Marshall Goldsmith (born March 20, 1949) is an American executive leadership coach and author.

Early life and education

Goldsmith was born in Valley Station, Kentucky, and received a degree in mathematical economics from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Indiana in 1970; where he was also a brother of the Theta Xi Kappa Chapter Fraternity. He then earned an MBA from Indiana University's Kelley School of Business in 1972, and a PhD from UCLA Anderson School of Management in Los Angeles, California in 1977. In 2012, Goldsmith was awarded The John E. Anderson Distinguished Alumni Award, the highest accolade that the UCLA Anderson School of Management bestows upon alumni. Indiana University's Kelley School of Business also awarded Marshall the Distinguished Entrepreneur of the Year in 2010.

Career

From 1976 to 1980, Goldsmith was an assistant professor and then associate dean at Loyola Marymount University's College of Business. He later served as a professor of management practice at Dartmouth College's Tuck School of Business. In 1977, he entered the field of management education after meeting Paul Hersey, and Goldsmith later co-founded the management education firm Keilty, Goldsmith and Company. He became a founding partner of the Marshall Goldsmith Group, an executive coaching group. Throughout Marshall's career, he has worked with CEOs from over 200 companies. According to ES Wibbeke and Sarah McArthur, Goldsmith was the pioneer in the use of 360-degree feedback. Marshall's work was profiled in The New Yorker in an article titled, "The Better Boss," and in The Atlantic by John Dickerson in an article titled "The Questions That Will Get Me Through the Pandemic."

Books

Personal life

Marshall currently lives in Nashville, Tennessee with his wife, Lyda. He has a son, Bryan Goldsmith, and a daughter, Kelly Goldsmith. Goldsmith has described himself as a "philosophical Buddhist."