High Performance Leadership

  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