High Performance Leadership

What do you want? Are you getting what you want? Intention is direction. Decide. And, then go. -- doug smith  

We can rationalize anything without making it justified. Leaders should always ask: who is this good for other than me?  High performance leadership does NOT mean performance at any cost. It means performance that serves a noble cause while also benefiting people. High performance leadership is a combination. Results without relationships are shallow and temporary. Take care of both, and you'll be a high performance leader. -- doug smith  

There's no avoiding competition -- or at least, when you do avoid it there could be unsavory side-effects if it's there anyway. Even when we prefer, and manage to facilitate collaboration and cooperation INSTEAD of competition there will still be some competition blending into the mix. It's part of who we are. It's largely how we operate.  I didn't invent that, I just navigate it. How about you? Whether we are collaborating or competing we should do it with respect. There's no reason to disparage the competition.  Calling your competition names just makes you a name-caller. It doesn't make you a better competitor. So go ahead and compete if that's the nature of your game. But mix a bit of collaboration and cooperation in there and see how that improves your results.  Your support team just might be larger than you think! -- doug smith  

Do you enjoy success? If that seems like a silly question (Of COURSE I enjoy success!) think about it from another perspective.  Sometimes we can taper down our enjoyment and appreciation of something because we know it's not perfect yet, and how can we be happy if it's not perfect? I do that somethings. It's not helpful. OF COURSE  it's not perfect: nothing else and nothing ever will be. There are no perfect people, processes, performances, or plan. If we wait for perfection, we'll just keep waiting (and probably without gaining ground...) Let's do both. Let's enjoy our current level of success and achievement while also working to improve it. Performance must constantly improve, AND we can enjoy our exiting improvements. -- doug smith  

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 problem with trying to control someone is the inevitable rebellion that it sparks. Go for influence, not control. -- doug smith  

Leaders need courage. They also need compassion. We can use our compassion to balance our courage, and use our courage to increase our compassion. Compassion is so vital we must never give up on it. No matter how angry we are, no matter how disappointed we feel, no matter how high the stakes -- stay with compassion. If it cannot be done with compassion, it should not be done. -- doug smith

How often do you check your work? When you're leading others you've got to check their work, too.  High performance leaders verify and then verify their verification. Things change.  Mistakes happen. Check to be sure. -- doug smith

Have you ever pushed a car in order to get it started? Back in the day, that was a regular occurrence, especially when I drove old beater-type cars.  I had a volkswagen van once that I had to park on a hill so that it would be easy enough to start in the morning -- giving it a push downhill is so much easier. It's always harder to put a standing object in motion. Even as leaders we can get stuck and find it hard to start. Push. Give yourself a boost. Make that push to get started and momentum will be your friend. Once you're moving the rest is much, much easier. -- doug smith

The best coaches drive discipline thru daily habits. -- doug smith  

                      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 eighty-hour work weeks do you put in? That's not meant to judge, but to ponder. I've put in plenty of eighty and more hour work weeks and while I don't regret any of them I know that they haven't all paid-off proportionately. It's possible to work so hard that you miss what's important. It's a frequent paradox that the longer one works they less productive they become. I've learned to tell myself: Take a break. Relax. Let it all come to you, flow thru you, and go on its merry way -- if only for a little while. Drink water, exercise, meditate, pray, and relax.  To be truly centered, to be truly focused and balanced, high performance leaders need to be healthy. Healthy leaders build healthy teams. Take care of yourself. -- doug smith

  When was the last time that you were frustrated in trying to learn something? If you can't remember, maybe it's time to learn something new -- something tough and challenging. Truly worthwhile endeavors are often struggles. The satisfaction comes not only in the final result, but also in the progress toward that final result. The best way to avoid a sad let-down once a goal is achieved is to enjoy the journey all the way thru. Celebrate your progress! Not so much that you feel finished, but enough so that you feel able. Celebrate progress, and then keep on progressing. As that beat poet and philosopher Harry X. Tudas once said, "Feel in the groove but continue to improve." -- doug smith

If you visit the dark side, don't get stuck there. -- doug smith 

Freedom without responsibility produces more harm than good. Responsibility without freedom sparks certain revolution.  High performance leaders don't FIND the balance, they CREATE the balance. Start by listening. -- doug smith

The best leaders will eventually make things easier for you, but first they toughen you up. And, that's not easy at all. -- doug smith

  You could spend a lifetime studying leadership and what leaders do. You'll likely spend your lifetime doing that whether or not you planned on it because when it comes to leadership there is always something more to learn. Most of what high performance leaders do is solve problems and achieve goals.  Much goes into that. Projects come and go. People help (or don't) and they also come and go. To move forward, to implement plans, to make the world a better place, leaders need to solve problems and achieve their goals. What do you think?

Fortunately, you are entirely in charge of you. Your reactions belong to your set of choices. When people get upset, it feels like an invitation, but it remains a choice.  Angry people can change the temperature of the room, but they don't have to change you. -- doug smith

Jobs are a balance of learning and repetition. We forge new ground and we walk on well-worn territory. The routine wears us down, even when it's necessary.  High performance leaders show the value of a well practiced, skillfully executed job routine. Discipline in work comes from the extra effort of pushing thru when the task is due. Maybe you did it before, maybe you'll do it again -- give it all you've got right now. Someone is watching. -- doug smith 

Leadership: you can plan the very best plans possible and still miss. Whatever you were expecting, get ready for a surprise. Is that sometimes annoying? Sure -- and if we frame it cleverly enough, the surprises can also be energizing. They are coming anyway, let's make the best of it. -- doug smith