High Performance Leadership

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  

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  

"The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are." Joseph Campbell Responding to my email from yesterday, I heard from a dear friend. She commented "Loved this thought for the day!". It made me smile. It also gave me pause to remember how and when she and I first met. We were freshmen together entering college, away from the comfort and safety of our parents homes. We had the same major at the time, music. It was during those early days of being on my own, that I chose to pledge a fraternity. I truly believe this experience was a significant part of me becoming the person I am and not the wuss that I could have been. This was not what anyone would consider the party animal or jock mentality frat that you often see portrayed in movies. It was however a place where the notion that you stand up to a challenge, rather than run away from one became part of who I am. It would have been easy to spend my college days anonymously,gett...

How much do you think about your problems? There are times in our lives when problems become the center of our existence, instead of letting the center of our existence navigate our problems. Wherever you are on your problem solving journey, I offer these humble thoughts on problem solving to you today. Sometimes a problem can be a tick to a new life. We aren't expecting it. We didn't ask for it. But, there you go. Another step in the trip. Problems reveal our character. How we respond says more about ourselves than about our problems. Are we centered? Do we create focus? Do we explore the new possibilities with curiosity? Problems, puzzles, and predicaments -- do you now which you are stuck in? When we are most centered in our approach to observing, accepting, and responding it almost doesn't matter what the nature of the problem is -- we can focus with our most noble and pure intentions. When it works. Sometimes a problem knocks us down and ...

What makes us who we are? If that sounds like a question for a twelve week course to you, you're probably right. What makes us who we are is complicated. Sometimes forgotten in the mix of genes, education, parenting, and peer adaptation is our approach to goals. Do we set goals, how do we set them, what kinds of goals do we set, how assertive are we about working on them? All kinds of questions centering on our approach to goals. It's easy to forget, but ever so important. How we achieve our goals determines who we become. Where ever we started, however we got to the present, regardless of our previous circumstance -- we control our approach to goals today. What's your approach? How are you doing at your goals? Where are your opportunities to create an even greater you? -- Douglas Brent Smith

High performance, centered leaders respond with strength. When problems arise, when challenges aggravate, when people clash, centered leaders find the right balance of courage and compassion to handle the situation. That doesn't mean that they solve it all by themselves. Finding the balance might mean finding the right people to help. Finding the solution most certainly will mean involving the people who are effected by the problem. Where does this ability come from? Largely, the ability to remain centered comes from a developed character. It comes from practice. It comes from focus. It comes from the heart, from the mind, and from the soul. It flexes the inner muscles of your being. If that sounds deep, it is. Character development is more than training: it's experience, it's values, it's a sense of mission, and it's service to some higher cause. Depth of character responds with strength to any problem. How are you building the depth of character you need...

What do you think about brilliant quotes from people you don't admire? Is character important when you're quoting a source? I'm not suggesting that people need to be perfect -- but should we at least agree with their overall values before we treat their words as lofty, important sources of wisdom? Would you quote someone you don't admire who just said something brilliant? I'm curious. Here's how I look at it: our character filters everything. Whether we like it or not, what we say is made credible (or not) by what we do. Even more than that, who we are is a function of what we do. Our character is not only reflected in our actions, it is formed by our actions. Great opinions, lofty words, noble intentions are all wonderful and also only important if they are brought to life in our actions. I know that is a tough standard. I know that I often fall short. It's just something to think about today as we feel proud of our intentions. What will we do...