High Performance Leadership

How do you feel when someone says that they will do something right away, and then they don't? When I say "now!" I mean immediately, and without over-thinking. never under estimate the temptation  to overthink (I think I just did!) When is now? How about now? -- Doug smith  Looking for leadership training? That's what I do: doug smith training

                      We are constantly developing leadership -- the work is never done. New challenges, new people, new goals. That includes how we lead and who we develop as current and future leaders. Developing leadership is a constant. What's your plan? -- doug smith 

How many moments does a leader have? How many do YOU have? We don't know, do we? What we do know is that we have this moment, right now. What we do with this moment is done and then over. What we do with this moment is our choice. Let's do something great! High performance leaders set great examples by doing great things in the moments that they have. Right now is the perfect moment. Can you feel it? -- doug smith

This is a guest entry from my friend and fraternity brother, David Spiegel. He's a hard-working, deep-loving family and business person who shares his insights on a daily (almost!) basis. I like the positive nature of this entry and I have some leadership questions for you to contemplate after reading... Today is one of the days of the year that I truly enjoy. As the rest of the world seems to be shutting down from the mundane and gearing up for the upcoming holiday,we are busy doing business! When I arrived at The Grooming Shoppe this morning, Becca had already opened, brought in our first client, put on the Christmas music and straightened and cleaned up the front end. We were ready for action on what should be one of our busiest days of the year. Truth be told, we were actually busier on the Saturday before Christmas last year. It was the single busiest day we ever had. It's not that we have any less business. On the contrary. Becca has done a marvelous ...

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

Do you like to give advice? High performance leaders are often asked for advice. The temptation is to give it no matter what. After all, aren't we the experts? If someone is asking for advice, doesn't that mean that they trust us and believe we have the wisdom needed to answer? Maybe. Giving advice is limiting, though. What if you helped that person think thru their possibilities instead? What if they already knew what they wanted and needed to do, and were only hoping that you'd advise them accordingly? And what if your advice doesn't work? It's better to stay curious. Ask questions. Help them with their thinking. You could still end up giving them advice, but probably not. Probably, they'll develop a strategy all of their own, one that they can own and implement and achieve. "I wonder what you'll do about that" is more powerful than "here's what you should do..." -- doug smith Leadership Call to Action: Stay cu...

Give your front line supervisors two days of training that will pay off in improved performance, engagement, and motivation for years to come. Agenda: Developing leadership capacity, strength, and flexibility Ten keys to leadership success Achieving your supervisory goals Communicating for results Building your team Motivating yourself and others Manage your time without driving yourself crazy Coaching to improve performance Facilitating highly productive meetings Solving team problems collaboratively Supervisors are challenged in every direction. They usually don't get the training they need and end up with more problems and headaches than they'd ever imagined possible. It doesn't have to be that way. The key tasks of a supervisor can be learned. Our time tested and field tested training methods get your supervisors to explore, discover, and practice the key skills that will make a positive difference in their performance, their teams, and their lives...

Are you a fan of feedback? I once avoided it. Oh, I'd enjoy positive feedback as much as anyone. Truthfully, I loved it. But feedback for improvement? Or outright criticism? Yeah, go ahead and keep that to yourself. Even when I taught other people that feedback was a gift, the negative feedback could stay wrapped up as far as I was concerned. Then I realized that it's only feedback. It may or not be even true. It comes from one person's perspective and that is influenced by so many factors, much of it has absolutely nothing to do with me. But more important than that -- there are things about my performance I miss. There are things that I don't see, don't hear, don't feel but that other people do and that effects their experience. Since I want my customers, my clients, my learners to all have the best possible positive learning experience when they work with me, the constructive feedback really does help me to do more of what is needed and less of what i...

I'm on the road, facilitating a workshop on controlling chaos, sitting in my hotel room and of course, learning. Watching videos on leadership. What else would a leadership trainer do on the road? I started with a famous leader speaking and somehow wandered into this video by Drew Dudley. Honestly, I hadn't heard of Drew Dudley, but you should. He's inspiring. His ideas spark energy. I believe he does his best to live his values, and I love how he builds in the human element into his goals. In the video he talks about values, about questions to ask in order to more earnestly live your values, and about making a positive difference, especially for people who so often go unrecognized and unappreciated. Here's the video. Yes, I know it's 17 minutes long - but go for it. Invest 17 minutes in this and you'll find a story you'll likely repeat and some insights you'll want to start using. I know I will. Three Values Steps: Six Questions: ...