Best Practices Institute Changing What You Can and ‘Making Peace’ with What You Can’t Dr. Marshall Goldsmith Marshall@MarshallGoldsmith.com www.MarshallGoldsmithLibrary.com

Goals for this webinar Understand a philosophy and process for ‘effectively influencing without line authority’ that you can use in your organization. Better ‘make peace’ with what you cannot change. Answer questions that address real-life challenges.

Teaching Leaders What to Stop “We spend a lot of time helping leaders learn what to do, we don’t spend enough time helping leaders learn what to stop.” Peter Drucker

What percent of all communication time is spent on… A - People talking about how smart, special, wonderful or heroic they are – or listening to others do this? B - People talking about how stupid, bad or inept someone else is – or listening to others do this? Add A+B, divide by the total amount of communication time – and give your best guess at a percentage number. How does your score compare to a ‘world median’ score?

Bashing the Boss Recent research on time wasted either complaining about management – or listening to someone else complain When employees ‘bash management’ they: Waste their time and the company’s time Demeaning themselves Hurting the company Come off as hypocrites Communicate a lack of courage Depress themselves and others Do not enhance their careers

Effectively influencing without direct authority “The greatest wisdom not applied to action and behavior is meaningless data.” - Peter Drucker

Make peace with one simple fact Every decision in the world is made by the person who has the power to make that decision Once you ‘make peace’ with this fact – you will become both more effective and happier!

Effectively influencing decision makers When presenting ideas without line authority, realize that it is your responsibility to sell – not their responsibility to buy. Focus on contribution to the larger good – not just the achievement of your objectives. Strive to win the “big battles” – don’t waste your energy and “psychological capital” on trivial points. Present a realistic “cost-benefit” analysis of your ideas – don’t just sell benefits.

Effectively influencing decision makers “Challenge up” on issues involving ethics or integrity – never remain silent on ethics violations. Realize that your upper managers are just as “human” as you are – don’t say, “I am amazed that someone at this level…” Treat upper managers with the same courtesy that you would treat partners or customers - don’t be disrespectful.

Effectively influencing decision makers Support the final decision of the team – don’t say, “They made me tell you” to direct reports. Make a positive difference – don’t just try to “win” or “be right”. Focus on the future – “let go” of the past. Practice feedforward.

‘Making peace with what you cannot change’ Rules for 15 minutes The best advice I ever received: Dr. Case and Dr. Tannenbaum A new me I want my children (or young people who look up to me) to be ‘Leave it at the stream’ ‘The empty boat’

The ‘Daily Questions’ Process Writing your daily questions The value of peer coaching Why this process works so well.