: ‘Look out! There’s a red light up ahead!’ Would you say ‘thank you’? Or would you say, ‘what do you mean there’s a red light up ahead? Do you think I couldn’t see it?’ And suddenly you became exactly the opposite of that person you wanted to be."
“My theory is that most of us have this wonderful idea of the person we want to become,” he added. “We want to be nice people who work hard and are very successful, in perfect physical condition, and who are good husbands, wives, partners, friends and parents. And yet somehow in our journey through life we don’t end up becoming those people."
Goldsmith’s coaching focuses on helping established leaders become more efficient and effective. “The real question to me is not 'are you born as a leader?' It’s 'can you become a more effective leader?'” he said. “Everyone I work with is already a leader, so whether they should or should not be a leader is not the question. They are a leader now. The question is: 'could they become a more effective leader'? And the answer to that is most definitely yes."
“By becoming aware of how triggers influence us we’re much more likely to be the effective leader we want to be,” Goldsmith explained. “What typically happens in life is that there is a trigger. That trigger produces an impulse and that impulse leads to behaviour. What I try to teach people is that there will still be triggers, and there will still be impulses, but when you become aware of the process you can do a few things to control your reaction."
“We create the world around us, but at the same time the world is creating us,” he added.
Goldsmith is speaking at the HR Directors Business Summit in Birmingham in February. The HR Directors Business Summit offers you the chance to hear from some of the biggest and most profitable organisations, with more than 100 industry-leading speakers sharing their knowledge and advice. Visit http://www.hrevent.com/pricing for more information. HR magazine is media partner for the summit.
