Have Faith

My good friend and fraternity brother David Spiegel shared this quote in his daily newsletter:

"Accept what is.Let go of what was. Have faith in what will be "- Sign on church around the corner

...and my first reaction was "easier said than done." I've been taking a long walk thru a dark tunnel since April and some of what I see is obscured in the shadows. This quote, though, is a ray of sunlight.

Accept what is. We don't have to like it. We don't have to judge it. We don't have to cover it with sticky notes and foil. But it is. The sooner we (I) can accept this, the better positioned I'll be to move forward.

Let go of what was.

Geez, that one's hard. I teach people to let go, especially of limiting beliefs or poor habits. But I've had a habit that's hard to lose - a habit of loving someone so much I couldn't imagine life without her. And now, here I am, living without her in my life. Let go of what was? You've got to be kidding.

And yet - how else is one to step into the future if the present is being wrapped in protective armor? It's too late for the armor - the heart has already been hit.

Have faith in what will be.

There's what I've been missing. There is tomorrow. There is hope. There is promise. There is what we can make of what there is to make. Sure, today's challenges make tomorrow's work tough - but the work is there for the taking. The future can still be better than what we need to let go of.

So please excuse this unusually personal blog entry. Even consultants get the blues. But with help from friends like Dave, we can see the light flickering and healing.

Here's to hoping for some healing in whatever troubles you today.

Have faith, sisters and brothers, have faith.

-- Doug Smith

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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

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

What You Need

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

New Ideas

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