High Performance Leadership

The Benefits of Supervisory Training

2012-01-16T10:49:00.000-07:00

When was the last time you had any leadership training?

How often do the supervisors in your organization get training?

If you are like most organizations, it's never enough. Some teams go without any supervisory training at all and expect supervisors and managers to learn as they go, on the job. Unfortunately, while it is memorable to learn from your mistakes, it comes at a high cost.

People get tired. People leave. Important accounts go away. Customers complain. And teams struggle without the skills and knowledge it takes to build cohesive teams that are capable of solving problems, improving performance and achieving goals.

Admittedly, I can be expected to support training since I'm in the business. Still, take a closer look at your own leadership career and decide for yourself. Are leaders better off with more training and development or with less?

Supervisory training can generate benefits that pay off long after the training is over.

Here are just a few of the things supervisors and managers gain from training:

- Skills to improve performance, solve problems, and achieve goals

- Strengthened relationships with their peers

- An expanded network of experts who can help

- Experience solving problems in a safe environment

- A forum for sounding out ideas

- A place to nurture new ideas that lead to even more ideas in the field

- Renewed energy

- Resilience that comes from remembering to take the long view

- Increased confidence in the support of the organization

- New respect for their own leaders

- Tools and tips that can be used productively for years

- A valuable break from the routine

- New ways to use their courage, creativity, clarity and compassion

- Help in centering themselves during troubled times and times of growth

... and more

Think about the training and development that you've gotten and the unexpected benefits that came along with it. Wouldn't you like more of that? Don't you owe it to your people to encourage and facilitate more of that?

-- Douglas Brent Smith

Centered Leaders Create No Losers

2012-01-14T13:47:00.002-07:00

Do you pride yourself on being highly competitive?

Do your actions as a leader create winners and losers?

What becomes of the losers?

I would submit to you that creating winners and losers accomplishes one thing extraordinarily well: It perpetuates conflict.

The more significant the win, the longer term the conflict. It may take a long time for losing to whiplash it's side effects, but the side effects are sure and harsh.

We're not talking about games, sports, or the competition that is necessary in the marketplace in certain industries to assure fairness and economy. We're talking about competing with such a fierce habit of destruction that the "enemy" is crushed. Don't kid yourself though - an enemy is never permanently crushed, just as a friend is never permanently reliable.

What is reliable is leading with strong principles. What is reliable is leading with clarity, courage, creativity and compassion. Within that compassion is a high regard for every constituent in a leader's life -- and that includes the "competition".

The highest level of leadership creates no losers. Losses perhaps, but not losers. Respect remains, and learning occurs best when people and organizations treat each other with dignity.

Can you compete without creating losers? What would that look like in your organization?

-- Douglas Brent Smith

Future Leaders

2012-01-13T15:37:00.000-07:00

Guess what:

the leaders of the future are watching you today.

What will they see? What will they learn? How will they remember you?

Centered Leaders Create Joy

2012-01-11T11:29:00.002-07:00

How long does it take to achieve your biggest goals?

Even if we're on track, big goals take a while to achieve. There's much work to do in the mean time, and progress is not always obvious. People look around to see where the excitement is.

Team members can become discouraged or distracted. What's a leader to do?

Centered leaders create joy within their goal achievements.

Joy that goes beyond accomplishment. Joy that comes from an inner, centered satisfaction in doing the right things and focusing on what matters. Intrinsic joy manifested by extrinsic celebrations.

There are many ways to do this, including:

- Recognizing great efforts

- Increasing one-on-one communication

- Coaching frequently

- Smiling!

- Debriefing mistakes and looking for opportunities

- Celebrating both personal and team milestones

- Remembering birthdays and anniversaries

- Demonstrating progress thru metrics or charts

- Building enthusiasm

What ways can you think of to create joy within your team as you move forward toward your goals?

-- Douglas Brent Smith

High Performance Leadership and Longer Term Results

2012-01-10T16:07:00.001-07:00

Will you get more out of your people by becoming a task master? In today's tougher climate do we need tougher bosses who lean on people constantly and manage with detailed insistence?

It depends.

Do you want quick results and resentful people? Or do you want a longer term relationship of success with your team?

Any task master can achieve short term results but where will the team be a year from now?

Invest in the longer term future of your team. Develop relationships of trust and empowerment. And go easy on the role of task master. You probably don't want the side-effects.

-- Douglas Brent Smith

People or Processes

2012-01-06T20:54:00.003-07:00

As a high performance leader, where should you focus your attention on change?

If people are not hitting their targets, if performance is not what you expect, should you set about fixing people, or even removing them?

People develop incrementally. Processes are capable of improving geometrically. Which do you think you should fix?

Hint: it's hard to fix people.

Start with processes and win.

-- Douglas Brent Smith

Centered Leaders Do More Than Demand Improved Performance

2012-01-04T12:54:00.001-07:00

It's everyone's job to improve performance. Centered, high performance leaders spend much of their time determining how to help people improve performance.

But simply demanding a change in performance can be damaging. Be careful what you ask for unless you are sure how it can be obtained.

Demanding improved performance without removing barriers leads to hidden short-cuts and unwanted trade-offs.

That's not what you want.

1. Find out what's standing in the way of the performance you want.

2. Find out how to remove those barriers.

3. Ask how you can help.

Simply demanding is not enough.

What barriers are standing in the way of your team's performance?

-- Douglas Brent Smith

Centered Leaders and Criticism

2012-01-03T10:29:00.001-07:00

Do you think it's the role of a leader to criticize?

There is a big difference between analyze and criticize. Leaders do have the responsibility to provide clarity to their teams, and clarity requires a certain level of analysis.

But to criticize implies a tearing down, tearing apart, deconstructing of performance that may contain some nuggets of use but truck loads of side-effects. How do YOU like to be relentlessly criticized?

You can always find things to criticize if that's what you're looking for. That does not build confidence or strength in your team.

What does build confidence and strength?

- Debriefing team members on what went RIGHT
- Building a culture of continuous improvement
- Providing opportunities for people to operate from their strengths
- Knowing the strengths of your people
- Developing people
- Providing frequent, instant feedback (and finding more positive points than critical ones)

What other ways can you think of to build confidence and strength on your team?

-- Douglas Brent Smith

Leadership and Shared Compassion

2012-01-02T10:33:00.001-07:00

Who is in charge of compassion on your team?

Do you look for a source of compassion, or do you feel a shared sense of responsibility?

We are all called to feel, and show compassion for each other.

That's how it works.

-- Douglas Brent Smith

High Performance Leaders Provide Possibilities

2012-01-01T10:19:00.002-07:00

How does an effective leader forgive?

Is it enough to offer a clean slate?

Is it enough to provide the opportunity for a new start?

Centered leaders offer more than a new start. Centered leaders realize that sometimes the errors of the past need a new focus, a new sense of direction. What will team members do positively to avoid repeating mistakes? High performance leaders provide new possibilities.

Possibilities that expand potential. Possibilities that correct past wrongs. Possibilities that solve problems.

Forgiveness that carries the strength of redirection and new possibilities spares many frustrations.

-- Douglas Brent Smith

Does Ranking Team Member Performance Make Sense?

2011-12-19T10:29:00.002-07:00

Do you rank employees?

Does your organization use a system of listing employees from "top performers" to "bottom performers"? You may call them something else, but do you use that kind of system?

When I worked at GE we were forced, as leaders, to force rank our employees. Everyone had to fit within 9 categories. We used whatever measures we could to arrive at something resembling a logical order.

The problem is, how do you compare across job platforms? How do you compare the performance of a claims adjuster to recruiter? How do you compare a customer service rep to an underwriter?

How do you know that you are measuring the right things?

How do you know that your assessment is accurate and unbiased?

How do you know that next year your company will need the same skills and goals as this year?

If you hired correctly in the first place and have been doing your job as a team leader to develop a cohesive, high performance team that works collaboratively with each other instead of competitively, what gives you the right to assess one of your team members as the "bottom of the pack"?

Ranking team member performance lacks both accuracy and usefulness.

Used as a way to cut the bottom 5% or 10% it is cruel, non-compassionate, and foolhardy.

As leaders, we can do better than that.

-- Douglas Brent Smith

High Performance Leaders And Possibilities

2011-12-10T12:56:00.001-07:00

Life is too short. Life is full of infinite possibilities. Which scenario are you working?

It's your choice.

There's no doubt that time is our highest premium. And yet, there is so much that we can do. So many possibilities. So many problems to solve, so many goals to achieve. High performance leaders go after those possibilities. They find the people who can best help them, and they find people who they can help.

Possibilities are right there for the right leader to move forward.

Why not get busy on them today?

-- Douglas Brent Smith

Centered Leaders Create Positive Change

2011-12-05T12:25:00.001-07:00

Do you feel the need to make radical changes in your team?

Are there deep flaws within your organization that you've just got to transform?

It can be tempting to equate radical with rude. It can seem reasonable to bend rules to change them. Centered leaders know, and practice better habits for change.

Maybe it takes longer. Maybe it involves more people. Certainly, it involves all the clarity, courage, creativity and compassion that a leader can invoke -- but centered leaders find ways to radically change things with dignity and respect.

Revolutionaries need not be ill-mannered or violent.

There are an infinite number of paths to positive change.

How can you approach change more positively today?

-- Douglas Brent Smith

High Performance Leaders Use End-Runs Very Carefully

2011-12-03T10:45:00.001-07:00

Have you ever gone over your boss's head?

Have you ever by-passed a team member who could have helped you solve a problem and instead gone to her boss?

It can feel fast. It can feel satisfying. It can ruin your team.

Yes, there ARE times to use an end-run and get to the part of the chain of command that will act fast and solve a pressing problem. But those times are few and tend to look very much like emergencies, or matters of personal privacy. If a team member is breaking the law, you have no viable choice other than to go over their head to authority. To avoid doing so is irresponsible, and in some cases even criminal.

But hopefully in your organization, those instances are rare. Much more common are those times when it simply feels more convenient to skip over someone who seems to be obstructing us and talking to a more powerful, more friendly decision maker.

What does that do to your relationships, though? Does it build, or damage trust?

Does it help your team in the long run to have people skipping boundaries and avoiding the chain of command?

If your chain of command is too long and too complicated, work within your system to change that. Unilaterally dismantling a chain of command though usually creates unsavory side-effects that you probably don't want and certainly don't want to be responsible for.

Breaking the chain of command risks breaking the entire chain of command. Use end runs very, very carefully.

-- Douglas Brent Smith

Mistakes to Avoid

2011-12-02T09:38:00.000-07:00

What kind of mistakes should a leader avoid?

There are all kinds of mistakes that you can benefit from, as well as an endless number of mistakes that could put you out of business.

But one kind of mistake is easily avoided: the mistake you've already made.

Seriously, mistakes can be valuable learning lessons -- but only if we learn. If we do not learn from our mistakes we most likely get more opportunities in the form of mistakes until we do.

Making mistakes once is no guarantee against repeating them. It takes learning and change to avoid the obvious.

Think about a mistake that you've only made once and were able to improve your performance as a result. What did you do differently? How did you leverage your mistake into a new opportunity?

What mistakes can you avoid today?

-- Douglas Brent Smith

Centered Leaders Build Confidence

2011-11-30T17:47:00.002-07:00

What do you do to build the confidence of your team members?

Centered leaders understand the balance that it takes to provide both support and challenge to team members. Support helps people remain on target even when things get tough. Challenge helps people build confidence by succeeding on their own.

Confidence powers people to take on new work, create new paths, and achieve their goals.

Confidence is a fuel better not to be wasted or stifled.

What more can you do to build confidence within your team?

-- Douglas Brent Smith

When Should Leaders Micromanage?

2011-11-29T10:01:00.002-07:00

After decades of developing leadership to include influence, rather than control, we've seen a return to micromanagement. Bosses will be bosses and sometimes that means doing their best to control every little action on the team.

It didn't work well in the past, and it doesn't work well now.

There are instances when leaders must exercise more control: introducing new team members, developing raw talent, handling an emergency. But, once that new team member has an understanding of the mission, once that raw talent is not so raw, once the emergency is over, centered leaders do well to return to an approach of shared leadership. Our influence is made greater by sharing it with others, not by lording over them with a tight grip and reckless insistence on details that match your style, but not theirs.

The art of leadership is recognizing and assessing one's own tendency to micromanage. Centered leaders let go of control to increase their influence.

Who have you been trying to micromanage?

What would happen if you let them lead for a while in some area?

What do you think about micromanagement?

-- Douglas Brent Smith

Noble Goals

2011-11-28T22:41:00.000-07:00

Centered leaders help people to achieve noble goals.

It's fairly common for leaders, in search of performance, to pound (metaphorically) on their people about achieving goals. It can be annoying.

Of course your people want to achieve goals. They want to do something important. They want to have an impact in the world. They want to feel valued and valuable.

They want to achieve noble goals: things that matter in the world, that make things better, that do no harm, that reflect a kind of creative beauty and significance.

Why not help them with that?

-- Douglas Brent Smith

High Performance Leaders Make Courageous, Creative Change

2011-11-27T15:45:00.001-07:00

How many times have you seen a problem solved and wondered if the solution was worth the effort?

How often have you seen leadership drive change that no one wants and that in the end creates no value?

All too often, probably.

The solution to any tough problem should include a clear change that makes a courageous, creative difference.

Things should be made better by change. Processes should be streamlined by change. Customers and team members should find more joy in interacting because of change.

Any change that delivers less is a problem unsolved, a promise broken.

As centered and high performance leaders, we can do better than that.

What can you do today that will make your next change effort both more courageous and more creative?

-- Douglas Brent Smith

Developing Core Skills

2011-11-26T11:58:00.003-07:00

Centered leaders know that their development is never finished. Learning how to use your strengths is important to building a prosperous future.

Learning how to deal with your shortcomings prepares a leader for avoiding blind spots, hazards, and careless mistakes.

Centered leaders are intentional and dedicated about the time they spend developing courage, clarity, creativity and compassion.

Courage to speak and act with conviction, character and the will to accomplish a task or goal.

Clarity to know which version of the truth people are sharing and to focus intentionally on a well understood mission.

Creativity to find new answers, solve persistent problems, and introduce marvelous and pleasing new works.

Compassion to consider the wants and needs of other people in everything that they do. To do no harm and where ever possible, to do as much good as they can.

Balancing each of these four core skills is the very act of centering: finding that place where you operate at your peak and bring about the most good in any situation.

It takes work. It takes devotion. It takes development.

What skill are you working on today?

-- Douglas Brent Smith

Re-invention Problems

2011-11-21T11:28:00.000-07:00

Have you ever faced a problem that was so bizarre, so gnarly, that you couldn't even begin to think of an answer?

Conversely, have you ever lived with a problem for years before even discovering that it WAS a problem?

Some problems are not for solving but for re-invention. What can we create new that better serves our mission?

When we get the mission right, the problems get easier.

-- Douglas Brent Smith

Reinventing Ourselves

2011-11-20T09:02:00.000-07:00

How often do you change?

Not little changes, not incremental changes, but really big changes. Changes that radically effect the way you operate. Changes that send you in a new direction. Changes that even readjust your circle of friends.

That's how fast the world is changing -- in ways that force us to change or fall behind. Small changes are not enough, we need to frequently reinvent ourselves.

Centered leaders know that it's everyone's job to constantly reinvent ourselves.

What is your next change?

What is your next reinvention?

-- Douglas Brent Smith

Problems Are Often Conflicts of Interest

2011-11-16T10:56:00.000-07:00

Problems come in many forms but often they represent conflicts of interest. People can disagree on what they want and clutch what they have in ways that create shortages and unnecessary competition over resources, people, and ideals.

Start the conversation. Create the dialogue. Centered leaders uncover what is covered to probe more deeply into the causes of any particular situation. Maybe it really is a problem -- or maybe it is a misunderstanding or misperception.

Problems are often conflicts of interest. Solving the problem requires sorting out and dealing with each conflict and each interest.

What conflict of interest are you currently experiencing? Who can you talk to about it?

What interests might you share?

-- Douglas Brent Smith

Centered Leaders Create Conditions of Equality

2011-11-14T14:32:00.002-07:00

Have you ever had the urge to get even?

Perhaps someone did you such a serious wrong that the only way you felt you could purge yourself of the bad feeling was to pass that bad feeling back to them in the form of revenge.

Great plays and movies have been dedicated to the pursuit of revenge. But great happiness is not the result of revenge.

Getting even by lashing out, striking back, and causing harm (whether that's passively or actively) only perpetuates a cycle of harm.

Better than revenge is dialogue. Better than revenge is creating equal footing to talk things thru, figure out the source of the harm and heal that source.

Centered leaders resist the temptation to get even by creating conditions of equality.

What can you do today to bring conditions somewhere closer to a level of equality?

Doing so will neutralize a large amount of ill will.

Doing so will help create a better world, not a more aggressive one.

-- Douglas Brent Smith

Does Punishment Work to Motivate People?

2011-11-13T10:38:00.002-07:00

Do you believe that people only respond to two basic motivations, punishment and reward?

If that's the case, then punishment should be an effective motivator, right? People will do whatever they have to do to avoid punishment, right?

Maybe.

Fear certainly does effect behavior. A strong leader may create an atmosphere where people will do what they are expected to do to avoid punishment. Fear may prod some people into towing the line. They will do what they are told to do. But, they will likely do no more.

Fear creates a lowest common denominator mentality. Of course we do not want to be punished so of course we will do whatever it takes to avoid that punishment. Sometimes, whatever it takes creates side-effects that leaders don't want, don't count on, and don't deal with effectively. It can spiral into an non-virtuous cycle of failure.

No leader really wants that.

Here's one of the biggest problems with leading by punishing:

People find ways to get even with those who punish them.

Maybe it is by doing less work. Maybe it is by treating customers with the same punitive mentality that team members experience. Maybe it is something far worse -- something along the lines of sabotage, theft, or destruction.

Why take that chance? Why trigger that response?

Centered leaders find ways to help motivate team members without punishing them.

Is that easy? No. Raised in a world of rewards and punishment, it is so easy to push one of those two buttons again and again. But the punishment button has side-effects we simply do not need and do not want.

What can you do instead?

-- Douglas Brent Smith

Force Is A Poor Problem Solver

2011-11-11T09:16:00.002-07:00

What happens when you solve a problem by force?

It can be any kind of force that pushes people beyond their will to do something they do not want to do. It can be effectively on a short term basis, but eventually leads to side effects that are more intractable and resilient than the problem that was solved.

This includes military action, cuts to staff, reduction in wages, reduction in scheduled work hours (resulting in cuts in pay), punishing people for doing what was standard operating procedure a day ago, and on and on.

Think about a time when you were forced to make a change and had no say in it. I'm not talking about gentle changes to a process or doing things differently despite our stubborn impulses to stay in the same path. Sometimes (often) we DO need to change beyond our will. But there are ways to get people to change their will without forcing them to.

Forcing anyone to do anything creates side effects.

Solving problems by force creates new problems that are persistent and lasting aggravations.

That's not what you probably want, is it?

What's the answer?

- Involve the people who are effected by change

- Do no harm

- Stay true to your values

What can you do today to involve more people in a change that you are considering?

-- Douglas Brent Smith

Centered Leaders are Patient

2011-11-10T10:03:00.001-07:00

How much patience do you have with your team?

Yes, it is a leader's job sometimes to be an impatient challenger. We need to constantly raise our standards and push the edge of what can be achieved. We need to meet our goals.

While doing that -- while being impatient with stasis or low performance -- we must also be patient with our people. Finding what is standing in the way of success, rather than losing patience with our people, takes more time but is far more effective.

Do your people know the goals? Then your impatience will not help to achieve them: your help will. Your guidance. Your persistence. Your focus. Your creativity. Your support.

Leaders who lose patience lose support.

People have little patience for leaders without patience and will seek other paths as soon as it is feasible. That's not double-talk, but reality: your own patience will pay off with the persistence and loyalty of your people.

Much of the business world has abandoned loyalty to their people as a value. To do so is to set up a future failure difficult to overcome: the loss of your talent, your spirit, your organizational cohesiveness.

Does it all hinge on patience? Not all, but a significant part of what makes for a great leader is that leader's gentle challenging guidance and patience.

Keep your support. Keep your patience.

-- Douglas Brent Smith

Should Team Members Compete With Each Other?

2011-11-07T09:02:00.000-07:00

How does inserting competition into your daily relationships effect those relationships?

When I was very young I competed for places on sports teams. I had to be better skilled (or in some cases better connected) than other potential team members just to make the team. Once on the team, we were often pitted against each other in competition for the inner rewards of being on the team: playing regularly, getting positive feedback, getting the admiration of our peers in the crowd.

But the cost was ever so high. Competing so strongly against other youth who played the same position, we did not help each other. Instead of making each other stronger and better prepared, we worked on our personal skills and hoped our own places were secure. They weren't.

There is always someone better at what you do. If they are on the same team and do not help you, they may stay better than you but they are not as strong as they could be -- and of course, neither are you.

Team members who are forced to compete with each other soon lose sight of the team vision.

It does not have to be that way. Imagine a playing field where everyone who wants to be on a team is on a team -- and that team works to make both itself and every member continually stronger and more effective.

Extend that even further. What if every team then set out to help every other team to become stronger.

Some people might say that that is what competition does. Maybe in its original sense, including camaraderie and deep respect for your competitors. There is room to include that again.

Why not start on your team? Why not start with yourself?

When we find ourselves reaching for a competitive edge, what would we do differently to find a cooperative edge as well?

We can build each other up without tearing each other down AND enjoy the fun of games playing in the process. Let's just not put our game ahead of our character...

What do you think?

-- Douglas Brent Smith

Is That Problem Worth Fixing?

2011-11-03T06:52:00.000-06:00

How much time do you spend working on things that aren't worth working on?

If we are honest with ourselves, the answer is probably "too much".

That goes for problems, too. We can spend an inordinate amount of time trying to fix any number of things that really do not require fixing. They do not need our attention because they are likely to go away on their own, or they are problems we really don't care about, or maybe because they are simply the perceptions of problems.

Maybe they are just another way of doing something.

Before you solve a problem, are you sure it's worth fixing?

-- Douglas Brent Smith

Centered Leaders Create Sustainable Success

2011-11-01T12:25:00.001-06:00

Have you ever worked for a short time leader who focused on short time results, at the expense of any sustainable success?

I once worked for a company that held a culture led by what we called parachute leaders. They would show up from some other remote (to us) site, where they apparently had a quick turn-around success record, and as if parachuting in to the rescue would proceed to radically try to change the culture, chop the headcount, and trim the team up for sale.

It was demoralizing. Quarter to quarter, for a year or two, they would look like superstars. But, never having been with any team for more than two years they never saw the end results of their slash and burn change making. Eventually, the positive results turned sour. But by then the organization had been sold. Sometimes, after the results took a nose dive, the organization would be dismantled and scrapped.

Real leaders create sustainable success. Real leaders create teams that produce growth without the harmful side effects of laying people off and selling valuable assets. High performance leaders don't just re-brand a team, they transform a team while honoring the parts that have kept it going so far.

Leadership that does not bring about sustainable success is not leadership at all.

What are you doing to create the future while honoring the past?

Which of your goals are likely to bring about sustainable success?

-- Douglas Brent Smith

Solving problems. Achieving your goals.

Centered Leaders Confront Injustice

2011-10-29T09:19:00.001-06:00

As a leader, are you often confronted with injustice? Do you witness actions and events that are simply unfair?

Anyone who lives long enough will be frequently faced with injustice -- whether it's felt personally or witnessed effecting other people. Many people ignore and walk away from injustice. It's too hard of a battle, it's not my fight, it's not the right time...any number of rationalizations can stop us from doing what in our hearts we know we should do: confront evil.

Did I say evil?

Yes, injustice is a kind of evil. It may not even be intentional, but it must not be permitted to stand, because it gains strength and credibility the longer that it does. When we have come to permit and then accept injustice it becomes an institutionalized part of our lives.

After thousands of years of injustice, it's easy to think that it's already too late, that we're all really institutionalized to injustice until it is practically an invisible part of our value system. But as late as it is, as long as it's been, it does not have to be that way.

Every day that the opportunity arises to voice out against injustice is an opportunity that we must make. Nonviolently but persistently. Compassionately but with insistence. Harming, exploiting, and oppressing other people is wrong.

Centered leaders confront injustice.

The time to confront injustice is immediate and with unending persistence.

Are you ready to speak out against what is unfair?

-- Douglas Brent Smith

Noble Goals

2011-10-27T09:03:00.000-06:00

What is a noble goal?

A noble goal leads you, and others, to produce work that makes life better. A noble goal does no harm in the process of doing much good.

You know that one of your goals is noble when you are not the main beneficiary of its success.

Noble goals make you feel good, but they are not really about you at all. It is in service to others that we find our most profound joy.

While we can achieve anything we set our hearts, minds, and souls on, it is our duty to focus on noble goals.

What noble goal will you work on today?

-- Douglas Brent Smith

Genuine Values Persist

2011-10-24T13:12:00.001-06:00

Goals change. We can get part way to the end of our goal and realize that it no longer makes sense.

Our boss can change our agenda, nullifying a goal we had been working on.

Even our mission can shift when our company is bought by another company.

Goals change. But genuine values persist.

What matters to you as an individual, the values that you live by, tend to last for a very long time.

Do you know your values?

Have you written down the values that drive your actions, that steer your course?

It's the one single act that will most help you make important decisions: formalizing and expressing your true values.

High performance leaders operate with clearly defined and articulated values. They express what they believe.

Why not do that right now?

-- Douglas Brent Smith

Solving Problems. Achieving Your Goals

Strategic and Communication Skills

2011-10-21T05:39:00.000-06:00

Supervisors often bring strong technical skills to the job. When they have worked in technical jobs prior to becoming a supervisor, they were often the best at what they do. They know the ground level part of their business well enough to solve problems and deal with day to day issues.

Leading is all that and more. High performance leadership requires attention to detail AND a constant view of the big picture: where is your team, your market, and your customer base headed? What does the future hold?

Strong supervisors learn to add strategic and communication skills to their technical ability.

What are you doing today to develop your sense of the big picture?

-- Douglas Brent Smith

Are You Grateful?

2011-10-19T08:46:00.000-06:00

Do you appreciate what you have, who you know, and how you've gotten where you are?

Does your experience give you time to appreciate the joy found in that experience?

Gratitude is a kind of fuel for centered leaders. Appreciating the good in what is gives us new ways to move forward toward more good. See it, and more is sure to follow.

A grateful leader fears no shortfall, because there is always more good to come.

Just look at all the good that has already found its way to you...

-- Douglas Brent Smith

Centered Leaders and Acts of Kindness

2011-10-18T13:17:00.002-06:00

What does kindness have to do with leadership?

Only a truly centered leader can co-create the kind of organization that makes a positive difference in the world, that sustains the most life-affirming values, and that binds people together in mutually beneficial ways.

Centered leaders focus on positive acts of kindness.

It is amazing how many of our problems relate to unexpressed kindness, or the lack of kindness. So much of what we endure is unnecessary. So much of our potential is within our kindness.

What little acts of kindness can you as a leader perform today -- for your people, for your customers, for your world?

This can take the form of:

- kind words

- anonymous gifts

- skillful coaching

- forgiveness

- help

- smiling

- playfulness

- a generous sense of humor

What other acts of kindness can you think of?

-- Douglas Brent Smith

Centered Leaders Know the Difference Between Mission and Ego

2011-10-14T09:42:00.003-06:00

How do you know when your vision has crossed the line into your ego? Is what you want part of a noble plan or a symptom of a simple pain?

Centered leaders test their vision against their values to separate character from ambition.

They do this by:

- Asking people they trust to give them very honest feedback
- Checking in on their values: are they living them or just aspiring to them?

- Comparing their actions to their values
- Comparing their vision to the character they want to be remembered for

Centered leaders know the difference between their mission and their ego.

How will you stay centered in your quest for success today?

-- Douglas Brent Smith

Recruit and Develop Your Team's Talent

2011-10-11T13:59:00.002-06:00

How much time should you spend recruiting your key players?

How much time should you spend developing the players you already have to become the key players you need?

It's not a strict equation, but instinctively a leader should spend as much time developing the existing members as the leader does spend looking for new talent. Ignore either one and opportunities are lost for taking your team to the next level.

The synergistic combination of recruiting and developing provides you with:

New insights
Fresh approaches to your processes
Innovative solutions to your problems
Accelerated momentum toward your goals
An invigorated sense of energy

Why not give it some thought today: how can you recruit your as yet unseen talent? And, how can you better develop the talented people you already have?

High performance leaders recruit and develop powerful players. Get the right people and develop them fully.

-- Douglas Brent Smith

Team Appeal

2011-10-10T12:14:00.002-06:00

What do other people think of your team?

What do non-team members say about your team, the way you operate, and your results?

Are you creating a stir in the world? Is your team making a difference?

How can you upgrade your team's curb appeal? Because you will need to recruit some of the best people available to take your team to the next level, won't you?

What will make your team so exciting that strangers want to join?

Some possibilities include:

a vision so compelling that it energizes people
a culture of adventure, excitement, and creativity
team members who clearly succeed as part of the team
results that make things better
processes that are fun
dialogue that leads to lasting relationships
ways to resolve conflict that dignify everyone involved
field-changing products or services
energized and delighted customers

What ideas can you add to the list?

What will make your team SO exciting that strangers want to join?

-- Douglas Brent Smith

Developing Leadership Skills for Front Line Supervisors

Centered Leaders Say Thank You

2011-10-08T10:36:00.003-06:00

How often do you say thank you?

Think about the supervisors that you've worked for in the past. Do any stand out in particular? Did your favorite ones tend to thank you -- often and sincerely, for the work that you'd done? Did they ever thank you for simply being who you are?

Centered leaders say thank you. A lot.

A centered leaders most frequent phrase is "thank you".

With all of the emotions that we must deal with in the workplace, there is one emotion that I'm sure everyone could use more of: appreciation.

Expressing sincerely, thoughtful, specific appreciation is a lubricant to leadership success. You can't run your engine effectively without it. You also can't fake it. Centered leaders do more than express appreciation -- they first find ways to feel it by appreciating the talents, skills, and efforts of their people.

If you are paying attention, the opportunities are all around you.

Are you saying thank you enough to your people?

-- Douglas Brent Smith

High Performance Leaders Make the Tough Choices

2011-10-06T08:54:00.003-06:00

Are you ever faced with tough choices?

As leaders, we are often forced to choose between and uncomfortable decision and one that impacts people in negative ways. How do we make budget cuts without cutting people?

How do we change our direction without leaving some valuable people behind? How do we innovate while maintaining our cash flow?

These and more frequently create the need for quick and decisive actions.

Centered leaders make the tough choices without regrets or blame.

That takes a balanced, experienced, and practiced amount of clarity, courage, creativity, and compassion.

Clarity to know your vision and mission and all that includes (and does not include).

Courage to make the tough decisions even when they may be unpopular. The strength to get the help you need in making those decisions and in pushing questions forward to get what may be unspoken or hidden answers.

Creativity to find solutions that expand your possibilities, rather than limit them. Taking the chances to discover what you don't know, to combine unique ideas into revolutionary ideas, and to make something out of what appears to be nothing.

Compassion to consider the needs and feelings of other people. Treating people with respect and honor. Finding ways to keep dignity at the forefront of all of your relationships.

No, it's not always easy. That's part of the reason that not everyone is equipped to lead.

Centered leaders make the tough choices without regrets or blame, but with plenty of help.

Who can help you today with your toughest decision?

-- Douglas Brent Smith

What If A Customer Is Impossible to Please?

2011-10-05T09:02:00.003-06:00

Do you have some customers who are never happy? Despite your best efforts, do some customers just seem to be a bad fit?

Of course a business owes it to their customers to deliver the best possible service, to care with passionate caring about keeping promises. Organizations must work thru their mistakes and constantly improve their level of service to their customers. But, is it just possible that some customers can't be pleased?

They ask too much. They take too much time. They complain constantly. They go over your head. They soak up valuable resources over transactions that should have been over long ago. You've probably experienced some of them.

The reality is that some people are simply unhappy. Not much that you can do will keep those unhappy people happy. Their pleasure is in pulling you to their level of unhappiness. Don't accept that. Don't go for that. Stay polite, stay professional, and take care of yourself and your people: set them free.

Customers who can't be pleased might be asking to be set free. Let them go.

-- Douglas Brent Smith

High Performance Leaders Make Sure Their People Meet Their Deadlines

2011-10-03T08:54:00.003-06:00

Do you have any team members who seem to miss every deadline?

You've extended them over and over again, hoping for success and still the deadline rolls around and they are not finished.

Why is it that some team members can meet their deadlines and others can not?

The answer may be in the types of assignments that they are taking on -- or it might be in how they perceive those deadlines.

Team members who miss nearly every deadline are saying more than they know.

They may be saying more than you know. As a leader, it's your job to find out.

As a leader, how often do you have coaching conversations with those people who are working on important deadlines? Do they know how important they are? Do they see the big picture of how their deadline connects to the plans of others?

High performance leaders pay attention to deadlines, make certain that they are possible to achieve, help provide the resources needed to achieve them, and lthen insist that those deadlines be met.

If you're not doing all of that, what is YOUR next step in helping your team members meet their deadlines?

-- Douglas Brent Smith

Leadership Teleclasses and Workshops

High Performance Leaders Stick to Their Priorities

2011-10-02T12:49:00.001-06:00

As a leader, do you find yourself tempted to sidestep your priorities on occasion?

Do you have prominent customers or team members who ask you to go around your selection criteria, to avoid your top priorities, and to instead prioritize their requests?

While that may be occasionally necessary, I do have my doubts.

There is a reason that high performance leaders set and keep their priorities. Otherwise it is all too easy to slip into a mediocre system of handling only what is right in front of your face, and missing out on your big goals. You can even miss out on your mission.

Priorities are most effective when they are clearly exercised daily.

High performance leaders stick to their priorities.

-- Douglas Brent Smith

Teleclasses and Workshops for Front Line Managers and Supervisors

Multiply Your Joy

2011-10-01T10:04:00.002-06:00

How do leaders (or anyone else for that matter) increase their happiness? How can you increase your joy?

One way is to be aware of joy when it happens. For many people (hopefully) that happens many times a day. To multiply those feelings it's necessary to first truly feel them, savor them, and reflect on your role in creating those feelings.

We have far more to do with creating our own happiness than we'll likely ever know.

Embrace your moments of joy in order to multiply them.

With enough practice, happiness becomes a way of life.

Wouldn't you rather work with a happy leader than an unhappy one? So in a way you owe it to your work as a leader to embrace happiness.

- Think about your most recent "rush" of happiness. Experience it again by thinking about it with sincere appreciation.

- Who can you help create a moment of joy today by bringing your own joy into the room?

-- Douglas Brent Smith

Teleclasses and Workshops for Front Line Supervisors

How Performance Leaders Must Deal with Paradox

2011-09-30T12:08:00.003-06:00

What do you do with paradox? (A paradox is a seemingly true statement or group of statements that lead to a contradiction or a situation which seems to defy logic or intuition. -- Wikipedia)

How do you explain your company's need to reduce expenses and expand at the same time?

High performance leaders must deal with paradox. They must deal with the fact that sometimes we need to hold what appear to be two conflicting ideas at the same time in similar (if not equal) measure. There is no easy answer. We wrestle with complicated problems that have no simple explanation. Some must be left to evolve. Some must be carefully sculpted into a sensible blend. But our issues are often not a yes or no proposition.

How leaders explain their need for paradox determines their credibility.

How do you expand energy without using public domain acquisition of property?

How do you reform banking without failing to compete internationally?

How do you adopt austerity measures and reduce unemployment?

Faced with complicated problems, leaders may not always choose either/or. Sometimes the answer lies somewhere within both/and.

High performance leaders find way to expand their possibilities and embrace what at first appears to be impossible.

It's part of what makes a leader successful.

What paradox are you wrestling with today? How can you explain it to your constituents?

-- Douglas Brent Smith

Leadership Teleclasses, Workshops, and Coaching

High Performance Leaders Get Feedback Often

2011-09-29T09:24:00.004-06:00

Have you ever wondered what on earth was going on in the mind of a leader?

Have you found yourself in the throws of the effects of a decision that was far more serious and pervasive than the leader knew?

I can remember being in situations where the team members were saying things like "change is good, but this is chaos!" and "why would they do such a thing?" and "do they realize that this will drive the best people out of here?"

Did these leaders do these things on purpose to rock the boat so thoroughly?Well, maybe sometimes. There are leaders who trash and burn a team to move it to another place -- sometimes (rarely) for the better but usually just closer to that downward spiral of dissolution.

But most of the time that I've seen leaders make catastrophic decisions it has been from well-intentioned ignorance. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but they had no idea how disastrous it would be. They could have known, though if they had just bothered to get enough feedback from their team.

Sometimes all it takes is to ask.

Asking does not remove a leaders ability to decide -- but it does illuminate what may have been in the dark. It does expose what may have been hidden. And it does provide the opportunity for people to have a meaningful voice.

Even the best leaders are not always aware of the gravity of their actions. Get feedback often.

What are you about to decide in the dark? Who can you ask first?

-- Douglas Brent Smith

Photo: Stephen Downes

The Truth Requires Clarification

2011-09-28T10:28:00.005-06:00

Have you ever thought that you understood something, only to later discover that you didn't get it at all?

Have you ever been deceived by a "near truth" that you had wanted to be true and so you filled in the blanks that weren't there, only to discover later that it wasn't true?

The truth takes work.

What we believe, and what is true are not always the same thing. While we can (sometimes) control our beliefs, it takes more work to dig down and discover the truth behind a statement, a story, a view.

The truth often requires clarification. Shared meaning is not automatic.

I remember times when I truly wanted to believe that what someone was saying resonated with the truth because I liked that person. And, they may have believed that their statements were true. But, I've learned to be careful about "versions of the truth" and "degrees of the truth:. The best way to find out if someone is SAYING what you think you are HEARING is to clarify. Ask for examples. Ask for them to restate what they've said. Ask them to put it into context with one or more of your values. Ask them the magic unquestion:

"Tell me more about that."

Dig deeper.

Sometimes it makes for an uncomfortable moment.

"What do you mean? Don't you get what I'm saying?"

"Maybe I do, but I'm not sure. Could you say it in a different way?"

"I thought you were on my side..."

"I didn't say that I wasn't on your side. I'm not sure I understand what you said, though. Could you give me an example?"

It is worth that moment of discomfort NOW to avoid the slow unwinding effects of misunderstandings LATER.

In the end, we aren't decided truth so much as we are seeking shared meaning. When you say "entitlement" do you mean what I think you mean? Are you making a judgement or just a statement? Is there a better way to say what you really mean? Or, have I truly understood your meaning and find that we disagree?

Conflict exposed is something that we can work on. Conflict buried or hidden is an unresolved problem that will eventually damage our relationship.

Why not deal with our versions of the truth now?

Why not find out if we agree on what we're saying to mean the same thing, whether or not we agree on what to do with that.

"Because when you say entitlement, I'm thinking "earned benefit" that we've paid into our whole careers...is that what you mean?"

The truth often requires clarification.

Centered leaders clarify meaning, rather than taking it for granted. Centered leadership seeks shared meaning.

Today, pay attention to how many times you think you've understood a word or phrase that can have several meanings. When it is appropriate, stop the conversation just long enough to see if you share meanings or if you have disparate meanings. Wouldn't you rather know now than later?

-- Douglas Brent Smith

Finding the Cause of Performance Problems

2011-09-26T17:31:00.001-06:00

What do you do with a performance problem on your team?

How do you know what is causing your team member and your team to miss a goal or deliverable?

Do you automatically think of it as a people problem, or do you dig deeper?

High performance leaders identify the causes of performance problems in collaboration with the people involved.

If your evidence is pointing to one individual, talk with that individual about what is standing in the way. It may surprise you.

Think of track that runners use during a race. They start in different lanes, but all of the runners share the same track. If it is muddy, it effects them all. If it is in perfect condition, they all have conditions that are conducive to running their best race.

But some will contend for the win and some will simply finish the race. It doesn't make them bad people, it just means that there will almost always be faster runners in the race, and runners that will not quite compete with those faster runners. In a way, that's what makes races.

But every runner in the race is capable of running their best race on any given day. Motivation is a factor, conditioning is a factor, even nutrition is a factor, but all have the opportunity to do BETTER than they usually do.

Now image that race track with hurdles on it. Will the runners run faster or slower with the hurdles there?

What hurdles do your team members have on their track?

What can you as a leader do to reduce the hurdles and optimize the conditions for performance?

Ask your team members -- they probably already know.

-- Douglas Brent Smith

Parallel Problem Solving

2011-09-24T11:05:00.002-06:00

Have you ever had a boss who seems to constantly confront you with new problems?

Everyday there is something new for you to solve, some new challenge that

boss gives to you personally and then dashes off.

I had a boss like that once. I often wondered why he trusted so many problems to me? Why was I personally in charge of so many vital issues on the team?

Then I became a bit flattered by the notion. If my boss was giving all those problems to me, he must really trust me. He must really think that I'm a quality thinker and problem solving. That must be it. How cool is that?

And then I realized: he was asking several people about the same problems. He was parallel processing solutions in the laboratories of his team members' minds. One or more of us would come up with viable solutions. One or more of us would develop ideas that the boss either couldn't or didn't have the time to develop himself. And they would be different ideas than if we were all in the same room, when interpersonal dynamics, posturing, and groupthink might impact our potential solutions.

Although I was disappointed at first, and even resented the idea, I later realized that it was a brilliant strategy. It worked. Sometimes the idea that I came up with would be implemented, and it would work. If my idea was one that would likely not work, it usually did not pass the mult-processing test because another idea would emerge as better.

It was fast (we were each working at the same time, just apart from each other). It was efficient - we each worked on the problems when it made sense for each of us (in our individual best problem solving environments) instead of trying to find an impossible time and place that worked for everyone.

It wasn't the only way to solve problems. My boss would still occasionally schedule group collaboration sessions, but the parallel individual nobody-knows-who's-working-on-what method worked great.

I've used the method sometimes myself as a leader with one minor yet major alteration: I let people know what is going on. I tell them that I am also seeking solutions to the same problem from other people and in other ways. It's not that it is a competition (although it benefits a bit from the competitive edge of some people) but rather it is a way to process more ideas faster with less interference. People tend to like the "with less interference" aspect of this method, and reach deep down for their most creative ideas.

Try it some time. Just let people know what's going on and you'll avoid those feelings of disappoint and resentment that people can get when they feel deceived.

Problems aren't going away on their own. High performance leaders generate solutions.

Putting It Into Action

Think about your list of former bosses. What unusual methods of problem solving do you remember among the mix?

Did any work particularly well?

What would you do to change the ones that seemed to work?

-- Douglas Brent Smith

Problems Mean We're Ready to Grow

2011-09-22T08:53:00.002-06:00

How do you know when you're ready to grow?

Since we basically have two choices: growth or decay, our best choice is always growth.

The need for growth is always around us and some signs are more clear than others.

Having problems, for example, is a clear sign that we're ready for growth.

We need to grow to acquire the skills we need to tackle those problems. We need to grow beyond our limitations. We need to grow as people in our key strengths of clarity, courage, creativity and compassion. We need to grow.

So if you have problems, don't let them shove you in the direction of giving up to decay. Instead, smile and take them as the dashboard for growth that they are.

Having problems is a great sign that you're ready to grow.

-- Douglas Brent Smith

Leadership Workshops and Teleclasses

Helping Other People Solve Problems

2011-09-21T10:01:00.002-06:00

As a front line leader, how much time do you spend helping other people to solve their problems?

Not the people who report to you -- their problems are YOUR problems, too. But, people around you, perhaps your peers, maybe your friends -- people who simply have tough problems that need help. How often do you help?

I remember with great fondness times that friends have helped me to solve problems. I was stuck, I was in over my head, didn't know what to do about basic problems (like repairing a car or getting a refrigerator up a flight of stairs) and friends have always come to the rescue.

Some problems are more complicated than that of course, and friends are invaluable then as well. Talking it through, exploring your options, even just letting words come out of your own mouth that you need to hear (a little like therapy?) help in hundreds of ways.

By proactively staying willing to play that role for others: to help them with our problems we not only quietly create a network of people who may be willing to help us -- we gain experience and knowledge that otherwise would pass us by.

The more we help other people solve their problems the easier it is to solve our own.

So the next time you hear someone gently call out for help, you know how to respond. Volunteer to help.

Who in your circle of influence is looking for help with a problem today?

-- Douglas Brent Smith

Solving Problems and Perspective

2011-09-20T10:13:00.004-06:00

Have you noticed how much our ability to solve problems relies on our perspective?

Sometimes we get too tight to think. Sometimes our thinking is so narrow that even the walls seem to close in on us as we struggle with a persistent problem.

It costs almost nothing to take a fifteen and think it over.

Talk with a trusted friend. Maybe the conversation will be about the problem at hand or maybe it will be about something else. Take a break.

Many problems look smaller after a cup of coffee and a friendly conversation.

Isn't it worth a try?

-- Douglas Brent Smith

Workshops and Teleclasses for Front Line Supervisors

Solving Problems With the Help of Other People

2011-09-19T11:02:00.002-06:00

What do you do with problems that you can't solve?

Do you have a few aggravating problems that persist beyond every individual effort you've been able to develop?

Maybe it's one of those problems you can't solve on your own.

There's no shame in that. Every supervisor and manager has a constant list of persistent problems nagging them, bothering them, percolating in the background just waiting to bubble over. We can let them bubble, or we can get help.

People solve problems with the help of other people.

Find people who can help. Think of the biggest, toughest problems that people face, and you'll likely see that they best way for people to solve those problems is with the help of other people. It's why we hire professionals to take care of problems that we could never solve, but that they have all the training and experience to solve painlessly.

It's just one of the thousands of reasons why other people are the best thing going -- collectively we are so much more, cooperatively we are limitless, connected we are indestructible.

Got a really tough problem? What are you waiting for? People solve problems with the help of other people.

Leadership Training for Managers and Supervisors

Doors to Creative Solutions

2011-09-18T11:10:00.002-06:00

Do you have a leadership problem that is just too stubborn to go away? Is finding a solution proving to be difficult?

There's no need to give up.

The doors of creativity are there for you to open. Doors that include collaboration, courage, connections, and surprises. Doors that let the light thru even when they're closed. Doors for which you might need to ask a friend for the keys.

But the keys are there. So ask.

Dig a little deeper. Involve someone new. Try something unusual. Look at your problem from a new angle. Focus on expanding your possibilities.

High performance leaders find creative solutions to stubborn problems.

Yours is coming -- keep looking.

Leadership Training for Front Line Supervisors

Creating Alignment

2011-09-15T12:43:00.003-06:00

What is the connection between your actions and goals?

How do your goals connect to your overall mission and purpose?

Do you have a sense that what you do matters and gets you closer to accomplishing what is most important to you?

High performance leaders align their actions to their goals and their goals to their mission.

It's how they get things done that matter.

It's the filter of success. Does that task that someone is asking you to do contribute to your purpose? Then do it. If it doesn't, negotiate another path, another step, perhaps another set of hands to get it done.

Our time is too valuable to spend it on anything that does not contribute to our happiness, and our happiness is largely dependent on doing what matters most to us and that contributes to the well-being of others.

We can run, we can hide, but without that alignment of action, goals, and mission how will we ever reach our potential?

Alignment creates that guidance that we need in times of uncertainty. Alignment clarifies our focus and leads us forward. Like a beacon of light in the fog of night, alignment helps us stay the path and navigate our way thru unending challenges on our way to success.

When has alignment made things easier for you? Wouldn't you like more of that?

How will you clarify your alignment today?

Leadership Training for Front Line Supervisors

Centered Leaders and Beliefs

2011-09-14T10:25:00.001-06:00

Do you know why you believe what you believe?

It's easy to take for granted that what we each belief is (of course) the truth. It's common to adopt a set of beliefs without giving them too much thought or analysis. That can make for a comfortable and confident lifestyle, but it can also lead to a flawed value system and unproductive behaviors.

Think of the person who grows up in an environment of distrust or abuse. To them, that may well seem normal, but to others that will not be welcome.

Or consider the person who grows up in a home where people are not valued as much as individual effort and success. Right or wrong, that person may struggle when placed in an environment where team work is valued over individual desire.

Centered leaders consider the needs of others as they work toward accomplishing noble goals. To do that, we must consider how we are filtering those needs through our own lens of perception. Do we even see what people want and need or do we see them as somehow only there to meet our own needs? What are our needs and how did we decide that they were important?

Centered leaders seek the clarity of knowing the source of their beliefs. Only then can we decide if they are valid for the context we are in. Only then can we assess whether they are truly needs or simply desires based on a flawed past or untested set of assumptions.

Centered leaders constantly test their assumptions. What can appear to us as facts may seem like fallacy to others. This is yet another reason why it's so important for leaders to feel comfortable at encouraging and creating much deeper conversations. It's important to create the places and times when people can talk about their feelings, their desires, their beliefs. If we give hidden agenda's no place to hide; if we shine a light on the stage of our beliefs, we can all benefit from better chances to reach shared meaning.

Shared meaning can lead to shared agreements, and shared agreements lead to success.

What part of your beliefs are you comfortable testing today?

How can you as a leader get more clarity around what you believe and why?

Letting Go

2011-09-13T05:33:00.002-06:00

Are you working hard on any goals that you shouldn't be?

Are some things getting in the way of your success?

It's easy to accumulate a full schedule of meetings and tasks surrounding goals that were not ours to begin with but now consume all of our time.

Bold leaders weed out those types of goals. Strong leaders focus on the goals that they align with their mission. High performance leaders let go of goals that don't belong.

When we let go of the wrong goals it makes room for the right ones.

Maybe that goal made sense at one time. Maybe it was thrust to you from someone else who meant well but who was not fully away of your mission or the list of goals you were already working on. Maybe the goal just doesn't belong to you.

What goal should you let go of today?

The Way Things Are

2011-09-10T09:38:00.002-06:00

How do you feel about the way things are?

Is this the world you dreamed of as a child?

Are there things about this world that you would like to change?

The task of a leader is to improve the way things are.

Because we each cannot do it alone, we approach the world thru the role of leader: someone to rally the people, gather the resources, and get the job done.

There's so much work to be done.

When do we start? How do we get moving?

It's always the right time to improve the way things are.

What's first on your list today?

Borrowing A Bit From John Wesley

2011-09-08T12:14:00.004-06:00

John Wesley, the famous theologian who was instrumental in launching what became the United Methodist Church and who spear headed a huge Christian revival, once said:

“Do all the good you can,

By all the means you can,

In all the ways you can,

In all the places you can,

At all the times you can,

To all the people you can,

As long as ever you can.” (quoted at ThinkExist)

It's been quoted in various ways. The message is clear. Do good no matter what: no excuses. It can feel like a full time job, but in a way, isn't it our only job? Don't we all want to leave footprints that matter by creating a better world, developing better relationships, and helping those who can't help themselves?

I'd like to paraphrase Mr. Wesley a bit today in the context of centered leadership and say:

Do good where ever you are, even if you're in the wrong place.

What's the worng place? Any place where you're not appreciated. Any place where you are resisted. Any place where you feel like you don't belong. You're there for a reason, so do some good. Do good anyway.

It can happen twenty times a day - we find ourselves in the wrong place. Or, maybe it just happens once. Or (gasp) maybe it's where we live, Take a breath, focus, and center yourself.

Do good where ever you are, even if you're in the wrong place.

Thank you, John Wesley. I'll do the best I can...

Image of John Wesley source.

In The Way of Your Goals

2011-09-07T10:07:00.003-06:00

What might stop you from reaching your goal?

Every goal has a list of things which stand in the way and must be dropped.

Does that sound harsh? Does that sound cold?

Even as I write this I can think of at least a dozen things that might stand in the way of me reaching my goal-centered tasks for today.

Maybe you have a list as well.

Things like...

-- excuses

-- time wasters

-- ambiguities

-- mixed priorities

-- other people's goals that don't match yours

-- recreational activities

-- too much facebook, twitter, etc...

You name it. Your own goals have their share of roadblocks with one cure: drop them.

Get rid of whatever stands in the way of your goal, or watch it stand in the way.

You decide.

Solving Problems in Groups

2011-09-06T22:59:00.001-06:00

Groups solve problems faster when they take the time to know each other.

It's not magic, but it's essential.

I've worked with groups that did not want to warm-up, that did not want to get to know each other, that did not want to talk about feelings. They wanted to jump in, analyze, find a solution and move.

The trouble was in agreeing to the possibilities. Without knowing each other, how can we judge each other's possibilities?

Without knowing what makes us feel the way that we feel, how can we assess each other's ideas?

Without taking the time to know each other, we can get stuck in posturing, staging, hiding, and diverting.

Take time to get to know each person in your project, on your team.

It will pay off.

When Followers Are Hard To Find

2011-09-06T18:30:00.001-06:00

Not every cause creates a buzz. Not every leader find the people needed to move the movement. Sometimes followers are hard to find.

Have you ever tried to lead an effort and found that you were mostly alone?

What happens next?

Remembering that if it was easy, it would have been done long ago, leaders with a focus on making necessary and timely change keep at it. Followers may come and go, but the cause remains.

Centered leaders lead even when followers are hard to find.

That's the part that calls for influence.

Are you ready?

Communicate Your Goals

2011-09-05T08:26:00.000-06:00

Who do you tell about your goals?

Who knows what you're working on and can ask you about your progress?

Once we tell people about our goals they know what we're working on. We can then choose to go about our business as usual or we can focus on achieving those goals. The people we tell about our goals will have a natural curiosity about our success. Wouldn't it be great to be able to share that success? Wouldn't it be great to actually achieve those goals?

State your goals. Again and again. Tell everyone who will listen. Ask them to hold you to it.

Then see what happens...

Dessert of Darkness

2011-09-04T09:55:00.000-06:00

Lead long enough, and some type of crisis will develop. Stay the course and eventually you will find obstacles to overcome.

Resistance is a natural part of progress. Difficulty is bound to follow innovation. How do you handle it?

Does every leader eventually travel thru a dessert of darkness when you're not sure of the answer and not even sure of the direction?

What will pull YOU thru?

Having an answer before you get to that dessert is critical to success.

Time and Success

2011-09-02T11:28:00.000-06:00

As a leader, do you factor in time as a part of your plan?

Not just deadlines, but the time it takes for people to develop, for logistics to fall in place, for people to see the value of your goal?

It's tricky, I know. Too much time and your opportunity can pass you by. Too little time and things might not quite coalesce the way you need them to.

Centered leaders know that time is a critical part of success and that the amount needed varies. Stay the path.

Are you giving your big ideas the time they need to develop?

Six Tips for Creating Deeper Conversations

2011-09-01T08:43:00.002-06:00

How do you create deeper conversations? A deeper conversation takes you beyond small talk and into shared meaning. During a deeper conversation you feel listened to and you listen and understand both the facts and feelings of everyone in the conversation.

Here are six tips that help to create deeper conversations.

1. Listen actively with empathy.

2. Identify facts AND feelings.

3. Share responsibility for success.

4. Think creatively about what you say AND hear.

5. Express yourself openly and honestly. No hidden agenda.

6. Nurture your relationships with kindness.

How can you use these six points more often? What I've seen work is to keep them on a sheet of paper nearby as you intentionally practice creating deeper conversations. You might not hit all six at first -- or every time -- but by making yourself aware of the possibility of using these six tips I think you will find a higher quality and deeper level of conversation filling your life.

Isn't it worth a try?

Want to get started?

ACTION PLAN:

Print this list of tips and initiate a conversation with another person on what you think it means and how you might put it into practice. Check yourself to see how many of the six tips you can use during the conversation.

...and as it says on the shampoo bottle, "rinse and repeat..."

Ask Deeper Questions

2011-08-31T09:21:00.001-06:00

Do you find yourself in conversations that linger on the small talk without getting to any substance?

It's perfectly natural to initiate a conversation at a shallow level by talking about sports, or the weather, or current events -- but how do we take it to the next level?

To really develop vital relationships, shouldn't we take our conversations to deeper levels? Shouldn't we find out more about what each of us is all about? Shouldn't we get the important issues -- things we really care about -- up in the air, examine them, probe them, and find some kind of shared meaning (whether or not we agree)?

If you're still talking about the weather or sports, try asking deeper questions. People crave deeper conversations.

What kinds of deeper questions? I'm sure you can come up with some great ones (and I'm eager to hear what they are). Here are some that I've heard or used:

- How do you feel about that?

- What would you do about that if you could do anything?

- Tell me what you think that means...

- What are the leaders missing that you'd do something about?

- What should be our first step to make that better?

- How does that match up with your vision of a better world?

- Do you have any goals around that?

The next time a question about sports or TV pops into your mind as you start or continue a conversation, why not take the opportunity to ask something deeper?

Our Best Memories

2011-08-30T10:22:00.002-06:00

Are your best memories about things or are they about people?

Things can make us happy -- in the moment. People (and relationships) can sustain us for a lifetime.

Whether you are a front line leader or an executive or somewhere in between -- people are the true magic in any organization. The times we create together, the projects we bring to the finish line and the goals that we achieve are all because of how well we worked together as people.

Happy times are happy because of the people involved. The road to that happiness may sometimes be rocky, but it is in the sharing, the caring, and the bonding that we become who we are and filter our memories.

I can sometimes be isolated for long stretches of time working on a project, writing a piece, or designing something that thrills me. But it is when I share ideas, deeper conversations, and time together with other people that I am most happy -- and it is those times that I most fondly remember.

Who do you remember the most fondly?

Who challenged you the most?

Who gave you the most support in a time of need?

What is it about your favorite people that makes them your favorite people? How can you do more of that today?

Mistakes

2011-08-29T08:02:00.000-06:00

What is good about mistakes?

We do not seek out mistakes, and yet sometimes a mistake leads to something better. Sometimes a mistake is the learning opportunity we need to move forward, to get unstuck, to see things in a new way and do what we really need to do.

Mistakes often lead to new beginnings.

What did you learn from your most recent mistake?

Are you applying what you learned to move forward and improve?

Opportunities

2011-08-27T11:57:00.001-06:00

When do you seize an opportunity?

Are you able to stop what you're doing long enough to work on an immediate opportunity?

Opportunities are not interested in our schedules.

They don't wait. They don't delay. They don't nestle nicely into what we have available. We either move on an opportunity when it presents itself or we watch it fly away.

Are you keeping your eyes open for opportunities today?

-- Douglas Brent Smith

Perpetual Leadership Development

2011-08-27T10:52:00.003-06:00

When does leadership development stop?

What leader does a leader spend the most time developing?

Leaders are never finished with their own development and their team's growth.

The process always starts now, and the process never ends.

My advice to any new leader is:

- Get the training you need

- Talk to lots of seasoned leaders to find out what it takes to succeed

- Get to know everyone on your team

- Say hello to everyone on your team every day

- Find a coach who will hold you accountable

- Try new things

- Explore opportunities to develop your clarity, courage, creativity, and compassion

- Care about your team

- Focus on your goals and how to achieve them

- Read sage advice from leaders you admire and appreciate

- Build your character by radically telling the truth

- Over communicate. Over communicate!

...and on and on, an endless list of ways to develop as a leader.

What are you doing today to develop yourself and grow your team?

-- Douglas Brent Smith
http://frontrangeleadership.com

Core Development for High Performance Leaders

2011-08-25T09:26:00.002-06:00

What are the core deliverables in personal development for high performance leaders?

High performance leaders discover their gifts, develop their capacity, and optimize their results.

Knowing what you are best at -- so that you can bring that full speed and all out to your life and your team, developing your skills and your ability to expand your horizons and extend your boundaries, and finally -- producing the type of transforming results that make a difference in your team, in your life, and in your world.

That's a full time job.

Which of those are you working on today?

-- Douglas Brent Smith

Meetings by Consensus

2011-08-24T10:08:00.000-06:00

How does your team make decisions?

Are your meetings times to work through your projects and move closer to your goals? Or are they dominated by one person who makes a series of announcements and decisions?

Which works better for you?

High performance leaders who manage meetings by consensus power up performance.

When everyone has a hand in the decisions, those hands end up pushing the agenda forward.

How much better could your team meetings be?

-- Douglas Brent Smith

High Performance Leaders Confirm Consensus

2011-08-23T08:57:00.000-06:00

How can you be sure that your team has reached consensus on an important decision?

Sometimes a team effort requires consensus -- a state of full support from every team member, whether or not they all agree that it is the best idea or plan. Once a deep and meaningful dialogue has taken place, the agreed upon plan is followed.

WIthout a genuine consensus the plan can fall through. If people do not take their commitment seriously (because they don't support the idea) the chances of success grown dim.

When consensus is necessary, high performance leaders take the time to confirm consensus before moving on.

They do it by:

- asking and then listening intently

- double-checking on any doubts

- confirming individuals, face to face and not just a group

- taking the time to let the idea sink in

- getting clarification from individuals on what consensus means

- getting commitment from people on what they will do to support the plan

- providing plenty of opportunity for dissension as the decision is being made

- working thru (and not glossing over) dissension until objections have been handled

What else can you do to guarantee consensus?

It takes longer, but when you need consensus make sure that you have it.

-- Douglas Brent Smith

http://frontrangeleadership.com

High Performance Leaders Provide Time to Recharge

2011-08-22T10:00:00.000-06:00

How do your team members recharge and relax?

Even the most energetic team members sometimes need to relax. As a leader, do you provide opportunities for people to do what they need to do to keep their fuel tanks full?

High performance leaders find ways to give their top performers time to recharge and relax.

That might be different for each person, so how do you find out how people like to recharge?

Ask them!

-- Douglas Brent Smith

http:/frontrangeleadership.com

Where Is Your Center?

2011-08-19T14:27:00.000-06:00

If all you've got is yourself the road of leadership is tough indeed.

Leaders need more. Leaders need a center of purpose, calm, and understanding. Leaders need to know that what they work for is bigger than themselves.

High performance leaders are centered in something bigger than themselves.

Where is your center?

-- Douglas Brent Smith

Leadership Development and Serving

2011-08-18T10:14:00.001-06:00

What is the entry point for leadership development? How do you get started?

How do you take your leadership skills to the next level?

By serving.

The highest level of leadership development is serving. The starting point to leadership development is also serving.

The purpose of leadership is serving a higher purpose that helps other people live better lives.

Anything else is settling for far too little.

How will you serve today?

-- Douglas Brent Smith

High Performance Leaders and Alternate Learning

2011-08-16T09:30:00.001-06:00

High performance leaders use alternate learning when they need to.

What's alternate learning? Ways for your people to learn what they need to learn that do not involve the leader teaching it. Ways such as (but not limited to):

- special projects

- sitting in at higher level meetings

- finding a new mentor

- partnering up with another team member

- attending an off-site training event

- helping another team with a task

- meeting new people

... and there are many, many more ways. My point is that it is not always up to the leader to teach everything a team member needs to be successful. Sometimes, it's not even possible.

High performance leaders recognize when someone is beyond that leader's ability to teach and help them find another way to learn.

Think about someone you have been nurturing, teaching, or mentoring. Are they still making as much progress toward their goals as you both would like? Do they seem stuck? Have they advanced beyond how you can help them in any particular area?

Sometimes the best thing that a leader can do is let go and let someone grow.

What do you think?

-- Douglas Brent Smith

Do Centered Leaders Ever Need to Micromanage?

2011-08-15T12:19:00.005-06:00

It's almost a curse word in the lexicon of leadership: micromanage. Haven't we all felt resentment at being overly managed? Haven't we all bristled at the manager who seems to want to control every aspect of our jobs, maybe even our very lives?

And so as leaders we work hard to develop other approaches. We build skills that create participative, transforming leadership. We seek to motivate thru influence rather than power, because in the end, as John Maxwell said, "leadership is influence."

But what if your job goes beyond leadership? What if the core of your job is to supervise?

It's one of those things that makes front line supervision one of the toughest jobs in any organization. We are called to lead, to motivate, to inspire AND to achieve ever improving results. And, sometimes we must supervise a team member who simply does not get it.

It's not because people are bad or have bad intentions. Most of the time, if someone is not meeting our expectations, they may simply not know what those expectations are. Or, they may not have the knowledge or training to achieve those expectations. But sometimes they lack the desire.

Whatever the case, some people need more attention than others. To treat every person like a superstar who is self-motivation and fully equipped to do the job does a disservice to them and to your team. New hires, struggling performers, people who are in the wrong job for their strengths, and people who do not fully understand the expectations need more attention.

It doesn't make them any less valuable or respected -- they just need a little hand-holding now and then.

No one likes to be micromanaged but at various vital times everyone needs it.

The truly tough part as a leader is balancing the patience and insistence we need to pull that off. It's in paying more attention without creating a co-dependency. It's holding someone accountable without crushing them under unrealistic expectations.

And as front line leaders who are pushing for high performance results, sometimes what is meant as persistence from us can feel like insistence or impatience to others. Push on. The ultimate respect for someone is to expect that they will do the job they are hired to do -- with excellence, constant improvement, and the will to achieve their goals.

And if lack of willingness or an inappropriate job fit eventually do prove to be the problem, sometimes the kindest thing that a leader can do is to help them find their way someplace else.

No one ever said it was easy to be a high performance leader.

Who on your team requires extra attention? Are you making sure that they are getting it?

-- Douglas Brent Smith

Fix the Process, Not the Person

2011-08-15T10:02:00.001-06:00

Do your processes allow people the comfort of a reliable way to get things done?

Have you engineered the fastest, safest, most reliable way to navigate your transactions?

Too often leaders focus on getting PEOPLE to work harder, faster, and smarter and neglect the processes that people have to work with. Yes, it IS important for each of us to constantly find ways to develop ourselves so that we CAN work faster and smarter -- but most of the time what stands in our way is a flawed process and not a personal shortcoming.

If you've ever fixed a process, you know what a great lever that is toward success.

And, if you've ever tried to fix a person, you know what a long road of frustration that can be.

Optimized processes can protect people from their own imperfections. Fix the process, not the person.

-- Douglas Brent Smith

The More With Less Paradox

2011-08-07T10:01:00.000-06:00

There are never enough resources. There are always enough resources to get started.

It's a paradox. Our people sometimes strain to understand why as leaders we seem to ration our resources. Who gets what and what they get to do with it can be endless sources of political debate. What's at the heart of the paradox? What can we as leaders do about it?

High performance leaders challenge their people to do more with less while making sure that they have what they need.

The part that many leaders miss is -- making sure that they have what they need.

To get started, to get moving, to feel a sense of energy and motion toward their mission and goals, people need to have the resources that they need.

Are you as a leader prepared to provide those resources?

What will you do today to make sure that your people have the resources that they need?

Remember, to do more with less, a team needs something to start with.

-- Douglas Brent Smith

Centered Leadership and Gifts

2011-08-06T13:40:00.000-06:00

As a leader, do you make good use of your team member's gifts?

Centered leaders find ways to develop and use all the gifts of everyone on the
team.

Which team members and gifts are you under-utilizing?

What can you do about that?

-- Douglas Brent Smith
http://frontrangeleadership.com

Centered Leadership and Being Helpful

2011-08-04T10:42:00.000-06:00

What kind of attention do you expect when you are being helpful?

How much should our help be noticed?

Oddly enough, sometimes we do more as leaders when our own hands are unseen in the process. Letting other people reach discovery, find the answers, and reach decisions are key elements of centered leadership.

We are most helpful when our help is unnoticed.

It's there. It's solid. It's useful and to the point. We just don't make a big deal about it.

How can you be helpful for your team today without drawing attention to your efforts?

-- Douglas Brent Smith

Fear and Feedback

2011-07-31T11:54:00.000-06:00

When we find ourselves in the middle of a problem, fear can slow us down.

Fear can immobilize us just as we are about to achieve our goals.

Fear can be a signal, but it does not have to be a brake.

Fear is feedback, not your fate.

-- Douglas Brent Smith

Problem Solving Collaboration

2011-07-27T10:16:00.001-06:00

Do you try to tackle all problems on your own, or do you work with other people?

A problem solved collaboratively has a better chance of success than one solved in isolation.

Even some things that seem like individual problems benefit from the help of others who take an interest in your success and may even help to hold you accountable.

Who can you work with today to tackle your most pressing problem?

-- Douglas Brent Smith

Centered Leadership Focus

2011-07-26T19:55:00.001-06:00

Centered leaders stay ahead in the field without getting lost in the weeds.

How do they do it?

By getting precise, open, honest feedback and using it.

By keeping their focus on their vision, regardless of the distractions.

By building teams of energized, focused, centered team members.

Sound tough? That's why it's a full time job.

-- Douglas Brent Smith

Leadership and Process Improvement

2011-07-20T10:00:00.002-06:00

As a leader, how much attention do you give to improving processes? Do you watch your team install a process and then simply let it flow on and on -- or do you drive a constant focus to improve that process?

Too often I've seen leaders spend their efforts trying to fix people, when the center of their problems is usually broken processes and procedures.

Any process can be improved until it's no longer necessary. And then you can shut it down. It's work is done.

So keep improving those processes. If you're still doing it, you can still improve it.

-- Douglas Brent Smith

Leadership and Feedback

2011-07-18T05:30:00.000-06:00

How quickly do you get feedback on the job you are doing?

How often do your people receive feedback directly from you? from your customers?

High performance leaders know that the faster you get your feedback, the shorter is your road to higher quality.

What can you do today to increase the speed of your feedback?

-- Douglas Brent Smith

The Art of Leadership: Conflict and Peace

2011-07-15T08:32:00.000-06:00

Do you spark conflict or avoid it?

Do you see benefit to fair-minded, passionate conflict where people are still respected but the issues are tackled aggressively?

The art of leadership is sparking conflict that is not self-serving and peace that is not surrender.

Which of the two requires your immediate attention today?

-- Douglas Brent Smith

The Best Result

2011-07-13T12:24:00.000-06:00

Is the best result what you really want?

I know you want a result that is best for you -- but often we can confuse what is best for us and our teams vs. what we seem to really want.

This can work against us.

How do we overcome this?

Check in on what you really, really want. What is it that you are hoping for? Is that aligned with your vision and goals?

If it is, go full speed ahead. Make it happen. Get busy achieving your goals.

And if it isn't, it's time to talk it over with someone who can help you with that.

Or would you rather get something other than what you want?

-- Douglas Brent Smith

Reluctant Team Members

2011-07-07T13:16:00.000-06:00

Have you ever had people on your team that didn't seem to belong there?

For whatever reasons, they seemed unhappy and discontent. Despite your best efforts to engage them, they didn't quite connect and in fact stubbornly resisted connecting.

Most teams get some reluctant team members. Effective teams do something about it. It's an act of kindness to help reluctant team members either move forward or move on.

Sometimes moving on is the best thing for them. It even strengthens your team.

It's not something you do casually or without compassion. It's something you do carefully and intentionally. But sometimes it has to be done.

HOW TO TELL IF SOMEONE IS CONNECTED ON YOUR TEAM

- Do they participate enthusiastically at team meetings?

- Do they come up with new ideas?

- Do they support the ideas of others?

- Do they support and exemplify your team's values?

- Do they work to support your team's vision?

- Are they helping your team to meet it's goals?

- Do they speak enthusiastically about your team's future?

- Do they interact effectively with other team members?

While it may not be necessary to get a yes answer on all of these questions, too many "no's" will tell you something important about what's going on and the need for change.

Are you ready?

-- Douglas Brent Smith

Dealing with Loss

2011-07-04T10:10:00.006-06:00

How fast do you expect people to "get over" dealing with loss?

Really?

I find that often we expect people to be over it all too quickly. We move quickly thru our own loss on the surface to give the appearance of normality and cling to some kind -- any kind -- of routine to get us back on track. But what is back on track? To what extend is there no going back? How do we acknowledge our true sense of loss and how do we allow others to do the same?

I saw a funny play the other night, "Becky's New Car" at the Theater Company of Lafayette. It's a charming comedy filled with human foible type laughs and some serious explorations into what makes us who we are. Comedy that also provokes thinking is a treasure.

One of the characters is broadly sketched for his many faults. He's funny because he's so seriously concerned with his own needs that he hardly sees the needs of others. So we laugh. And we laugh at his tight clinging to the past, especially the loss of his ex-wife. It's a death that society would expect him to be over and ready to move on. The audience laughs as he references his loss (and his attempts at recovery) over and over. And, there is something funny about repetition. But it's not all funny.

I talked with the actor, David Bliley, briefly after the play was over. As an actor myself, I could sense that he put some serious work into his role and was taking the grief component seriously. He was. "I'm not really playing some of those lines for laughs," he said, "and I don't necessarily think they're funny..."

"I could tell," I said. "In part, that makes it even more funny, and yet it's poignant at the same time. We expect people to be over grief all too soon..."

"I agree," said David. "I've never lost a wife to death but I know that breaking up is grief enough that you don't get over all that fast...I wanted to show that grief is serious..."

Thank you for that, David. Grief is serious and long lasting. Some parts of our grief never go away. Some loss we never fully recover from. We go on. We build new lives. We try new things. We launch new relationships, but the loss is a permanent part of our lives. And why not?

It is not a judgment of someone's character that they continue to carry their loss. It's an act of respect and love for the person they lost. Or the people they lost, for as we get older the losses keep adding up. One person after another leaves our life and we must face the future without them. We can still smile, we can still laugh, but we must not pretend that we aren't still effected that they can no longer share that laughter.

I've experienced loss in my life, as I'm sure you have. This has been a tough year, losing both an ex-mother-in-law that I dearly loved and a step father who was always kind and generous to me and who had become inseparable from my mom. The losses are fresh, and the effects persistent. In conversation with my mom yesterday, she cried telling me a story about her beloved Jack.

I cried a little, too.

What does this have to do with high performance leadership? What do centered leaders have to do with grief?

Everything, perhaps. As leaders it is our job to help people navigate change and to provoke new directions. All of that produces loss, which produces grief. We need to experience that grief, understand that grief, empathize with that grief, and support those others whose experience of that grief may take longer than ours.

Centered leaders are compassionate, patient, and generous with their flexibility toward recovery. People can be relied on to be people, and people in loss are not always ready for work Monday morning -- even two weeks or two months after a profound loss. We can hold people to standards without crushing them under the wheel. The art of leadership is remaining human while getting the work done. Building the kinds of teams who not only tolerate grief but support those who are experiencing it can only lead to greater long term loyalty and success. It's not easy. Attendance policies direct us to weed out those who miss too much time. Goals call for immediate and constant action. But as leaders it is our responsibility to keep both courage and compassion in the game.

And so I ask leaders everywhere to keep in touch with their compassion. Remember that just because you may have forgotten someone's loss, that they haven't and they never will. It's not an excuse to avoid work, because we all have losses to deal with, but it is a reason to remember that some days that grief is more present than others.

When we are gone, don't we hope that we are missed?

Why would it be different for anyone else?

Centered leaders show compassion, courage, clarity, and creativity in their daily work. Sometimes, some days, that component of compassion is all that people need to see...

-- Douglas Brent Smith

http://douglasbrentsmith.com

Say It With Respect

2011-06-20T10:05:00.000-06:00

Have you ever said anything that you regretted? I know that I have.

As leaders, we must be careful about our communications. Things that may seem humorous or criticism we deserve to make can be hurtful if we're not careful. And as leaders, people look to us to set a good example and tone for the organization.

Anything said with disrespect will trigger resistance. Sometimes disrespect will breed fear. Is that what we really want?

No matter what we say, no matter how deep the comment, we can always say it with respect.

-- Douglas Brent Smith

Centered Leaders Speak the Truth

2011-06-15T11:29:00.000-06:00

As a leader, does it make sense to spin the truth?

Do you ever find yourself holding back your words, filtering your responses, or trying desperately to gloss over a key point in order to spare someone's feelings or to frame the sentence just right so that no one gets angry?

What about the truth?

The truth, spoken with respect, is much easier to accept than any spin, any cover, any filtering.

The key is respect. Any message can be said with either kindness or cruelty. Choose kindness, and the truth will not hurt. It may even heal.

How true are you?

-- Douglas Brent Smith