Do you begin every sentence with ‘no’, ‘but’ or ‘however’?

This article is part of the Contemporary leadership series

In my last blog I discussed the annoying and pernicious tendency of smart people to react to someone else’s ideas in a way that’s guaranteed to put a dampener on them.  If you are prone to saying, “That is great…” and then dropping the other shoe with a tempering, “BUT”, my advice was to stop yourself before you speak. Take a breath and ask yourself whether what you’re about to say is worth it. In most cases it isn’t.

If you really want to succeed and encourage others to do the same, try stopping at “great!”

In November 2015 Dr. Marshall Goldsmith was recognized as the #1 Leadership Thinker in the World and the top 5 Management Thinker at the Thinkers50 Award Ceremony in London. He was also selected as the #1 Executive Coach in the World by GlobalGurus.org, and one of the 10 Most Influential Management Thinkers in the World by Thinkers50 in both 2011 and 2013. In 2011 he was chosen as the World's Most Influential Leadership Thinker. Marshall was the highest rated executive coach on the Thinkers50 List in both 2011 and 2013. What Got You Here Won't Get You There was listed as a top ten business bestseller for 2013 by INC Magazine / 800 CEO Read (for the seventh consecutive year). Marshall's exciting new research on engagement is published in his newest book Triggers (Crown, 2015).