1: “Google is famously viewed as a bottom-up company,” Kim Scott writes in her book Radical Candor, “one that empowers even very young employees to drive decision-making.”

Management at Google is often viewed as a necessary evil.

“The managers’ role is mostly to stay out of the way,” Kim notes, “sometimes to help, but never to interfere too much.”

After working at Google for six years in the … continue reading

1: Growing up, how many times were we told: “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all”? 

Turns out that’s really bad advice if we want to be good managers.

“Bob was one of those instantly likable people who make going to work a pleasure,” Kim Scott writes in Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity.

 “He was a kind, … continue reading

When we think about creativity, we typically think about a particular type: The day-to-day creativity that we use to solve the problem at hand.

But there is a second type of creativity, Steven Kotler writes in The Art of Impossible: A Peak Performance Primer.

“Ten years ago, I started investigating a critical but rarely discussed type of creativity,” he writes, “I got curious about what it took to sustain … continue reading

1: The team of researchers from Stanford, Yale, and Columbia discovered something surprising.

They ran an experiment with middle school students who were instructed to write an essay. Afterward, teachers provided different types of feedback to improve their work, Daniel Coyle writes in The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups.

There was “one particular form of feedback boosted student effort and performance so immensely that they deemed … continue reading

1: Gathering, acting on, and following up on feedback is central to our strategy of becoming a better leader, Marshall Goldsmith tells us in What Got You Here Won’t Get You There.

In an ideal world, we would hire an executive coach like Marshall to conduct a 360 review to collect feedback from our peers, our boss, our direct reports, and even our family.

There is, however, an easier, … continue reading

Getting better at getting better is what RiseWithDrew is all about.

Monday through Thursday, we explore ideas from authors, thought leaders, and exemplary organizations. On Friday, I share something about myself or what we are working on at PCI.

This week, we’ve been exploring ideas from Marshall Goldsmith, and his brilliant book What Got You Here Won’t Get You There. Marshall is one of the world’s top … continue reading

1: “It’s a lot harder to change people’s perception of our behavior than it is to change our behavior,” writes Marshall Goldsmith in What Got You Here Won’t Get You There. “In fact, I calculate that we have to get 100% better in order to get 10% credit for it from our coworkers.”

Marshall is one of the top executive coaches in the world. This week we’ve been exploring … continue reading

“Oh my,” Barry thought. “Peter, who has the power to block some of my initiatives, hates my guts.”

This flash of insight hit Barry while sitting in a leadership team meeting. Every time Barry spoke, Peter looked away. “As if the sound of Barry’s voice was causing him pain,” writes Marshall Goldsmith in What Got You Here Won’t Get You There.  

And, when Peter spoke, he would make eye … continue reading

1: Reality check: It is easier to see problems in others than to see them in ourselves.

“As human beings we almost always suffer from the disconnect between the self we think we are and the self that the rest of the world sees in us.” Marshall Goldsmith writes in What Got You Here Won’t Get You There.  

“Even though we may be able to deny our problems to … continue reading

1: “Do you know the concept of proprioception, of how you know where you are and where you’re oriented?” film director Harold Ramis asked.  

Harold was reflecting “on the reasons behind the fading career of Chevy Chase, one of the stars of [Harold’s movie] Caddyshack, writes Marshall Goldsmith in What Got You Here Won’t Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More Successful.  

“Chevy lost his sense of … continue reading