American Management Association named Dr. Goldsmith as one of 50 great thinkers and leaders

Business Week listed him as one of the most influential practitioners in the history of leadership development.

Marshall@MarshallGoldsmith.com

Robert Dickman's concept of story is useful for understanding what makes organizational communication meaningful and important. Too many leaders (especially those with technical backgrounds) get lost in the content of what they are saying. They think that if the appropriate facts are communicated, their job is done. Without the four key components of the story, facts can seem dry and lifeless. E-mails seldom spur anyone on to bigger and better things. The leader's role is not just to communicate, but to inspire. Great stories can help create the inspiration and commitment required for successfully executing strategy.

I spend a great deal of my time coaching executives. The five story elements are useful for understanding why some leaders achieve long-term change in behavior, while others do not. When leaders demonstrate a passion for personal change, realize that they are both the hero and the antagonist in their struggle for transformation, and involve their coworkers in their ongoing story, they always improve. When they leave out any of the key elements, they seldom achieve positive, long-term change.

I would suggest one more layer for building on this concept. Everyone in the organization needs to write his or her own story of personal change and growth. We all need to understand how we fit in the larger story of the organization and how we can demonstrate passion and be the hero of our own drama. We need to understand our own antagonists (both internal and external) in order to succeed in a changing world, we all much continually strive for our own transformation. By involving all employees in creating the organizational story, we can make happy endings a function of us, not them.