High Performance Leadership

How will you inspire yourself to work on your goals today? Today, out of nowhere, this little acronym occurred to me: GOALS Go strong Overcome obstacles Act relentlessly Learn constantly Serve the greater good What do you think? Maybe it's not a whole training program. Maybe it's not a teleclass. Time will tell. But, it makes sense for today, don't you think? Goals require us to go strong and act decisively. We must take action! When we do take action we are likely to experience resistance (from ourselves and from others) so it makes sense to work to overcome those obstacles. Don't let them stop us. Move forward. Which brings us to the need to act relentlessly. We'll get distracted. We'll be given new work to do. Relationships will bring up new needs. But even while all that and more is going on we much work our plan. We must act relentlessly on our plan. When we are assertively working on a plan we are likely to make some mistakes. New oppo...

Do your people know for certain that you expect very high performance? Do you create an environment where your people are constantly challenged to work toward the next level? To exceed customer expectations? To grow new ideas and put outdated ideas out of their misery? It starts with your expectations. Whatever you are currently expecting from your people, I invite you to expect more. Let them know their journey has just begun. Let them know that you will support them in their struggles and that you fully expect them to struggle. If there is no struggle, they are likely holding onto easy expectations. You can do better. They can do better. Strong expectations fuel strong performance. Make sure that your expectations are strong. -- Douglas Brent Smith

Do you like being followed up on your goals? I really think goals are important. Helping people achieve their goals is what I do. And yet -- and yet, when I get followed up on, it can irritate me. I didn't expect it. It feels rough. And yet it helps me get that goal achieved. This week I've been working with a nurse because my mom just got out of the hospital. Part of the deal was getting her medications in order, organizing them and helping her get them into one of those pill boxes for the week arrangements. Between doctor and physical therapy appointments, trips to the grocery store, and shuttling people around I just didn't quite get around to buying that pill container.  Until the nurse followed up with me. Then, guess what. I bristled just a little, and then I went out and bought it. Mom's pills are all nicely organized now, thank you very much. And thank you nurse Linda, for the follow-up. How do you react to follow-up? Are you getting all the follow...