Marshall Goldsmith: The Earned Life

Marshall Goldsmith is one of the world’s leading executive coaches and the New York Times bestselling author of many books, including What Got You Here Won’t Get You There, Mojo, and Triggers. In his coaching practice, he has advised more than 150 major CEOs and their management teams, including clients like Alan Mulally, Frances Hesselbein, and Hubert Joly. His newest book is The Earned Life: Lose Regret, Choose Fulfillment*.

We’ve all heard about the benefits of empathy and most of us assume that more empathy for the people we lead is always better. In this conversation, Marshall and I look at the different types of empathy and explore the downsides of leaning into empathy too much. Plus, we discuss how singular empathy can help busy leaders stay present in the midst of their busy schedules.

Key Points

There are multiple types of empathy — and each of them bring challenges along with their positive attributes.
We often hit the reset button successfully at work, but then neglect it in our personal relationships.
Singular empathy helps us to stay present with people and to move between the multiple spaces and situations that most leaders find themselves in daily.
A key question for us all to ask ourselves: am I being the person I want to be right now?

Resources Mentioned

The Earned Life: Lose Regret, Choose Fulfillment* by Marshall Goldsmith

Interview Notes

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Related Episodes

The Way to Stop Rescuing People From Their Problems, with Michael Bungay Stanier (episode 284)
Getting Better at Empathy, with Daniel Goleman (episode 391)
The Way to Be More Self-Aware, with Tasha Eurich (episode 442)

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