High Performance Leadership

It's easy to forget that our team members are people with problems. They have issues. They have lives. They have families with situations we don't even know about. And, yes, they are also our team members. High performance leaders remember that there are no perfect people and that we all carry a bit more baggage than we'd like. We're all wired too tight in some spots and a bit unravelled in others. A great leader knows when to hold someone carefully accountable and when to ease up enough to allow for some room to ease the tension, to relax into the task. Everyone on your team is dealing with challenges that have nothing to do with you or your team. How you help help them handle those challenges will largely define what kind of leader you are. -- doug smith

Is your team as productive as it could be? I haven't seen a team yet that was. We can all improve our productivity. That doesn't mean asking people to work harder or longer. They're already tired of that (just ask them). What it does mean in finding things in your processes that you can fix. It means identifying which customers are taking up most of your time and why (and if they are actually earning you money or costing your money). It means bringing out the potential in each and every team member. It means to STOP having silly time-wasting status report meetings and instead, get things done. It means to stop making excuses or complaining and to think of better ways to do things. Productivity is an endless cycle of improvement if you move in that direction. And, that's the direction your team wants because the only alternative is entropy. Yuck. What could your team do TODAY that would double its productivity? Why not ask them? -- Douglas Brent Smith I...