BMA eBook - Manual / Resource - Page 257
There comes a point in your career when the best way to figure out how
you’re doing is to step back and ask yourself a few questions. Having all
the answers is less important than knowing what to ask.
What to Ask the Person
in the Mirror
by Robert S. Kaplan
COPYRIGHT © 2006 HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL PUBLISHING CORPORATION. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
If you’re like most successful leaders, you
were, in the early stages of your career, given
plenty of guidance and support. You were
closely monitored, coached, and mentored.
But as you moved up the ladder, the sources of
honest and useful feedback became fewer, and
after a certain point, you were pretty much on
your own. Now, your boss—if you have one—
is no longer giving much consideration to
your day-to-day actions. By the time any mistakes come to light, it’s probably too late to fix
them—or your boss’s perceptions of you. And
by the time your management missteps negatively affect your business results, it’s usually
too late to make corrections that will get you
back on course.
No matter how talented and successful you
are, you will make mistakes. You will develop
bad habits. The world will change subtly, without your even noticing, and behaviors that
once worked will be rendered ineffective. Over
a 22-year career at Goldman Sachs, I had the
opportunity to run various businesses and to
work with or coach numerous business leaders.
harvard business review • january 2007
I chaired the firm’s senior leadership training
efforts and cochaired its partnership committee, which focused on reviews, promotions, and
development of managing directors. Through
this experience and subsequent interviews with
a large number of executives in a broad range
of industries, I have observed that even outstanding leaders invariably struggle through
stretches of their careers where they get off
track for some period of time.
It’s hard to see it when you’re in the midst of
it; changes in the environment, competitors, or
even personal circumstances can quietly guide
you off your game. I have learned that a key
characteristic of highly successful leaders is not
that they figure out how to always stay on
course, but that they develop techniques to
help them recognize a deteriorating situation
and get back on track as quickly as possible. In
my experience, the best way to do that is to
step back regularly, say every three to six months
(and certainly whenever things feel as though
they aren’t going well), and honestly ask yourself some questions about how you’re doing
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