Bestselling author and world-renowned executive coach Marshall
Goldsmith examines the environmental and psychological triggers that can
derail us at work and in life.
Do you ever find that you are not the patient, compassionate problem
solver you believe yourself to be? Are you surprised at how irritated or
flustered the normally unflappable you becomes in the presence of a
specific colleague at work? Have you ever felt your temper accelerate
from zero to sixty when another driver cuts you off in traffic?
Our reactions don't occur in a vacuum. They are usually the result of
unappreciated triggers in our environment--the people and situations
that lure us into behaving in a manner diametrically opposed to the
colleague, partner, parent, or friend we imagine ourselves to be. These
triggers are constant and relentless and omnipresent. So often the
environment seems to be outside our control. Even if that is true, as
Goldsmith points out, we have a choice in how we respond.
In Triggers, his most powerful and insightful book yet, Goldsmith
shows how we can overcome the trigger points in our lives, and enact
meaningful and lasting change. Goldsmith offers a simple "magic bullet"
solution in the form of daily self-monitoring, hinging around what he
calls "active" questions. These are questions that measure our effort,
not our results. There's a difference between achieving and trying; we
can't always achieve a desired result, but anyone can try. In the course
of Triggers, Goldsmith details the six "engaging questions" that can
help us take responsibility for our efforts to improve and help us
recognize when we fall short.
Filled with revealing and illuminating stories from his work with some
of the most successful chief executives and power brokers in the
business world, Goldsmith offers a personal playbook on how to achieve
change in our lives, make it stick, and become the person we want to be.
