Do you ever find that you are not the patient, compassionate problem solver you believe yourself to be? Are you surprised at how irritated or flustered the normally unflappable you becomes in the presence of a specific colleague at work? Have you ever felt your temper accelerate from zero to sixty when another driver cuts you off in traffic? As Marshall Goldsmith points out in Triggers, our reactions don't occur in a vacuum. They are usually the result of unappreciated triggers in our environment the people and situations that lure us into behaving in a manner diametrically opposed to the colleague, partner, parent or friend we imagine ourselves to be. So often, the environment seems to be outside our control.

In this summary you will discover, you have a choice in how you respond. Furthermore you will learn how you can overcome the trigger points in your life and enact meaningful and lasting change. Goldsmith offers a simple "magic bullet" solution in the form of daily self-monitoring, hinging around what he calls "active" questions, six "engaging questions" that can help us take responsibility for our efforts to improve and help us recognize when we fall short. With these and other strategies, Triggers can help us to achieve change in our lives, make it stick and become the person we want to be.