Marshall Goldsmith Ph.DI first learned of Marshall Goldsmith’s work through a good friend Simon Vetter.  Marshall has a bio that reads like the who’s who in business management.  He was recently named by Business Week Magazine as one of the most influential practitioners in the history of leadership development, and the American Management Association named Dr. Goldsmith as one of 50 great thinkers and leaders who have influenced the field of management over the past 80 years.

In the podcast with Marshall we get to explore the concepts and ideas in his new book entitled, “Succession: Are You Ready? (Memo to the CEO)“.  The best thing about this new book, is that it is condensed, easy to read and part of the Harvard Business Press books designed for the time starved executives. While the book is written as letters to a fictional CEO, the learnings apply to leaders at all levels – who are faced with the prospect of either letting go or developing their successor.

Frequently leadership succession is presented as a dry, “check-the-boxes” process during which seemingly robotic executives are concerned only with the buzzwords like “strategic fit”, “core competencies”, and “long-term shareholder value”.  Very little of what is written deals with “soft” personal issues like relationships, self-interest, ego, or God forbid, feelings!

What Marshall has accomplished, (that many authors who have attempted to broach this subject have failed to accomplish,) is a focus on the human and behavioral elements of transition.   “Succession: Are You Ready? (Memo to the CEO)”, is designed to help the reader: prepare for the transition, choose a successor, coach your successor and pass the baton.

In my podcast with Marshall we explore the human elements of succession planning.  It is my opinion that the human elements of succession planning are so much more important than the strategic aspects.  In our podcast you will be exposed to practical real world advice.

I hope you enjoy my interview with Marshall. If you would like to learn more about Marshall’s consulting organization, and his other books and publications please click here to access his website.

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