Reset

Part of the appeal of video games is the ability to reset. All (or much) is forgiven, the table is cleared, and you're free to begin again. Fun. Forgiving. Fabulous.

My favorite keyboard shortcut is control+alt+delete (or in my ever Apple world, Control Z. Make a mistake? Reset!

Real life is sometimes not as forgiving. There is no real reset -- only change.

High performance leaders embrace change to make it positive change. What was, is gone because you can't get it back.

Reset? Change!

-- doug smith

Comments

Be Careful About Punishment

It's tempting. It's right in front of you as a leader. Someone violates your trust, or misses a goal, or fails to respond to the promise of a reward, and the logical action seems to be to punish them in some way. Take away a perk. Deny a personal day off. Refuse a good assignment. Be careful. Every punishment brings about unexpected payback. Maybe it's immediate or maybe it comes months (even years!) down the road -- but payback is coming. It could be assertive, even aggressive -- or it could be so passive aggressive that you fail to see it coming. Oh, but it's coming. You may not like that payback. You may want to consider another path. What do you think? -- doug smith

Go For Influence

The problem with trying to control someone is the inevitable rebellion that it sparks. Go for influence, not control. -- doug smith

Win Within The Rules

Everybody wants to win but to win within the rules is the road to excellence. Any cheating at all cracks the character that holds long term quality together. Win, sure. Win within the rules. -- doug smith

Repetition

The most useful lessons need to be learned many times to become your most useful habits. -- doug smith

Get Specific

Unless you want a fuzzy result, get specific about your request. No matter how great a leader you are, no one can read your mind. -- doug smith

Something Good In It

Adversity creates urgency for you goals. You might not want the conflict, but it just might catalyze your actions toward success. Find the good in it and move ahead. Any important goal will spark a bit of conflict. Use that energy to help you achieve your goal. -- doug smith

A Little At A Time

Beat your average performance every day and you elevate your expectations, AND your performance. You know the drill: a little adds up to a lot. -- doug smith

Making Room

Every bad habit you break makes room for a good habit to take. -- doug smith

Stay With Compassion

Leaders need courage. They also need compassion. We can use our compassion to balance our courage, and use our courage to increase our compassion. Compassion is so vital we must never give up on it. No matter how angry we are, no matter how disappointed we feel, no matter how high the stakes -- stay with compassion. If it cannot be done with compassion, it should not be done. -- doug smith

High Performance Leadership

Search This Blog