Newswise — The London Times today named author, executive coach and Alliant International University Professor Dr. Marshall Goldsmith #34 on the bi-annual "Thinkers 50" list " a guide to "which thinkers and ideas are in " and which have been consigned to business history." It's the first time that Goldsmith has made the list.
Goldsmith was a pioneer in the use of customized 360º feedback - confidential feedback from direct reports, peers and manager - as a leadership development tool. His early efforts in providing feedback and then following-up with executives to measure changes in behavior were precursors to what eventually evolved as the field of 'executive coaching.'
During a recent keynote speech at Alliant, George Borst, CEO of Toyota Financial Services, commented on Goldsmith's feedback process saying, "Marshall could get people to say bad things about Buddha!" Borst, who has himself been coached by Goldsmith, testified to the success of Goldsmith's methodology at the kickoff of fundraising effort for building new headquarters and a conference center for the Marshall Goldsmith School of Management, Alliant's school of business and organizational psychology, which was named for Marshall in April of 2006. Faculty in the school are teaching Goldsmith's executive coaching methodology to students, and students also enjoy classes and connections with a cadre of "Thought Leaders" that has been assembled by Dr. Goldsmith.
Generally regarded as a world authority in helping successful leaders achieve positive lasting change in behavior for themselves, their people and their teams, Dr. Goldsmith received his first national recognition in 1993, being ranked as on of the top ten executive educators in the Wall Street Journal. His work has been described in a: New Yorker profile, Harvard Business Review interview, Forbes feature story and Business Strategy Review cover story (from the London Business School).
This spring, Marshall Goldsmith's new book "What Got You Here Won't Get You There" became number-one best-seller among Amazon's 779,000 business books and climbing to #8 overall among Amazon's 8 million titles. In it, he writes:My job is to help them [CEO's]—to identify a personal habit that's annoying their coworkers and to help them eliminate it—so that they retain their value to the organization. My job is to make them see that the skills and habits that have taken them this far might not be the right skills and habits to take them further"¦First, I solicit "360 degree feedback" from their colleagues—as many as I can talk to up, down, and sideways in the chain of command, often including family members—for a comprehensive assessment of their strengths and weaknesses. Then I confront them with what everybody really thinks about them.Assuming that they accept this information, agree that they have room to improve, and commit to changing that behavior, then I show them how to do it. I help them apologize to everyone affected by their flawed behavior (because it's the only way to erase the negative baggage associated with our prior actions) and ask the same people for help in getting better"¦
According to Thinkers 50 authors Des Dearlove and Stuart Crainer, the compilation of the Thinkers 50 "is not an exact science." The authors used 3,500 votes cast on the www.thinkers50.com website establish a short list of names of 100 names, then asked a panel of experts then evaluates the names against 10 criteria by a panel of experts." The 10 criteria were: originality of ideas, practicality of ideas, presentation style, written communication, loyalty of followers, business sense, international outlook, rigor of research, access to ideas and a "guru factor."
Produced by Suntop Media and published in the London and India Times, the Thinkers 50, "the definitive bi-annual guide to business thinkers" was first issued in 2003, and was updated in 2005 and now 2007.
Dr. Marshall Goldsmith is one of the few consultants who have been asked to work with over 80 major CEOs and their management teams. In 2004, he was recognized by the American Management Association as one of 50 great thinkers and business leaders who have impacted the field of management over the past 80 years. In 2005 he was elected as a Fellow in the National Academy of Human Resources " and recognized in Business Week as one of America's 50 great leaders, one of the most influential practitioners in the history of leadership development and an icon in the field of executive coaching.
About Alliant International University
Alliant International University offers a unique curriculum that combines academics and apprenticeship in all courses of study. With accredited programs at San Francisco, Sacramento, Fresno, Los Angeles, Irvine and San Diego, Alliant also hosts accredited programs in Mexico City, Mexico and Tokyo, Japan.
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