High Performance Leadership

Who provided you with the best coaching ever? It could have been an athletic coach, a choir director, a business coach, a therapist, maybe even a partner -- someone who listened with your own best interests in mind and then provided you with a skillful combination of support and challenge. Support because stretching yourself can be tough, too tough to do all by yourself,  and challenging because we tend to relax into being relaxed, assuming a kind of stasis that leads nowhere. Whoever that person was, imagine how much tougher it would have been for you without them. And, if you don't have someone like that you remember, imagine how wonderful that is -- because it is indeed wonderful. It doesn't always feel wonderful at the time, but the results are splendid indeed. In that sense a coach is a bit like a meditation partner. A bit like your inner voice who keeps you alert when you tend to relax too much, and a calming support when you tend to get too frantic. Coaches help us stay ...

What would you consider the highest power? I don't mean a diety or supernatural power -- that's something else. When it comes to earthly, leadership power -- the ability to influence people and results -- what is the source of that power? Inner strength? Can't hurt. Intelligence built from learning? That's a great contributor as well. But the highest power? That comes from collaboration, cooperation, and service. In comes from working together toward a common good with no hidden agenda and no victims. It's a high standard that generates high performance.  That means no power grabs. No hoarding. No manipulating people using tricks and coercion. It means true sharing and caring. The highest power is available to you but only if you share it. It isn't anyone's to keep. -- doug smith  

As Stephen Downes points out in his MOOC Ethics, Analytics and the Duty of Care , we could spend the rest of our lives in ever deeper dives into figuring out ethics and how to fix them. We can't do that. But we can make ethics a part of the conversation, from now on. As high performance leaders, we must make sure that we do not twist our sense of ethics to suit our performance expectations.  Which leads us to this video. While not on AI exactly (although there is a considerable portion on Apple) it raises and explores the ethical (or should I say anti-ethical?) use of planned obsolescence. I've heard the term and understood the concept since I was a kid (quite a while ago!) and it has not gone away. Like any ethical lapse or loophole, we've just gotten more sophisticated about executing and rationalizing it. It's about 17 minutes long, and fascinating.  Also: after lurking for a few weeks (kept busy by my own training schedule) I finally make an appearance in the MOOC:

After lurking casually for a few weeks (my training schedule always conflicted with the live discussions) I was finally able to attend one of the twice weekly zoom calls that Stephen Downes facilitates as part of Ethics, Analytics and the Duty of Care .  It was time well-spent. Since I've been "invisible" for most of the course, I mostly listened. There were numerous insights that sparked and endless trail of considerations.  One main point: our AI will be as ethical as we and society are (Downes). But what if the AI gets ahead of us? What if artificial intelligence moves from mimicking our own ethics (as varied as they are) into creating its own?  As the AI evolves (as Sherida pointed out) who claims the discussion? Who manages the management? We may well find ourselves governed by an ethic with didn't choose. I kept thinking of the article from Wired , The End of Theory: The Data Deluge Makes the Scientific Method Obsolete ,  which shows how ethics is influenced by...

  Should we be concerned with the ethics of artificial intelligence? Are the robots coming to get us? When I saw this meme on social media my reaction to "And so it begins..." was an instant "It's well under way." As my son Juan has often said, whenever robotics and AI intersect in the news, "haven't they seen any of the movies? This doesn't turn out well for humans..." The challenge to worrying about machine intelligence ethics is, what ethics do we think machines will select AND, will that choice be favorable to us? At the heart of the problem is our own feeble fumbling with ethics. In an ethical world how could we tolerate patience who lack the money for healthcare? How could we tolerate treating MOST people as an underclass? How can we reconcile human "ethics" that allow elected officials to prevent citizens from voting? And so it begins? It's not the machines we should fear, it's what we are feeding them. -- doug smith No...

High Performance Leaders should care about ethics. We know that they don't always, but let's suppose that we can influence that in some way.  I am humbly and casually following along with the MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) developed by Stephen Downes  E thics, Analytics and the Duty of Care and occasionally I'll share my thoughts on the course here.  The course has advanced quite far. Today I viewed The Machine Is Us , and I recommend it even if you don't want to dive into the course. We are all being affected by machine learning; the evidence is everywhere: increased conflict, advanced surveillance, and data used to aggregate enough information about each of us to influence our behavior. Often, that influence is beyond manipulation and become malicious. Downes points out the various factors in that. People can be unkind, but programming can also blindly lead to unkindness by amplifying it. Software can be opinionated. (see slide 5 at The Machine Is Us ). Efforts to...

When we declare that something is true, it is because we tend to believe that it is true (unless we are deliberately lying). And, it may well be true, but what if we're wrong? Leaders are often wrong. Even high performance leaders. Here's one way to navigate that.  Instead of telling someone my truth is absolute, I will ask them to think about it. What if? Maybe we don't have to convince people immediately. Maybe we'll be more influential if they believe that they can think it over. What do you think? -- doug smith

I've been casually following a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) structured by Stephen Downes , Ethics, Analytics and the Duty of Care . While it is mainly focused on how ethics applies to analytics (particularly Artificial Intelligence) and learning, it strikes me as relevant to well, everything. In particular, leadership. Leaders must make decisions guided by their ethics on an almost daily basis. As the discuss in #ethics21 has pointed out, though, while it may seem clear what ethical behavior means, it is much more complicated than that. Ethics, when examined with any level of curiosity, uncovers more questions than answers. Maybe that's best, but it is also challenging. I did take one course in ethics in graduate school working on my masters in Organizational Leadership. Every course, though, contained ethical overtones. I learned that leaders must examine their motives and reconcile them against their values while behaving ethically. I learned that there are many more sha...

What you think today matters more than what you thought yesterday. What do you think about that? -- doug smith

You've been pivoting your whole life. Why not roll with it? -- doug smith  

Raising our voice won't always raise our credibility. Style shouldn't drown out substance. -- doug smith  

Whatever your hopes and dreams are, you'll get there faster with goals and action. -- doug smith

  I wouldn't expect everyone to be an artist any more than I would expect everyone to be a plumber. But we all need water, and we all need art. Find the art in leadership, and your leadership strength will grow. -- doug smith

When you set your plans to achieve a goal, do you factor in the unknown? The unexpected is part of every goal calculation. How will other people react? What if your goal changes relevance just as you're able to finish it? What if you change your mind (or your heart?) The design for your plan to achieve a goal should factor in the unknown. -- doug smith

Do you know anyone who makes everything more dramatic than it needs to be? The argument, the debate, the decision, the disappointment -- all become episodes of an opera-ish act. It wears us down all designed to get the drama-demon what they want. Or is it? Could it also be an uncovered need? Could it also be a cry for help that is clumsy yet genuine? How can we know? How can a leader ever know? We can stay curious. We can question with the idea of learning, of opening up possibilities, of staying genuinely curious as if we don't know the answer -- because we probably don't. Drama is a choice among many possibilities. Our response is also a choice. -- doug smith

  Others might fear your creativity, but you don't need to. Stay courageous, stay creative, stay compassionate, stay clear. Sing your song no matter who listens! -- doug smith

  Looking for signs of life? Seeking better workers? Building a better team? The creative impulse is the purest sign of life. Your team members are showing you how they like to create -- are you paying attention? -- doug smith

  If you have a degree in the arts, no matter how business-like you try to act, a little art has to sneak in. It's stealth-like like that. What if the way we lead a project is the way we live our life? Charts, data, measures, details...or big picture vision and boundless interpersonal energy? It's not actually a choice of one or  the other -- but if you do enough projects, it will touch your life -- and if you live enough life, it will light up your projects. What do you think? -- doug smith

  What would it sound like if you had a conversation with yourself about procrastination? That would depend of course on whether or not you ever got the conversation started. Some of us (*looks sheepishly aside*) would rather NOT have that conversation.  When something makes me uncomfortable, I might make a joke about it. Not as often as I once did, because I've discovered that joking about something doesn't make it go away. Sort of like procrastinating.  "Are you kidding?" "Not kidding." "We've been trying to talk about this for weeks.: "That's you." "What about you?" "I haven't been trying to talk about it..." "There you go again..." "And so it goes..." I don't like to hear about my procrastination. Could we please talk about that some other time?" -- doug smith

  I'm not perfect yet, how about you? There are so many imperfections in my game that sometimes it feels completely impossible. It's not impossible. It's tough because the trip is meaningful. If it didn't feel tough it would be a warning sign. Perfection is a direction, not a destination.  We're are not going to get there, but do need to keep moving. -- doug smith

Brilliance seems rare because it often travels in disguise. It hides as hard work. It hides as perseverance. It presents as obsession. It moves with determination and makes its many mistakes all without stopping.  Don't worry about how brilliant you are. Work hard, and the brilliance appears. -- doug smith  

I haven't flown in an airplane (not that I can fly without one!) since the pandemic started and truthfully, I don't miss it. Traveling had gone from an enjoyable vocation to an aggravating chore. And the worst part of it was flying. Once upon a time there were lots of flight choices which meant that some of the airlines had to do a good job just to compete. But then consolidation greatly reduced the choices (remember PanAm? Allegheny? Midway?) and the squeeze commenced. Seating space got smaller. And then smaller. And then smaller. Food disappeared or turned into nuts or pretzels and then even that disappeared. First class got bigger and coach got broken -- broken seats, broken window shades, broken promises... Flights got later, and later and often just cancelled altogether. Some months every flight I took had a maintenance delay of one kind or another. Lines were longer. Luggage space smaller. It all got worse and worse. I found myself becoming grumpy as my tall frame squeeze...

  Given a choice between creative and selective, go with creative every time. Life loves possibilities. Keep the doors open and the path becomes clear. -- doug smith

  Now would be a good time to be here. -- doug smith

The world has always been competitive and it does a leader no good to pretend otherwise. Compete. -- doug smith

  Every effort to snuff out creativity gives birth to more creativity. Improvisation wins when plans let you down. -- doug smith

Thinkers need doers to get stuff done. Ideas without actions go nowhere. Think, and act. -- doug smith  

  Stay open to possibilities -- the ones that surprise you may please you the most. -- doug smith

Are some life lessons harder on you than others? The hardest of course are those that damage you -- falling victim and learning not to be a victim, getting dominated and either building strength or embracing servitude -- lessons that we don't necessarily choose because they choose us. A lesson that chose me was this: people seldom keep their promises. Even the people I have felt the closest to have broken promises. Even people who swore on legal oaths (and yes, even on a Bible) have broken promises. And, of course, I have broken promises. Hard lessons all.  Why do we break our promises? Because they are so very hard to keep. They bind us. They restrict us. They surrender us to the word and well-being of another or others and as a result it feels as if our own freedom diminishes. We just aren't wired to give that stuff up easily. But we sure do promise it easily. People make promises they have no earthly chance of keeping and often no conscious intention of keeping. That's a...

Do you ever get lost? Before GPS, I spent way too much time being lost. It wasn't that I was too proud to ask for directions, it's that whenever I did I would get directions that weren't right. Even people who have lived in a place their whole lives can get their directions wrong. Well, what about maps? I find maps more useful, although GPS has definitely spoiled me. But maps can become outdated. Maps can be damaged. And sometimes, maps can even be deceptive. That's a bit like following bad advice: it just gets you lost. Lots of people will give you advice. Lots of well-meaning people will provide you directions with how your life should go and what your work should look like. Whether or not you trust those directions depends largely on your relationship.  Leaders take the time to build relationships. High performance leaders test their assumptions, check their directions, and pay attention to the landscape, because these days things change fast. The right directions ca...

  Some problems are actually negotiations -- you can't solve them until someone else agrees. High performance leaders spend more time building agreements. -- doug smith

  What will be missing from the world if you don't create it? That's all the sign you need to go ahead. Put your creative coat on and get moving! -- doug smith

  Who are your teachers? Do you have a big list, or a little list? My list of teachers is long -- current teachers, people who continue to help me learn, even when they don't know that is what they are doing. Some of my teachers are wonderful people who put smiles on my face. Some of my teachers put a different expression on my face. But they are all my teachers. Some days we learn the most from those who have the most to learn. -- doug smith

  Are you bumping up against tradition? As leaders we are often breaking barriers. We're constantly knocking down walls. Sometimes, we're stepping on toes. We change things because that's what leaders do but it does matter how we change. Are we graceful, or clumsy? Are we considerate, or brutal? Are we deliberate, or chaotic? Change is necessary because it's where growth happens. Doing that change we can forget about or even demolish tradition. "If it mattered we'd keep it," right? It matters. How we handle tradition tells our team how we will eventually handle each and every one of them. What has been placed there before us has been trusted to us. We can improve it, always. Must we ever destroy it? Seldom. As I write this, I can practically hear my friend and fraternity brother David Spiegel singing "Tradition!" from "Fiddler On The Roof." It has honor. It has value. It has multiple meanings. Ignore tradition and you'll lose stabil...

  Standing still is not an option. We can pause, we can relax, and we can certainly breathe, but there is work to be done. There are problems to be solved. There are goals to achieve. The status quo is not for you. High performance leaders push beyond the status quo. -- doug smith

  A useful question: what would be an even more creative way to make this better? -- doug smith

  As far as you've come, there is more to go... High performance leaders push beyond the status quo. -- doug smith

  High performance leadership starts with preparation. Learning, practice, dialogue, planning -- having some idea of what to expect and how to react to surprises. Because leaders know that surprises go with the territory.  -- doug smith

  High performance leaders create success thru focus and action. Focus on what is most important. Act with relentless intention. One without the other goes nowhere. Both combined can go anywhere. -- doug smith

How powerful do you want to be? Or better still, how powerful do you want your leader to be -- the person you must answer to? High performance leaders do develop power. The key is to develop power responsibly, cooperatively, collaboratively. Otherwise, no matter how much power accrues, it eventually collapses. People may promote absolute power but they will all too soon tear it down. We don't like kinds and yet we keep trying to create them. Relax. Relate. Collaborate. -- doug smith  

What makes you happy? More importantly, who makes you happy? I spent a lot of time thinking that someone else could make me happy. Someone else could meet my needs, fill my dreams, solve my many puzzles. It didn't happen. It couldn't happen. I didn't figure that out all on my own -- it did take other people to help, so in a sense it isn't all up to you. And, yet it is. Our happiness, our mindfulness, our joyfulness is up to us. Take charge of your own happiness -- you'll like the power...and the results. -- doug smith

  How many times a year do you think you've been cheated? A dollar here, a dollar there...a promise or two down the road...we so often tell little lies and cheat just a little to try to get what we want. But as any cheater knows, anything obtained by cheating is temporary at best. People find out, and when they do, the pay-back far exceeds the benefit. When we cheat, other people are harmed of course, but worse perhaps is that we are also harmed. Our character, our word, our integrity, our peace of mind are all compromised by cutting corners or telling "innocent" lies. There are no innocent lies. When we cheat others, we cheat ourselves more. No more cheating. We're better than that. -- doug smith

  Do doubts trouble you? Oh my, have they ever troubled me! Constantly intruding and slowing me down, and yet never contributing to success in any way. I do my best these days to cast doubt aside.  Doubt is a reinforcing loop of doom. Who needs that? -- doug smith

  Creativity prods us to dig deeper than we've ever dug before. Dig deep. Deeper. Deeper still. -- doug smith

  It's been a year. It's been more than a year, it's been a dilly. Are you building muscle? Are you building resilience? Are you creating greater possibilities by hanging in there and doing your best. Of course you are. And we can even do better. We are all far stronger and far more vulnerable than we've ever imagined. Keep thinking, keep singing, keep going strong. Just look at those muscles now! -- doug smith

  Do you know who cares about excuses? Nobody. Things get better when we do better.  It's up to us. Let's get to work. -- doug smith

Dissonance is the start of the search for truth. -- doug smith 

  Doesn't it seem a little hazy sometimes? The future is fuzzy. Uncertainty rules. It can knock us sideways with a dizziness that dazzles us without rest. Breathe. You are up to this. You are made for this. You can center yourself, focus yourself, clarify your own goals, and push. Relentlessly push positively in the direction you choose. If it's the wrong direction, you'll discover that and shift. High performance leaders are constantly shifting. From the old, to the new. From the uncertain, to the clear. Shift. Centered leaders live with ambiguity while pushing for clarity. Keep pushing. -- doug smith

  Finding someone to share your goal with doubles your chances of success.  Partners provide energy. Team take us to new levels. People push us on. I'm going to start collaborating more...how about you? -- doug smith

Of course we disagree. We're not even sure if we agree with ourselves. One of the many prices of constant change is the ambiguity, the uncertainty. That can create a kind of low-grade anxiety that keeps us stuck. Pull away from that. Keep moving. As my fire fighting friend Nick used to say, quoting a line from the TV Show "Taxi" whenever anyone asked him how he was doing: "Bobbin' and weaving, bobbin' and weaving." In other words, staying in motion. Finding that anyplace is a place to start, and the adjusting never ends. How are you doing today? -- doug smith

  It's easy to get discouraged. Work, people, even life throws more challenges than we expect or ever ask for. Keep going. Obstacles will slow you down and pull on your momentum until it screeches like the bad brakes on an old Chevy. Keep going. Tasks will blur together in a fog of business that makes that vision ever harder to see and follow. Keep going. Keep going. Your work is important, and it's just beginning. -- doug smith

  Do you like to be judged? Me, either. I'm never sure what to do with judgment so I'm learning to ignore it. That's not the same as feedback, though. Comments about observations -- what someone saw, heard, experienced...that is valuable. It's still up to the receiver whether or not to do anything with it, but observations are a useful tool for improvement. Judgment does not improve the experience, but careful and compassionate observation can provide useful direction. Share what you saw, heard, smelled, touched, or experienced. Leave the judging up to judges and the grading up to teachers.  -- doug smith

The secret of joy in work is contained in one word -- excellence. To know how to do something well is to enjoy it. -- Pearl S. Buck

We are only at our best when we are doing our best. Do your best. -- doug smith

  Are we there yet? High performance leaders like to travel the road to perfection. It's an unsteady map, a wobbly road, and there are few notable rest areas. The journey is long and arduous. But if we stay on the trip, we keep getting better. Better at making the trip, better at enjoying the view, and better at finding the path we need. Perfection is a process, not a destination. Keep moving my friends. Keep moving. -- doug smith

The world is filled with possibilities. You're in charge of the ones available to you. Don't think so? Then, that's your answer. Think so? Then, start digging. Sometimes the gold is deep. -- doug smith

  Words are a small part of any message you have to share. The first part is connection. Find yourself aware of the other person you want to connect with, breathe and stay present. They are there for a thousand and one reasons and you might not be one of them, but still -- connect. Smile. Listen. Breathe. Find the connection and the words will follow. If you find the wrong words, keep trying. Life is a learning process. Communication evolves. -- doug smith

  Patience. I didn't see the need to mature until I matured. You're probably leading some team members who have not yet figured that out. Patience. -- doug smith

  What's the problem with keeping score?  How we measure things keeps changing. Is it better to be the fastest in your field, or to be the one who endures? Is quality more important than quantity? What if you run out? Peter Drucker is often quoted for his insightful line, "what gets measured gets done." We do need to measure. We do need to differentiate. We also need to remember that scores lead to surprises: people learn how to game the scores, customers shift their interests, metrics morph into new configurations. Keeping score only matters until it doesn't matter -- and that can happen in a heartbeat. Are you ready to change? Are you ready to change how you measure that change? --

  Some days it's easier to preach than perform. Resist that temptation. -- doug smith

  There is a field of perfection in sight. Head in that direction. The journey never ends, but it does get better and better. -- doug smith

  Maps are useful. Pictures help us to understand. High performance leaders rely on maps, charts, and visuals to help communicate and influence. A good map can even help you find your way to your mission. Find a good map. But pay attention to the terrain -- things are always shifting. -- doug smith

  Even if you think you've reached your peak, that mountain keeps growing if you do. -- doug smith