High Performance Leadership

Have you ever been so focused on a goal that you missed an opportunity? The trouble is, by the time I realize that's happening, the opportunity is gone. Forever. It does take focused effort to achieve our goals, but not so much that we lose track of reality. Not so much that we miss what's going on around us. That goal IS important, but only until it isn't.  Move forward, but keep processing. Keep learning. Keep feeling. Keep ready for the next surprise. -- doug smith  

You don't have to trick yourself or hyper-motivate yourself to achieve your goals -- just pick goals that you really care about. It's not a great goal until you can't stop thinking about it. -- doug smith  

An unintentional ethical lapse, uncorrected, leads to intentional ethical lapses. -- doug smith

Leaders must first understand ethical behavior, then operate ethically, in order to promote ethical behavior. People will believe what they see and feel.  -- doug smith 

Old advice could still be good -- if it ever was good. Some old advice does not age well and so we throw it out. Stock market tips from 1980 won't do you much good today. Fashion statements from 1990 probably won't serve you well now. But some old advice holds up well. Take care of others. Tell the truth. Always do your best. Lots of old advice is still great advice. What's your best advice? -- doug smith

  Goals may not be the cause of all happiness, but they make a lot of happiness possible. What is the most important goal that you're working on today? -- doug smith

  You could spend a lifetime studying leadership and what leaders do. You'll likely spend your lifetime doing that whether or not you planned on it because when it comes to leadership there is always something more to learn. Most of what high performance leaders do is solve problems and achieve goals.  Much goes into that. Projects come and go. People help (or don't) and they also come and go. To move forward, to implement plans, to make the world a better place, leaders need to solve problems and achieve their goals. What do you think?

  Obvious, yet essential: The closer you get to a goal the less distance you have to go.  Keep going. -- doug smith

Stop setting goals you don't believe in.  They will only slow you down. -- doug smith  

Many leaders lecture on and on about value. Where's the value? Have you produced any value?  Value comes from what you give, not what you receive. When do you provide the most value? Sometimes? When it's demanded? Or all of the time. It is, after all, completely up to you. -- doug smith

How good are you at providing feedback? If you're not sure, ask your team members. If you are good at it, they'll tell you. If you're not good at it, then maybe they will and maybe they won't. Feedback does not come easy. Skillful, useful feedback that improves both performance AND self-esteem is a delicate balance of recognizing positives and occasionally providing insights on areas of improvement -- all placed into the context of why it matters. Without the "why" -- why the feedback matters, why the improvement matters, why the performance matters, all the feedback you can muster will only fluster whoever you provide it to. Tell them what they did that was great, ask how they could make it even greater, and share with them why it all makes a difference. Because unless it really makes a difference who cares? Feedback, like any skill, takes practice. -- doug smith

Fortunately, you are entirely in charge of you. Your reactions belong to your set of choices. When people get upset, it feels like an invitation, but it remains a choice.  Angry people can change the temperature of the room, but they don't have to change you. -- doug smith

Things go best when we work hardest. -- doug smith 

Jobs are a balance of learning and repetition. We forge new ground and we walk on well-worn territory. The routine wears us down, even when it's necessary.  High performance leaders show the value of a well practiced, skillfully executed job routine. Discipline in work comes from the extra effort of pushing thru when the task is due. Maybe you did it before, maybe you'll do it again -- give it all you've got right now. Someone is watching. -- doug smith 

Leadership: you can plan the very best plans possible and still miss. Whatever you were expecting, get ready for a surprise. Is that sometimes annoying? Sure -- and if we frame it cleverly enough, the surprises can also be energizing. They are coming anyway, let's make the best of it. -- doug smith

Judging someone does not change them. Still, don't high performance leaders need a sense of judgment? Forgiving someone does not correct the fault. Still, isn't forgiveness necessary for a growing leader? Changing does not change the past. Still, leaders always change. Purity is a tough standard to match. Maybe pause perfection long enough to improve. -- doug smith

It would be easy to skip my morning, or afternoon, or evening push-ups. Heck, I did skip them for most of my life. But regular exercise is a discipline that won't do itself.  We don't have to like or enjoy discipline-building habits in order to need them. The drills prove, over and over, that we do. Start small if you need to, but definitely start.  -- doug smith

Bold assertion here, but here goes. The truth is always incomplete. We simply can't know all of the facts all of the time with 100% certainty, especially considering that the truth is filtered by our perspective. You likely believe some things that you didn't previously believe. Most of us do. We get more information, and what we see (and experience) as the truth shifts. As my friend and fraternity brother, David Spiegel might say, "shift happens." Clarity is essential for high performance leaders. A muddled message translates to a troubled team. But clarity is not necessarily fixed.  To speak with clarity tell the truth while remaining curious about what the truth is. Even people on the road to perfection (especially people traveling in that direction) should keep learning. As a recovering know-it-all you can be sure that I will tell you once I have figured out the absolute truth. I'll be wrong, of course. What do you think? -- doug smith

Unless leaders coach for performance the performance will slide.  Your people need you. Your coaching matters. Keep coaching your brains out! -- doug smith

There's no reason to believe in false choices. There are always more choices. If you can't find them, create them. High performance leaders are creatives so create the best choices for you.  -- doug smith

You can get the recognition you need without stealing any appreciation from anyone else. We can enjoy the successes of others -- it does not take anything away from us.  -- doug smith

There are many meanings contained in what I consider the five core leadership strengths: courage, creativity, clarity, compassion, and centeredness (the skillful use of the other four.) Here's a humble point on two of them: Courage is knowing when someone can do better. Compassion is knowing when someone has done all they can. Push when pushing is needed. Support when to push would be wrong. How do you know, as a leader, when to push would be wrong? It's wrong when it doesn't make things better. It's wrong when it hurts someone.