It's About The Cause

The art of leadership is keeping the ego out of the play.

It's not about you. It's never about you. As a leader, it's about the cause.

-- doug smith

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High Performance Leaders Combine Courage and Compassion

What do people look for in a leader? I believe that there are four key strengths that leaders must develop: clarity, courage, creativity, and compassion. As leaders we should develop these in connection with each other. I was thinking about this as I was leading a workshop on controlling chaos yesterday. When we are leading our way (and others' way) through difficult situations it is no time to be shy. It's not the time to sit back and wait for something to happen. It's not the time to get passive. High performance leaders make their expectations clear. They raise the bar. They look for people to give their best, speak up, and be assertive. It's easy to go over the edge, though. It's easy to fall into an extreme. Leaders do it frequently and are often portrayed in the media as strong and confident even though that occurs at the expense of other people's self-esteem and well being. Centered, high performance leaders do not lead and achieve at the expense ...

Focus First

Ambition without vision consumes everything around it. -- doug smith

Lead By Example

People do want to be challenged, but only by people who walk the talk. Leaders who demonstrate the character and discipline that they demand from others. What would your team look like if everyone on your team performed exactly like you? -- doug smith

Money Isn't Everything

The profit motive is a poor substitute for genuine value. Money isn't everything. It's not even the most important thing. Oh, sure it's incredibly important. As a person who has many times wondered if there would be enough cash to pay the bills, I have come to respect mightily the value of money. But money is transactional. People are more than transactions. What we value most is more than money can buy, is more than a transaction, is a character of depth and peacefulness, and yes, love that is earned, not bought. Think about that for a minute. -- doug smith

Nothing Left to Give?

Saying that we did the best we ould and actually DOING the best we could are NOT the same and does not fool anyone. You'll know for sure when you did the best you could when there is nothing left to give. -- doug smith

Monologue

When it sounds like I'm preaching I'm primarily talking to myself. -- doug smith

How To Stay Patient

Are you a patient person? Do you ever lose patience with people because they are disappointing you or missing your expectations? I get impatient sometimes. Why can't people do the simple thing I asked, quickly? Why do I have to wait in line? Why don't they understand what I just said? Then I realize that the things I am most impatient about (miscommunication, incomplete service, broken expectations) are sometimes the very things that I am weakest at myself. My impatience comes from my own inner mistakes. I seem to have the least patience with those parts of people that are most like my own. That's sobering to consider and also liberating. It teaches me where my own areas for development appear. It helps me to breathe a bit and become somewhat more patient. It's valuable feedback. Here's how to stay patient: take impatience as early feedback on your own performance (not someone else's). Then work on that. It also helps to breathe, and smile. What ...

High Performance Leaders Are Accountable

My friend and fraternity brother David Spiegal operates a variety of businesses, models success in many ways, helps people become healthier and happier, and more -- all while being a loving family figure and man of faith. Occasionally, I'll like one of his daily emails so much that I publish it here, word for word. I'm doing that today because, well, it's thought-provoking AND he refers to me in it. (My humble response follows his article as a comment.) Here's Dave... "Leadership is not a license to do less; it is a responsibility to do more." -Simon Sinek-Leaders Eat Last September Word of the Month: ACCOUNTABILITY Yesterday was a really great day. The weather was pleasant and I found myself in a really fantastic mood. At one point I was singing along with one of my favorite songs on the radio. I don't mean singing like following a long. I mean belting it out as if I were a finalist on America's Got Talent. I made some long over due phone...

Thriving Teams

Thriving leaders thrive as their teams thrive. It's a partnership. It's a deal. It takes constant support and service to sustain a high performance team. Thriving leaders recruit with the enthusiasm they show for their team. People can tell when your team is cohesive, cooperative, and collaborative and people crave that for themselves. Create and support a team that supports each other and others will rally to the cause. You have no weak links. You have no poor performers. You have no superstars. You do have team members who need your guidance and support. That's the role of a leader. -- doug smith

High Performance Leadership

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