Training Industry Magazine - Content Development 2017 Special Edition - 45

can stall the progress of highly successful
leaders. During a recent interview with the
Harvard Business Review, Goldsmith was
asked to name the number one derailer.
He replied:
Winning too much! Successful leaders
love winning in every context! Is it
meaningful? Win. Is it critical? Win. Is it
trivial? Win. Is it not worth it? Win anyway!
Imagine a leader who has a hard day at
work. She goes home. Her husband or
partner says, "I had a hard day!" and she
replies, "You had a hard day? Do you have
any idea what I had to put up with?" Most
successful leaders are so competitive that
they have to prove they're more stressed
out than the people they live with!
Goldsmith observes that the lower
leaders are in the organization, the more
important it is to be a winner. But the
higher they go, the more dysfunctional it
is to be a winner. "For great achievers, it's
all about 'me,'" he says. "For great leaders,
it's all about others."

FOR GREAT
ACHIEVERS,
IT'S ALL
ABOUT "ME."
FOR GREAT
LEADERS,
IT'S ALL
ABOUT
OTHERS.

Because of the profound
between "I win" and "they
incredibly challenging to
from being a great achiever
great leader.

difference
win," it is
transition
to being a

FEEDFORWARD FOR DEEP
LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT.
Winning too much is just one of 20
derailers leaders might have in their
behavioral repertoire. Multiply the
challenges of winning too much by
as much as 20, and change can be
intimidating to leaders who need to
rise to the next level. What can they
do? Goldsmith suggests a solution that
leaders can apply once they identify their
derailers: FeedForward.
The FeedForward process can be a positive,
upbeat way to help leaders improve
their performance. Goldsmith says that
FeedForward is the essence of leadership
development - a practice that can serve
leaders well both inside and outside of the
workplace. It's a simple process, so leaders
have no excuse not to try it.
To understand FeedForward, think of
what you know about feedback. Giving
feedback is a well-known workplace skill
based on the past: People work for a
specific period of time, and then managers

or leaders critique their work. Here's the
problem with that model: No one can
change the past.
The first rule of FeedForward is that it's
not about the past. FeedForward is all
about what leaders can do in the future,
letting others know what they'd like to
accomplish and asking for ideas on how to
do it. It's about simply saying to another
person, "I want to get better at..." and
unpacking a personal pool of possibilities,
with ideas from others.
"If feedback is past tense," Goldsmith says,
"FeedForward is future perfect."
FeedForward overcomes the two biggest
obstacles leaders face with negative
feedback: first, that successful people
in dominant positions don't want to
hear criticism, and second, that their
subordinates rarely want to give it.
FeedForward
circumvents
criticism
and shrinks discussion to the intimate
dimensions of two human beings. It
invites common, human reactions to
situations, including when leaders are
addressing the behavior of the people
they lead. This leads us to the second rule
of FeedForward: Leaders cannot judge or
critique the ideas they receive.

IDEAS ARE GIFTS
THAT HELP LEADERS GROW.
Typically, the quickest way to shut down
others is to evaluate or judge the ideas
they offer. The beauty of FeedForward
is that it encourages the opposite:
Leaders hear and consider new ideas.
Leaders can't say "Good idea," "Bad idea,"
"I already knew that," "That will never
work," or any other statements that carry
the weight of judgment.
Goldsmith says that FeedForward works
best when leaders stop talking, listen and
take notes. They should treat the ideas
they receive as gifts and express gratitude
to the people who share their thoughts.
When leaders respond to FeedForward
with a simple "thank you," amazing things
are possible - for their organizations, their
colleagues and their own performance as
leaders. FeedForward can be life-changing
both for the leader and the organization.
Russ Becker is president and CEO of AchieveForum.
Email Russ.

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