High Performance Leadership

Sometimes I keep it all to myself. That is seldom a good idea. Better, far better, is to talk about it. Get it out. Share. Listen, pause, think it over, speak. Speak your mind, speak your heart, speak your peace. -- doug smith

I once had a boss who, during my performance evaluation, told me that I was doing a good job as a leader but that I needed to develop more of an edge. I wasn't quite assertive enough. She was concerned that people might take advantage of me. I worked on my edge as a result. I sharpened it thru steady practice. I had an edge to end all edges. At the next evaluation, what do you think she suggested? "You need to dial that edge down a bit," she laughed. It's not either/or. Assertiveness is valuable and necessary. Aggression, not so much. You don't have to dull your edge -- just don't cut yourself with it. -- doug smith

If you turn the system into a game people will game the system. Competition isn't the only way to achieve excellence. What if you could find a way that didn't also bring the side-effects? -- doug smith

You don't need to be the first to come up with the solution to a problem for the solution to work. Stay open to the ideas of others and you never know when brilliance may come your way. Collaborate the work to celebrate the success. -- doug smith

Knowing what to say is only valuable if you say it. Say it. -- doug smith

Building your team's size requires that you also build your team's character. How do you build your team's character? By insisting on following your organization's values. By recruiting team members who have track records of operating with clarity, courage, compassion, and creativity. By living the integrity that you can then insist on, and by always telling the truth. Any corruption or bad habits in your team multiple as your team gets larger. Start where you are, and keep quality in your integrity. No cheating. No cutting corners. Total and complete integrity. When I worked for GE we were charged with working with integrity and that was defined as following the spirit and letter of the law. If it's not "technically" wrong, it is wrong. You can always figure out the spirit of a regulation -- what it is designed to support or to prevent. Go with that. If you can't figure it out, find someone who can. Building your team's character starts w...

The art of leadership is combining tough and tender in the same breath. -- doug smith

Every conversation is an opportunity to make someone's life better. Take the chance. -- doug smith

Go for goals that light you up, even if they frighten you. -- doug smith

A goal too long to remember takes too long to solve. Set short goals. -- doug smith

Do you want to be influential? Do you want people to support your ideas? People support ideas that support themselves. People can be trusted to look out for their own interest. It's not new, it's not complicated, but it's true and unavoidable. Support people first, and then (maybe) they'll listen. -- doug smith

Are you competitive? I am unreasonably competitive. I get so excited about winning that I can work thru vast amounts of trouble to achieve a goal. I've learned though, that while in sports it may be true, in most enterprises your goal does not need to be a zero sum game. You can win without creating any losers. Because if anybody loses, it's not over. If anyone perceives that they were taken advantage of or abused or cheated -- or even if they just feel like they lost without a chance to get what they really wanted -- the struggle is not over. They'll be back. The conflict will rage on. Unless. Unless when you win your opponent also wins. It does not take some imaginary Valhallo to achieve this. It starts with identifying what each person wants. What is the goal? Then, carefully, compassionately, courageously creating many alternatives. The more possibilities you can generate the better your chances are of a victory that won't sour your relationships. You can...