High Performance Leadership

How fast are you growing? Can you feel yourself evolving and developing into the next better version of yourself? As old as I am (and if you ask my best friend, she'll tell you I'm OLD) I am still evolving. Still growing. Still experimenting, trying, striving, and stretching. Not as fast as before, perhaps, but there are no additional boundaries -- just opportunities. I aim to do as much as I can as long as I can. As Judi tells me, "you can sleep when you die." Well, I do need sleep BEFORE then, but in the mean time she's right: there's a lot of work to be done. Get busy. -- doug smith

Leaders are likely to rock the boat. Leaders are likely to push the edge in order to get beyond the normal and into the extraordinary. To achieve great things, leaders act fast and decisively. But not too fast and not too decisively -- it does pay to consult with your team, with your followers, with your customers, with your constituents. What do they expect? What do they want? What do they suggest? You might still decide what you were going to decide, but you might gain insights that make your actions easier, better, faster, and more in harmony with the needs of those around you. Push. Absolutely. And listen while you do. And do get the feedback and information you need to know what the legal boundaries are. They may be dynamic, but their effects are reliable. High performance leaders test boundaries without breaking laws. -- doug smith

Have you ever known someone who clearly needs training and isn't getting it? Or, maybe you've had a moment of your own when you could have bought that book or joined that workshop and decided to cut corners? No need to feel any shame about that; I've done it, too. But what if we took another approach? What if we always chose yes to opportunities for developing ourselves? Invest in yourself. Develop yourself. Learn constantly. Grow. It's the path of power even though it's not always free. If you don't invest in yourself who else will? -- doug smith

Grow yourself. Grow your people. Grow your organization. Growth produces strength, resilience, and opportunity. Grow. -- doug smith

Leadership requires growth. You need it from your people, you need it from your organization, and you need if from yourself. Successful leaders constantly look ahead to the next area of growth. -- doug smith

High performance leaders know that we are always becoming. Every day we have the opportunity to grow. We will stumble along the way. We will make mistakes that make us cringe. But when we keep learning, when we keep growing, we are always becoming a better version of ourselves. A version of ourselves that makes a positive difference. A version of ourselves who helps others in need. A version of ourselves that forgets our troubles and solves problems while achieving our goals. Let's be that. Let's become. -- doug smith

We have to grow personally to increase our influence. Keep growing. -- Doug Smith

If you suddenly appeared to your much younger self, would your much younger self even recognize you? Despite maybe resembling your parent, you are a very different person. At least you should be. We grow. We change. Our points of view evolve. Sometimes in that change we can get lost and forget the heart of what is still most important to us. Our point of view can shift so gradually OR so suddenly that we do not even notice. We go on. We muddle thru.  We do things that at one time would surprise us. Right or wrong, do you know what you've changed in your values, your goals, your dreams? I've recalibrate some of my expectations formed from an evolving point of view. I've played roles that no longer suit me. I've left so much work on the field that the field of play has hidden completely some days. Enough of that. Enough of slipping into oblivion. I'm going kicking and singing! How about you? -- Doug Smith

What holds you back the most? For me, it's often that I over-analyze. I want to be sure. I calculate possibilities and assess risks so much that the energy can drain right out of the moment. And, when the moment is gone, we can lose the opportunity. I'm working past that. I'm not quite at the point of the movie "Yes Man" (a great flick and a step in the direction of take the action, do the thing, just say yes!) but I'm better than before. Isn't that our job? To get better than before. To grow more. To keep going in the direction that set off in, to make things better? You've got limitations. I've got limitations. All G-d's children have limitations. It's out job to grow beyond our limitations. -- Doug Smith

Set big goals. Set goals you don't have a clue how to achieve. They will stretch you. They will grow you. They will bring about change. And change is the direction you're headed whether you like it or not. As my friend Andrew Oxley once told me "nature only knows two directions - growth or decay. If I were you I'd choose growth." What's your biggest goal? If it's big enough, you likely don't even know how MUCH it will change you. But change you, it will. -- Doug Smith

What have you learned today? That's my favorite question. Admittedly, as a professional consultant, coach, and trainer I am biased in the direction of development. It's what I do. Still, think about it. To keep pace, to keep strong, to keep happy, isn't growth essential? Grow. Learn. Develop. Get the leadership training you need. Discover new things. Stretch. High performance leaders know that there is no standing still. High performance leaders grow. Do what you need to do to stay sharp and grow. What's your next step in your leadership growth journey? -- Doug Smith

Are you still growing? Now is a great time to make sure that you are. We need to grow. The world is changing so quickly that those who keep growing can keep up and those who don't keep growing fall ever farther behind. It's not a race, it's an opportunity. We must keep pace. We must keep growing, we must grow faster than ever. To grow faster, never stop growing. Learn. Train. Practice. Read. Explore. Develop. Grow. Growing is essential. Growing continuously helps us grow faster. What are you doing to grow today? -- Doug Smith

What do you goals add up to? Do they add up to major changes? Do they show the progress in your career? Do they provide motion for your growth and change? I realize that many people wander thru life with no true goals. They clock in and out. They go thru the motions. They walk beside their shoes. We are meant for more than that. We are meant for great things. We are meant to leave footprints that help others to walk - not cause them to trip. Our goals add up to a different life. A different life than the one we started out with. A different life than the one we are living. A better, more purposeful, more directed, more powerful life. A life of growth, change, and helpfulness. I'm going to start paying more attention to what my goals add up to. How about you/ -- Doug Smith What have you learned today?

How far can we go? How much more can we do? What else can we achieve? There is always more growth in us. Without growth, we decay. Without growing, we're slowing down. I don't have time for slowing down, how about you? What we can be is more than we've ever been. But we must move forward. When it's too hard to move forward, get some help but keep moving. There's a new you that you haven't even met yet. Are you curious? I am. I am getting ready to meet a new me I've never met before. Someone stronger. Someone more resilient. Someone whose bruises look like medals. Someone whose scars look like beauty marks. Someone who can take trouble and turn it into something bright, useful, and helpful. Who knows what we'll be next? Who knows what we can be? It can be more than we've ever  been before. Let's get started. -- Doug Smith

Who are you today? What's different about you today from yesterday? Even though change can make us dizzy, it's the way of growth. Many famous creative people are known for their uncanny ability to evolve: Madonna, Bob Dylan, Meryl Streep, Miles Davis - and we can do it, too. While holding onto what works, we can grow in other directions. We can ride the creative train of change. Creative leaders constantly reinvent themselves. Where's your next change? What's your next phase? What's your first step in a new direction? -- Doug Smith doug smith training: developing creativity Front Range Leadership: Training Supervisors for Success

How are you at keeping up? Change is so rapid that adjusting, and evolving, has become a full time job. We roll with the changes, we drive new changes, we let go of the old. It's not getting easier, and it's getting faster. I work at it. I keep learning. I keep adjusting, and still... By the time I have it figured out it's time to try something else. Instead of getting frustrated, here's how I like to look at it: change is growth. Faster change is faster growth. Getting better is growth, so the more change the better. Are you with me on that? Because the alternative is slow-motion decay, and we don't want that, do we? -- Douglas Brent Smith