Leadership 101

Have you been through Leadership 101?

There may be hundreds (maybe thousands) of courses, workshops, and trainings on Leadership 101 to prepare a leader for action and success. Many of them are useful. Many of them are not.

If you are in preparation to become a leader or you are a front line leader just starting to figure it all out, here is my shortcut list to the skills you must develop to succeed as a leader:

take charge
build trust
solve problems
achieve your goals

When new leaders work on and accomplish those things the chance for success are much greater - possibly even assured.

Take charge: step up to your new responsibilities and accept the idea that you may no longer act like a victim in anything. You are in charge. Make decisions. Stay true to your word and tell the truth. Consult with people, collaborate with people, listen carefully to others and remember that there is no passing the blame for leaders. Whatever else happens it's up to you.

Build trust: Get to know your people, develop your team, and most importantly keep your promises. Trust takes considerable effort to build and can be lost in a moment of careless speaking or bad behavior.

Solve Problems: because that's what leaders do. Learn how, identify the problems ahead of you, roll up your sleeves and get busy.

Achieve your goals: Some goals will be given to you (by your boss, by your organization) but the most important goals are the ones that you set for yourself. Learn what it takes to achieve your goals and then act relentlessly on a plan to achieve them.

That's the shortcut. It's all much easier said than done. It's not easy. Why not get moving?

-- 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

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

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

High Performance Leadership Combination

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High Performance Leadership

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