Take Off The Brakes

Do you ever slow yourself down?

I've done that. I've had times when I set a really great goal but for one reason or another slowed myself down. Maybe the effort scared me. Maybe I was too comfortable in what I knew I could expect. Even driving forward I could feel one foot on the brakes.

We don't need to do that. We can proceed with caution. We can assess our risks and keep moving.

I could go faster if I wasn't slowing myself down. How about you?

Here are some thoughts on actions to do instead of slowing down:

- Identify any fear. Face it. Is it really that bad?
- List all of the benefits of achieving your goal. Done? List a few more.
- Find someone who will help to hold you accountable by asking for progress updates. It works.

Sometimes the biggest wall in our way is ourselves. That's easy. Let's fix it now.

-- Doug Smith

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Release

If a goal doesn't make you happy, let it go. -- doug smith

A Better Future

We can always imagine a better future and that's a great start to getting there. That's the fun part. The hard part is the work. But you know that already. Set the goal, identify the plan, then get started. No one else is going to do it for you. -- doug smith

High Performance Leaders Deal With Anger

What do you do when someone in your range of influence is angry? It can be discomforting. It can be disruptive. Anger is tough to handle under the best of circumstances. And yet, handle it we must. Centered, high performance leaders are careful about anger. Careful about their own anger and careful about their reactions to the anger of others. I had a boss once (a very long time ago) who told me that I had a problem with anger. That made me angry. The reaction to anger is sometimes defensiveness, sometimes fear, and sometimes (surprise!) more anger. Whatever our reaction, our bodies are usually poised for action. What we do in that moment of activation is critical to our success. If our life or emotional well-being is being threatened, that steers our direction. But usually, although it feels that way, we are not actually under any threat. So we must deal with anger productively. We must say what we want without blaming others for it not being there. We must listen with cur...

Our Hearts Go Out To The People Of Japan

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Stop Running From Your Solution

Why do we run away from the answer? Sometimes it's right there in front of us - the solution to our problem, and yet we turn away. It's a bad habit and one that keeps us from finding what we're looking for when it comes to solving a problem. The solution to your problem is looking for you -- you just need to stop running. Can you hear those footsteps? -- Doug Smith Front Range Leadership: High performance leadership training doug smith training: how to achieve your goals

Easy on the Multitasking

It's tempting when there is so much to do to heap it up on your top performers. Give them that extra project. Delegate more. While delegation is a key part of high performance leadership, be careful about giving too many things to be done all at once. You know already that multitasking is risky. When you're driving a car you are multitasking -- your hands are doing one thing, your feet are doing another thing, and your eyes are busy on another thing, and it's all perfectly fine, until you add one thing too many. Looking at your phone or changing the controls on your audio, or glancing over your shoulder at the kids in the backseat -- all it takes is one thing too many to be much more than one thing too many. Disaster awaits. Most multitasking causes more problems than it solves. Single task when possible and simply find another way. It may take longer, but it probably won't in the long run. -- doug smith

Learn To Build A Better Tomorrow

Do you have all the answers yet? Are you finished learning? Of course not. Learning is a lifetime necessity, especially for leaders. Centered leaders learn constantly and apply what they learn to make things better. To solve problems. To achieve their goals. What we learn today can bring about a better tomorrow. Isn't that what you want, a better tomorrow? It can happen, but it's up to each of us. What will you do? What will you learn? What have you learned today? -- Doug Smith Front Range Leadership: Training Supervisors for Success doug smith training: how to achieve your goals

The Essential Question

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Leading Through Participation

"If you create an environment where the people truly participate, you don't need control. They know what needs to be done, and they do it. And the more that people will devote themselves to your cause on a voluntary basis, a willing basis, the fewer hierarchies and control mechanisms you need." -- Herb Kelleher, CEO. Southwestern Airlines Leadership brings about participation. It's not just distributing work the way some people call delegation. If a person feels dumped on, it's not effective delegation. I have a real distaste for the definition of leadership that describes it as "getting work done through others". Sure, others help -- but unless the leader has at least some taste for the work involved, people will only stick around until a better offer appears. To build true devotion takes commitment and involvement by everyone -- including the leader. -- Douglas Brent Smith Learn more in the workshop: Supervising for Success

The Front Range Leadership Vision

What is your organization's vision? All of your strategic direction and clarity begins with an inspiring, articulate vision. It should be something worth striving for and something that prods you on even when times are difficult. Your vision should prevent you from wandering into endless distraction. It should focus and energize everyone who comes into contact with it. High Performance Leadership is the official blog of Front Range Leadership, a metro Denver area leadership development company. Our vision: Developing centered leadership with courage, creativity, compassion, and clarity. From time to time I'll be writing more about that and what it means, not only to FRL but also to you as a leader. What does it mean, and what does it take to develop courage, creativity, compassion and clarity. Why are they so important to high performance leadership? And what exactly is centered leadership? Stay tuned and drop by for the conversation. -- Douglas Brent Sm...

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