Marshall Goldsmith

Marshall Goldsmith – Life, Work & Legacy

Marshall Goldsmith (born March 20, 1949) is an American executive coach, leadership thinker, and author known for helping top leaders achieve lasting behavioral change. Explore his life, ideas, books, and influence.

Introduction

Marshall Goldsmith is widely regarded as one of the world’s premier executive coaches and leadership thinkers. Over decades, he has worked with CEOs and leaders across industries, authored influential books on leadership and behavior change, and shaped how organizations approach the developing of leaders. His methods focus less on ideology or strategy than on small behavior shifts, feedback, and accountability. He is especially known for the principle: “What got you here won’t get you there.”

Early Life & Education

  • Born: March 20, 1949, in Valley Station, Kentucky, U.S.

  • He earned a B.S. in Mathematical Economics from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in 1970.

  • He completed an MBA at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business in 1972.

  • Later he earned his Ph.D. in Management from UCLA’s Anderson School of Management in 1977.

These academic foundations melded his quantitative, business, and organizational interests—preparing him well for a career bridging scholarship and practice.

Career & Major Contributions

Academic & Early Career

Goldsmith began in academia, serving as a faculty member (assistant professor) and later associate dean at Loyola Marymount University’s business school in the late 1970s to early 1980s. He later became Professor of Management Practice at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business.

Coaching & Leadership Practice

Goldsmith co-founded the Marshall Goldsmith Group, a coaching and leadership development firm. Over his career, he has coached or advised leaders in more than 200 organizations, including Fortune 500 CEOs.

One of his signature contributions is the use of 360° feedback as a tool for behavior change—getting feedback from peers, subordinates, and stakeholders to identify blind spots.

He also launched the Marshall Goldsmith 100 Coaches (MG100) project, where he mentors a cohort of 100 coaches at no cost, with the expectation they “pay it forward.”

Recognition & Thought Leadership

Goldsmith is the only two-time #1 Leadership Thinker in the Thinkers50 rankings, and he was inducted into the Thinkers50 Hall of Fame in 2018. He has been ranked among the top executive coaches and business thinkers globally by outlets such as Forbes, Wall Street Journal, and BusinessWeek.

Key Ideas & Philosophy

Behavior Change Over Strategy

Goldsmith emphasizes that success is not just about having the right strategy or vision—but about small, consistent behavior change. His belief: even high-performing leaders can have limiting habits that block further growth.

Feedback & Accountability

He places great trust in feedback loops and accountability systems. Behavior change is sustained when leaders are accountable, track progress, and externalize their commitments.

Future-Focused, Not Past-Focused

Rather than dwelling on past mistakes, Goldsmith encourages focusing on forward-looking questions: What will I do differently today? How will I behave moving forward?

“Triggers” & Environment

In his book Triggers, he explores how external contexts, cues, and environments prompt old habits—and how to proactively design environments that support desired behavior.

The Earned Life

In his more recent work, Goldsmith introduces the idea of living an "earned life"—making choices so that one lives with fewer regrets, consciously aligning actions with values.

Major Publications

Here are some of his influential books:

  • What Got You Here Won’t Get You There (with Mark Reiter)

  • Triggers: Creating Behavior That Lasts (with Mark Reiter)

  • MOJO: How to Get It, How to Keep It, and How to Get It Back If You Lose It (with Mark Reiter)

  • How Women Rise (with Sally Helgesen)

  • The Earned Life: Lose Regret, Choose Fulfillment

His books have been translated into many languages and achieved bestseller status in leadership and management categories.

Personal Life & Values

  • Marshall Goldsmith lives in Nashville, Tennessee with his wife, Lyda Goldsmith.

  • They have two children: Kelly Goldsmith and Bryan Goldsmith.

  • His daughter Kelly is a marketing researcher and professor.

  • Goldsmith has described himself as a philosophical Buddhist, and his engagement with Buddhist ideas influences his approach to detachment, reflection, and behavioral clarity.

Legacy & Impact

  • Goldsmith’s methods have shifted how many organizations approach leadership development—less focus on just teaching “what to think,” and more on how to behave.

  • His coaching has influenced hundreds of senior executives, and through the MG100 initiative, he is seeding future generations of coaches.

  • His books—especially What Got You Here Won’t Get You There and Triggers—are often cited in leadership development curricula and executive education.

  • Thinkers50 and other thought-leadership rankings have solidified his place among the top global voices in leadership and coaching.

Articles by the author

My job is to show my clients that their anger is rarely someone else's fault. It's their flaw.

Marshall Goldsmith

Our inner beliefs trigger failure before it happens. They sabotage lasting change by canceling its possibility. We employ these beliefs as articles of faith to justify our inaction and then wish away the result. I call them belief triggers.

Marshall Goldsmith

Americans get fatter and fatter and buy more and more diet books, but you don't lose weight by buying diet books - you go on a diet. It's easy to read a diet book, but it's hard to go on a diet.

Marshall Goldsmith

To me, the #1 key to success is 'creating lasting positive change in yourself and others.' That is what is most rare, most difficult, and most valuable about leading people.

Marshall Goldsmith