Feedforward Based on Marshall Goldsmith

“We spend a lot of time teaching leaders what to do. We don’t spend enough time teaching leaders what to stop.” – Peter Drucker The funny thing about stopping a negative behavior is that it gets little attention, but it can be as crucial as everything else we do combined. Our organizations have no systems for honoring the avoidance of a bad decision or the cessation of bad behavior. Nevertheless, this process of correcting interpersonal transactional flaws is the best way to enlist people as allies, and a more promising long-term strategy than defending suboptimal behavior or having to apologize to others for behavior that has alienated them. The more successful you become, the more your problems will be behavioral and interpersonal. All things being equal, your people skills (of lack thereof) become more pronounced the higher up you go. In other words, the more you advance in your career, behavioral changes are often the only significant changes you can make.

The Plan – Pick, Describe, Ask, Listen, Thank, Follow-up

• Pick one behavior that you would like to change. Change in this behavior should make a significant, positive difference in your life. ___________________________________________________________________________________________ • Describe this behavior to a few people selected from your relational circles. This is done in one-on-one dialogues. It can be done quite simply, such as, “I want to be a better listener.” • Ask for feedforward—for two suggestions for the future that might help them achieve a positive change in your selected behavior. If you worked together, they are not allowed to give ANY feedback about the past. They are only allowed to give ideas for the future. • Listen attentively to the suggestions and take notes. You are not allowed to comment on the suggestions in any way. You are not allowed to critique the suggestions or even to make positive judgmental statements, such as, “That’s a good idea.” • Thank the other person for their suggestions. • Follow-up with each individual that gave you suggestions. Put a reminder on your calendar to return to each of the people who gave you feedforward, asking them, “How am I doing in this area? Have you noticed any improvement?”

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