High Performance Leadership

Ambition without vision consumes everything around it. -- doug smith  

Team enthusiasm comes from embracing the team mission. Do they know what it is? Are they excited about it? Does it drive your decisions as a team? If not, find out why. Clearly define that mission. Focus on that mission. You'll like the results. -- Doug Smith

Do you know who we lie to the most? According to don Miguel Ruiz, we tell the most lies to ourselves. This does not surprise people. Lately, I've been asking people in workshops that question and the number one answer, easily, is that we lie the most to ourselves. As Bob Newhart says in the MadTV video that always makes me laugh, "Stop it." Simple, but not easy. We dig in. We want what we want. We cling to who we are (and were) whether or not it propels us into who we could be. Who we could be can wait when we're too stubborn to change. Stop it. Our stubborn tendencies only fool ourselves. Those habits we won't break. Those excuses we repeat. Those self-limiting behaviors and beliefs. Just stop it. I will if you will. -- Doug Smith Here's that Bob Newhart and Mo Collins video.

How much time have you spent today thinking about your goals? Thinking on your goals should lead to acting on your goals. Keeping your focus. Moving forward. High performance leaders act with a relentless sense of persistence to achieve their goals. It's what leaders do. It's what their teams do. It's what their team members learn to do by working closely with a focused, participative, facilitative leader. Help your team succeed, and they will lift you higher than you've ever been before. When we focus on our goals it dramatically increases our power. Focus with clarity. Focus with collaborative and cooperative work. Then, move. -- Doug Smith

What happens when we lose track of what we really want? We get problems. We get delays. We get excuses. None of that is what we want or need. Sometimes problems develop because we lose focus on what we really want. We get distracted. People make us busy. Procrastination overcomes us. None of that is necessary and none of that is unavoidable. We can stay clear on our mission. We can maintain our focus on our goals. How is your focus today? What will you do to redirect yourself if you should get distracted? How else will you ever get exactly what you want? -- Doug Smith Front Range Leadership: High Performance Leadership Training doug smith training: how to achieve your goals What have you learned today?

Is there anything from your past that you are still holding onto, even though it is essentially gone from your life? I'm guilty of this. There are things that I don't want to let go of, yet that do not serve me well. Old feelings. Old grudges. Old shame over mistakes other people have long ago forgotten. Useless baggage I carry to my next destination even though it slows me down. We can always think of things that we would have done differently. We can always see more clearly in hindsight. We just can't really do anything with that. Daydreaming about fixing the past gets in the way of living the present. Let's live in the present. Let's be fully present right here and now. And, let's create the best possible future. Does that work for you? Doug Smith Front Range Leadership: High Performance Leadership Training doug smith training: how to achieve your goals What have you learned today?

Want to solve that big problem? Focus on the goal you want to achieve instead of the pain your problem presents.  Work to create your ideal situation. When we focus positively on the goal that we want to achieve, rather than the symptoms of a problem we perceive, our energy and focus helps us get where we really want to go. Try it. Convert that problem statement to a goal statement. Then, get busy. I think you'll like the results. What's your biggest goal today? -- Doug Smith Front Range Leadership:  High performance leadership training doug smith training:  how to achieve your goals

Have you ever been so deeply entangled with a problem that you feel like it's become you, or you've become it? I know that I have. Some problems trigger our nerves into a chaotic sense of attachment to trouble. We don't remember choosing it. We wouldn't have asked for it. We didn't reach out to grab it - but there it is, clinging to us so tightly you can't tell us apart. Yuck, eh? We don't want that. We want creative answers, not burdened weights and clinging symptoms. We can do better. We can focus on a problem and work to solve it creatively without making it part of who we are. The problem is NOT who we are. The problem is the problem. Restating the problem as a positive goal to achieve helps, as does keeping our center when the rest of the world spins madly toward trouble. We can do better in steps. We can do better by degrees. We can dramatically do better all at once. Centered leaders focus on a problem without becoming the problem. Stepp...

Have you looked at your goals today? I encourage you to do that now, or perhaps right after reading this. Take a look at what you've defined as important. Do you still agree? Is that the best use of your time? Is your action plan getting you where you want to be? When we focus on our goals we tend to achieve them. Take a look. -- Doug Smith Front Range Leadership:  Training Supervisors for Success  doug smith training:  how to achieve your goals

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 ...

Do you constantly work to improve your productivity? As long as I've been working the search for greater productivity has been part of every job. Make it better, faster, smarter, cheaper. If possible, take yourself right out of the process. Not the best strategy for a comfortable status quo, but let's face it, there is no status quo. That's why focus is so important. Not just making things better but working on the right things. Seeing the path to the vision. Minding the mission. Productivity is focus.  Without focus, what's the point? Are you focused on your vision today? -- Douglas Brent Smith

When you run into obstacles are you ever tempted to blame someone? The goal is within your site, but something keeps blocking it so it must be someone's fault, right? Maybe not. And even if there is someone to blame, blaming them doesn't get you closer to your goal. Relentless action gets you there. Constant follow-up gets you there. Persistence and patience gets you there. Setbacks are not always rational and there isn't usually one thing to blame. So drop the blame. Move on with the action. Stay curious. Focus on your goal and (most importantly) the people who can and will help you achieve that goal.  Because once you've achieved your goal, blame doesn't matter, does it? -- Doug Smith

Where do you start your problem solving process? Many people jump right in defining what they think is the problem, but what they are really describing is the symptoms. If you've ever solved a bunch of symptoms only to find the problem still hanging around, you're ready for another approach. How about starting with your goal? What is it that you really want? It's much more effective to focus on your goal because then there are things that you can DO to get you there faster. Before solving a problem, focus on what you really want from a solution. You'll be much happier with the solutions you find when they help you achieve your goals. -- Douglas Brent Smith

Do you spend much of your time solving problems? Are you tempted to jump to solutions before you've truly understood the problem? It's nothing to feel guilty about. Most of us do it most of the time: jumping to fast solutions before we see all the threads of the garment stuck around our necks. Throwing light into the darkness and missing the shadows behind us. Stumbling thru the caves of our intentions and forgetting the vision that led us to this mountain to begin with. That's why I enjoyed the short blog entry here: The Real Roots of Problem Solving I especially like this observation: "Problem solving does not start with brainstorming options; brainstorming is only effective when it is preceded by clarity, focus, and understanding." Exactly. That's why in the problem solving process we use at FRL it starts with FOCUS. It's important to know what it is you are looking for. What is the ideal state? Then we move to ANALYZE. What's going ...

Centered leaders stay ahead in the field without getting lost in the weeds. How do they do it? By getting precise, open, honest feedback and using it. By keeping their focus on their vision, regardless of the distractions. By building teams of energized, focused, centered team members. Sound tough? That's why it's a full time job. -- Douglas Brent Smith http://frontrangeleadership.com

High performance leaders take responsibility for everything that matters to them and speak up when necessary. If it is important, a leader is involved. Even when high performance leaders delegate (and they delegate a great amount) they stay in touch, stay involved, stay informed. That's not the same as micromanaging -- it's keeping interest, keeping focus, keeping attention on critical matters. Keep in mind that people may not always know what's important to you. With so much going on in your team already, it can be easy for a detail to slip away and for a task to stay undone. High performance leaders don't let that happen. Attention brings results. How do you keep your focus on what matters most to you? In what ways do you demonstrate your sense of responsibility? What important matter do you need to attend to right now ? -- Douglas Brent Smith http://frontrangeleadership.com