Alisa Cohn

I recently did 2 presentations with Marshall Goldsmith and I'm reminded yet again: The habits he teaches the world's top CEOs aren't what most people expect.

Here are the 5 I keep coming back to:

1️⃣ Experiment
Try new things.
The leaders who grow the fastest stay curious.
They don’t just go back to what they already know.

2️⃣ Let things go
Don't waste enormous energy on what you can't control.
Strong leaders focus on what they can control.
The release the rest and move forward.

3️⃣ Focus on what you can change
Instead of complaining, ask:
"What's one thing I can do that would improve this situation?"
Then start there.

4️⃣ Be generous
The most respected leaders consistently ask:
"How can I help?"
Generosity builds trust faster than authority ever will.

5️⃣ Bring people together
Great leadership isn't just about having the best ideas.
It's about cultivating amazing people around them
And then creating the space where people create amazing things together.

Simple habits. Timeless impact.  
Marshall has taught this for decades because they work when leaders actually practice them.

Pick one. Practice it for a week. See what changes.

Some of the most damaging leadership habits don't start out as toxic.

They look like competence. Like caring, moving quickly, or simply wanting to get things right.
After 25 years of coaching founders and CEOs, I’ve learned that the habits that undermine a leader are often the same habits that once helped them succeed.

The problem is what happens when they go too far.

One CEO I coached had a strong point of view and cared deeply about getting things right. She wanted to create clarity and so, she kept on pushing until others agreed with her.

She was trying to make good decisions, protect the business, and help her team succeed.

But the very behaviors she thought were helping were making her team less effective.

“I was just trying to help; how could I be the problem?”

She’s not alone! 

Many leaders fall into these traps:

1. Needing to be right
You have a strong opinion. You push until everyone sees it your way. What it actually does is teach your team to stop bringing you real ideas.


2. Making everything urgent
When everything is urgent, nothing is. Your team rushes, mistakes pile up, and nobody can tell what actually matters anymore.

3. Waiting for perfect information
You want one more piece of data. One more round of discussion. The decision doesn't get better. The decision just stalls.

Every single one of these habits started as a good intention.

But good intentions don't protect you from bad patterns that chip away at your team's trust, energy, and results.

Naming these habits lets you course-correct them.

Which one do you recognize in yourself?