High Performance Leaders Get Feedback Often

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

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Photo: Stephen Downes

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Measures Matter

Some people measure quantify first and quality later. Some people measure money first and impact to the team later (not even second!). How you measure productivity might determine your character and your reputation. Put people first. -- doug smith

New Ideas

New ideas won't break you but they can make you bigger. -- doug smith

What You Need

Use what you've learned to become what you need. -- doug smith

Your Reputation

More authority means higher levels of responsibility. More power requires more service to others, not less. What you do with your power is who you will be known as. Also, how you use the power you have creates who people will remember you as. How do you want to be remembered? -- doug smith

Personally

Improving performance does require us to take our work seriously. But it does not require us to take ourselves too seriously. Taking things personally is a waste of self-esteem. -- doug smith

For example

Get good at something that won't obsolete itself. For example: emotional intelligence creating great conversations encouraging people leadership What would you add to the list? Which ones are you developing? -- doug smith

Decide

What do you want? Are you getting what you want? Intention is direction. Decide. And, then go. -- doug smith

High Performance Leadership Combination

We can rationalize anything without making it justified. Leaders should always ask: who is this good for other than me? High performance leadership does NOT mean performance at any cost. It means performance that serves a noble cause while also benefiting people. High performance leadership is a combination. Results without relationships are shallow and temporary. Take care of both, and you'll be a high performance leader. -- doug smith

The Problem With Compromises

Think about the last time you compromised on something. Whether it was a big compromise or a little compromise, how do you feel about it now? While we often call it "meet in the middle" it seldom does. Compromises are not automatically fair, no matter how implied that fairness is. Someone usually gets more out of a compromise than the person they are "compromising" with. If the low end is you, you don't like it -- and you remember that. If the top end of the compromise is you, you probably forget all about it even though the inequity simmers in the background. Compromises must be constantly revisited because they are inevitably unfair. If you get the chance to balance things out, your relationship will prosper. If you miss that chance, the relationship will suffer. What's your choice? -- doug smith

Start With Kindness

When you start with kindness you don't have to stay there, but you probably will. It works better for others. It works better for you. If you're human, you'll probably relapse. It does take practice to stay the course. The course starts by starting. When you start with kindness, it becomes more naturally the way. High performance leadership develops from the core leadership strengths of clarity, creativity, courage, and compassion. Build one of those strengths today thru some act of kindness and the others will get stronger as well. -- doug smith

High Performance Leadership

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