High Performance Leadership

New ideas won't break you but they can make you bigger. -- doug smith 

There's no reason to believe in false choices. There are always more choices. If you can't find them, create them. High performance leaders are creatives so create the best choices for you.  -- doug smith

  I wouldn't expect everyone to be an artist any more than I would expect everyone to be a plumber. But we all need water, and we all need art. Find the art in leadership, and your leadership strength will grow. -- doug smith

  Others might fear your creativity, but you don't need to. Stay courageous, stay creative, stay compassionate, stay clear. Sing your song no matter who listens! -- doug smith

  Looking for signs of life? Seeking better workers? Building a better team? The creative impulse is the purest sign of life. Your team members are showing you how they like to create -- are you paying attention? -- doug smith

  Given a choice between creative and selective, go with creative every time. Life loves possibilities. Keep the doors open and the path becomes clear. -- doug smith

  Stay open to possibilities -- the ones that surprise you may please you the most. -- doug smith

  What will be missing from the world if you don't create it? That's all the sign you need to go ahead. Put your creative coat on and get moving! -- doug smith

  A useful question: what would be an even more creative way to make this better? -- doug smith

  Creativity prods us to dig deeper than we've ever dug before. Dig deep. Deeper. Deeper still. -- doug smith

Do you envy people who seem to be naturally gifted? They seem so comfortable in their craft that the work is invisible and all that remains is the gift, the talent, the performance? While the raw material may well be a gift, the actual deliverable is the result of hard work. Musicians must practice. Actors must rehearse. Athletes must work out. There are so many talented people working as hard as they can right now that no-one gets to slack off and shine. The stakes are too high, the field is too crowded. The good news is that as crowded as the field is, there is room for everyone. All it takes is work. Hard work. Creative inspiration isn't magic -- it comes from hard work. Note to self: do the work. -- doug smith

We have so much capacity that we do not use. Like a warm spring day that goes by without a refreshing walk, once the capacity is gone, there is no getting it back. We renew each day, and then each day is gone. We develop and deploy our skills and opportunities to use those skills inch by us when we're not looking. The problems in front of us -- those that are not hiding, give us no excuse for not using those skills. High performance leaders apply their strengths in order to take the energy of those problems and convert it to some good. Problems. Every leader has them. How many problems could stand up to you using all of your clarity, courage, creativity, and compassion? -- doug smith

Leadership is more than strength and much more than power. Leading by strength alone ultimately fails. High performance leaders find balance, centeredness, subtlety. They exercise a skillful combination of clarity, courage, creativity, and compassion. And they do not give up or force the issue thru strength alone. Leading by strength alone ultimately fails. Why fail? Learn, and then do better. -- doug smith P.S. I'm still learning. How about you?

Have you painted your masterpiece yet? Have you utilized your gifts to their fullest and produced something that will last? High performance leaders consider their legacy as they work and build toward a future where that work is remembered. I am thrilled by how much we as leaders can integrate our various skills into the work of leading. It's all connected. Find ways to connect what you love with what you do and you will always love what you do. As a trainer and consultant, I am constantly finding new ways to blend my enthusiasm for the arts into my work. Maybe it's a song, maybe it's a collage, maybe it's a bit of acting in a story that I tell -- it's all part of the tapestry of the work. I may not have painted my masterpiece yet, but I am practicing every single day. How about you? -- doug smith

I'm not a good dancer. I used to think that I was, but then I figured out that it was my partner who was such a good dancer that she could also make me feel like a good dancer. It was wonderful. And, when I realized later, when she'd moved on to a new partner, that I was NOT such a good dancer, at first I wanted to stop dancing. It was so disappointing. It was all just an illusion. And then, I realized. It didn't matter. There are degrees of dancing. Somewhere there are people who dance even better than my former partner. Somewhere there are people who can hardly dance at all. No matter where we start, in dancing or in leading, we can always level up. Start where we are and get better. And, realize that the dance is not about us at all anyway. The dance is, and always has been, about your partners. Your creative muse likes to dance. It will open up new roads to you. It will light you up and allow blood to flow to the places that make you tingle. Listen to that muse a...

Creative leaders never run out of new ideas. -- Doug Smith

The creative problem solver in you always has more solutions than you need. -- Doug Smith

How would you define creativity? Some people see it as a flash of inspiration. It's the appearance of a wonderful and mysterious muse. Suddenly great and beautiful things happen. For others, it's not like that at all. Why wait for the muse? Sometimes the muse is fickle and hard to find. We need creativity all of the time. We can't wait for brilliant flashes of insight. We need to conjure up that magic ourselves. Creativity is not just inspiration -- it's also dedication and hard work. Put in the work. Watch the magic happen. -- Doug Smith

Do you have a creative side? You know - that side that smiles when you're making something new. That side that sings not just in the shower but whenever a song strikes your fancy. That side that comes up with great new ideas when you weren't even trying to. That's you. Deep inside each of us, when we least expect it, is a creative spark just waiting to ignite. Fan those flames and watch the blaze light you up. You'll like the results. Your creative side is always available. Let it roll. -- Doug Smith

It takes creative people to solve problems creatively. -- Doug Smith