High Performance Leadership

This is another guest entry from my friend and fraternity brother David Spiegel. He's got a lot of great ideas and every once in a while he hits one out of the park and it compels me to share what he has to say. Today's one of those times. Here's David: Once again on this "How Am I Doin'  Friday " I am writing later in the day. And once again the day has influenced what I am writing about. My day started out with a gift of some extra time. My new smart phone allows me to check my emails and bank balances from bed as I drink my first morning coffee! Cool beans! I accidentally scheduled my training for 7 instead of  7:30 today  so I was not able to work with Kieth when I showed up at  7:30 . No big.....I still got in a decent workout. On my way home,about a block from my house, I saw a young man laying half on the curb and half on the road,his friend standing helplessly over him.. I pulled over to see if I could be of assistance.Cars continue

Have you ever been asked to share a confidence, "off the record"? Do you? Sometimes it happens so quickly that we don't even react in time to stop from going "off the record" to share a secret, a detail, or a comment that could at some point cause trouble. We see it in the movies, on TV, and in our daily lives -- people who say that this is "off the record". There's no such thing as off the record. Everything is part of the record. Anything and everything can be dug up, subpoenaed, recalled, and shared. So when we say that something is off the record all we really mean is that we'd rather not have it generally known. There's little to stop it from hitting the record as soon as it becomes useful to someone. Centered leaders operate with the respect, dignity, and compassion to realize that anything said that could harm someone is probably better left unsaid. Everything is on the record. All truth emerges. Everything bubbles to the t

How do you know for sure if something is a problem? If you see it as a problem, then it is a problem. Your perception will tell you -- not reality, but what you consider important about your reality. If you see it as a problem, shouldn't you do something about it? Centered problem solving sorts through our perceptions and checks in with the perceptions of other people who are effected by the situation. Emotions can trigger misconceptions, so centering ourselves and testing our assumptions is key. Then, if it's still a problem, it's time to do something about it. -- Douglas Brent Smith Bring our  Centered Problem Solving  workshop to your location and dramatically increase the problem solving skills of the people who attend.

Do you have a list of goals? If that list is short enough you could be working on those goals every day. I am most driven by noble goals. Noble goals serve to help other people without causing harm to anyone. They are both courageous and compassionate. They are equally creative and clear. Most importantly, they create wins without creating losses. One of my goals is to help as many people as possible achieve as many noble goals as possible as quickly as possible. How about you? -- Douglas Brent Smith If you're interested in learning more about how to achieve your goals , check out our webinar  here .

What's your reaction when you find yourself in conflict and yet you are absolutely sure that you're right? Do you dig in on your position? Do you redouble your efforts to convince everyone of your position? Or do you stay curious? Do you stay open to learning? The more certain I am that I'm right the greater the opportunity there is to learn. The next time you are absolutely sure that you're right try asking yourself -- what can I still learn here? It could change everything. -- Douglas Brent Smith

How is your growth cycle going? Are you learning the skills it takes to solve the problems you encounter -- and will encounter in the future? Problems require us to advance our knowledge and expand our training. What's your next area for training? -- Douglas Brent Smith Bring our Centered Problem Solving workshop to your location and dramatically increase the problem solving skills of the people who attend.

Is it possible to be confident and humble at the same time? I think that it is not only possible, it's necessary. Centered leaders find that balance between confidence in their ability (and the capacity of their teams) and humility as an imperfect, learning individual and organization. It's not an either/or choice. So much of centered leadership is coming to peace with the dynamic reality that in life we have endless possibilities and they don't imply either/or choices most of the time. We can bend. We can blend. We can mend and grow. There is a tough yet necessary balance point between confidence and humility. What will you do to help you find it? -- Douglas Brent Smith