Bringing Buddhism to Business (ft. Marshall Goldsmith)

Bringing Buddhism to Business (ft. Marshall Goldsmith)

Marshall Goldsmith has found and inspired success by doing everything differently

OPENING QUOTE:

My name is Marshall Goldsmith. I am too cowardly and undisciplined to do any of this stuff by myself. I need help. And you know what? It's okay. Once we get over that macho, I can do it on their own nonsense, everybody gets better.

—Marshall Goldsmith

GUEST BIO:

Marshall Goldsmith’s first degree was in Mathematical Economics, but he quickly moved to the study of people— earning a PhD and professorship of Management Practice at Dartmouth Tuck. Since then, Marshall has been successful as an entrepreneur, business owner, and leadership & executive coach. He’s been ranked among the top of business thinkers and as the number-one global executive coach, receiving the Harvard Institute of Coaching Lifetime Award. 

Marshall is also the author of many bestselling books. His new book, The Earned Life, channels Marshall’s Buddhist philosophy to help readers be more fulfilled and focused in life.

CORE TOPICS + DETAILS:

[3:19] - 100 Coaches

The ultimate example of ‘doing unto others’

Inspired by a question about his heroes, Marshall Goldsmith embarked on a quest to coach 100 people for free— under the condition that they one day do the same. The results were astonishing, showing that the world is filled with people eager and willing to impart what they know and give of themselves to others.  

[14:18] - Learning by Coaching

How coaches get more out of mentorship than their mentees

One of the most successful people Marshall ever mentored told him, “You have one job as a coach: client selection. You work with great people, your coaching process always works.” Along those lines, Marshall has also found that when he selects great clients, he learns incredible lessons himself along the way.

[22:28] - The Hidden Power of Mentorship

It’s not about coaching— it’s about not judging

Across the many people in various backgrounds that Marshall has coached, one thing he has found is that when they’re being mentored, they’ve expressed that the most meaningful aspect of it for them is that they’re not competing, being judged, being laughed at, or being put down. It’s a sense of community, a group of people all simply trying to be better. That’s a powerful thing.

[32:29] - Getting Lost in Ambition

Sometimes, what you have is enough

Marshall mentions the classic study on delayed gratification that involved asking children to wait to eat a marshmallow, then rewarding them with a second marshmallow if they were able to control themselves. But, Marshall says, if you take that idea to an extreme, “you end up with an old man who needs to die in a room surrounded by uneaten marshmallows. Sometimes, you’ve got to eat the damn marshmallow.”

[40:40] - Empathy & Peace in Work

Deeper lessons than how to succeed

In his most recent book, Marshall applies Buddhist-inspired principles to a range of scenarios and life decisions. He stresses empathy over ambition, encouraging all of us to begin with a mindset of helping others, rather than focusing on how they can help us get to where we want to go. It’s a lesson we all can remember even as we strive to reach the top.

RESOURCES:

• [1:56] The Earned Life
• [2:53] About Paul Hersey
• [3:19] 100 Coaches
• [29:06] Loonshots, by Safi Bahcall

Follow Marshall Goldsmith:

• Website
• LinkedIn
• Twitter
• Books

Follow Chris Roebuck:

• Website
• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Facebook
• Perspectives from the Top

ABOUT PERSPECTIVES FROM THE TOP:

Discover the secrets of success for you and your organization shared by the world’s leading thinkers, doers, and trailblazers. Join Chris Roebuck, Honorary Visiting Professor of transformational leadership, leader in military, business, and government, inspiring global keynote speaker, one of HR’s Most Influential Thinkers, bestselling author, and your host of Perspectives from the Top. The show reveals a treasure trove of insights from mega trends to practical strategies and actions to take your career up a gear. From government world shapers and business mold breakers to evidence driven academics and enthusiastic entrepreneurs, each episode shows you how you can immediately use these new ideas and actions to drive your success.

Learn more at: PerspectivesFromTheTop.com

ABOUT DETROIT PODCAST STUDIOS:

In Detroit, history was made when Barry Gordy opened Motown Records back in 1960. More than just discovering great talent, Gordy built a systematic approach to launching superstars. His rigorous processes, technology, and development methods were the secret sauce behind legendary acts such as The Supremes, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross and Michael Jackson.

As a nod to the past, Detroit Podcast Studios leverages modern versions of Motown’s processes to launch today’s most compelling podcasts. What Motown was to musical artists, Detroit Podcast Studios is to podcast artists today. With over 75 combined years of experience in content development, audio production, music scoring, storytelling, and digital marketing, Detroit Podcast Studios provides full-service development, training, and production capabilities to take podcasts from messy ideas to finely tuned hits. 

Here’s to making (podcast) history together.

Learn more at: DetroitPodcastStudios.com

ABOUT THE HOST:

Chris has shown over 21,000 leaders in over 1500 organizations globally how they can discover their secrets of success in a way that meets and beats their organizations specific challenges.

Chris has done this across sector, culture and geography - UBS, HSBC, KPMG & London Underground, legal firms to construction, tech and IT, to retail, facilities to scientific research, police to not for profit, pharmaceutical to SMEs. From the UK National Health Service of 1.4m staff and UK Government to the Red Cross in Myanmar, from Investment banks in London to Middle East Telecoms, from the Chinese Space Program leaders to HR Directors in India and global retail CEOs in Rome.

When he was the Global Head of Leadership at UBS, overseeing a staff of 70,000 across 100 countries, his team helped the bank transform organizational performance to increase profitability by 235%, market capitalization by 50% and win numerous awards. This is now a Harvard Case Study.

Chris has been quoted as a business leadership expert globally in the Harvard Business Review China, FT, Wall Street Journal, Le Monde, New York Times, Business Week, Time Magazine, Washington Post, Times of India, Straits & Gulf Times and many others. He judges business awards and has done over 350 TV interviews on leadership and business on BBC, Sky, Bloomberg, Al Jazeera, CNBC & CNN. He’s also skied at 60mph by accident. 

Learn more about Chris at: ChrisRoebuck.Live

CREDITS:

• Chris Roebuck: Host | [email protected]
• Connor Trombley: Executive Producer | [email protected]