What Got You Here Won't Get You There

People who believe they can succeed see opportunities where others see threats.

the higher up you go in the organization, the more you need to make other people winners and not make it about winning yourself.

The only natural law I’ve witnessed in three decades of observing successful people’s efforts to become more successful is this: People will do something—including changing their behavior—only if it can be demonstrated that doing so is in their own best interests as defined by their own values.

someone offers a less-than-brilliant idea in a meeting, don’t criticize it. Say nothing. When someone challenges one of your decisions, don’t argue with them or make excuses. Quietly consider it and say nothing. When someone makes a helpful suggestion, don’t remind them that you already knew that. Thank them and say nothing. This is not a semantic

Overcommitment can be as serious an obstacle to change as believing that you don’t need fixing or that your flaws are part of the reason you’re successful.

When

I tell my clients, “It’s a lot harder to change people’s perception of your behavior than it is to change your behavior. In fact, I calculate that you have to get 100% better in order to get 10% credit for it from your coworkers.”

no matter how well-intentioned the CEO’s comments are, the net result is that grading people’s answers—rather than just accepting them without comment—makes people hesitant and defensive.

I’ve studied the research on goal-setting and goal achievement. A lot of it centers on diet and fitness because (a) there’s a huge population of people interested in such goals, (b) it’s easy to measure, and (c) with record numbers of Americans either obese or out of shape, there’s a huge (and compelling) history of failure in this area. I’ve learn