High Performance Leadership

What are you afraid of? We're all afraid of something. Some of us are afraid of many things. It makes sense to be afraid when danger threatens your physical or emotional well-being. If your life is in danger, deal with it promptly even if that means running away. Could it be that our fear centers are over-working? Is it possible that we avoid too many things that need a healthy supply of confrontation? High performance leaders confront their fears. They face into the risk knowing that they will grow in the process. It takes practice. It takes building muscles over the years and continuing to learn long after you think you know all the answers. That's just the beginning. Fears are there to warn you AND to challenge you. Can you handle this? Are you ready for this? Are you going to let this turn into an opportunity or a stalling game of keep-away? Challenge your fears, don't worship them. You're bigger than they are. -- doug smith

When the direction is unclear, when the heat seems unbearable, when the pressure is crushing you, when the problems stack high like a looming tower, put the problem into perspective: A problem is there to challenge you, not break you. Meet the challenge. -- doug smith

Teams fundamentally want and need two things from their leaders: 1. To be challenged, and 2. To be supported You've got to have their back. You've got to protect their interests as well as the team goals. And you've got to challenge them to do more than they ever have before. Stretch, grow, respond. It's what your team wants. Are you delivering high performance leadership? -- Doug Smith

Have you ever noticed that some of the things we want to achieve the most are the hardest? It's natural to get stuck. The goal seems too big, too tough, too much beyond our capacity. For many, that's the excuse to give up. High performance leaders don't give up on their important goals. Even when it's hard. And (even more importantly) they don't allow their team members to give up too easily, either. The job of the leader includes challenging AND supporting team members. Give up one, and the other becomes meaningless. Stay with the tough tasks needed to achieve your goals. Practice. Build. Grow. What once seems hard is meant to become easy. Stay with it. -- Doug Smith