What got you here, won't get you there...

We program ourselves to succeed in life by testing, proving ourselves, over and over again through out the first half of our lives. From schools, universities to when we enter the workforce, it is a marathon of tests. These tests set us up habitually to compete, often against our peers and often at enormous costs. This behaviour gets ingrained almost as part of our DNA by the time we are in our 30s.

While these habits do help us succeed to an extent, it can also hurt us as we take on more responsibility in mid career. It is often mid career that individuals are promoted to leadership positions having responsibility over people and teams.

The same habits that helped you get there will not help you much in the next phase of your career, where it is no longer just about you.

Learning to break these habits and to lead selflessly takes reflection, intentional practice and rigour.

Leadership growth is not just about learning and doing more, but about unlearning what you have learned over decades. Following are top 5 behaviours you should consider stopping:

1. Winning too much

2. Adding too much value

3. Making destructive comments

4. Starting with “No”, “But”, “However”

5. Playing favourites

I was given the book "What Got You here, Won't Get You There" by Marshall Goldsmith from my coach early in my 30s. I am grateful that I was introduced to this book then, and now I am using this technique of Stakeholder Centered Leadership Development in my own coaching.

Learning to unlearn is an important step in learning to be better. Do you agree?

Hazan Gunay

HSB Solutions

Jerry Jendusa

BREAKTHRU Family of Companies & BREAKTHRU Leadership U™️ (BLU)