High Performance Leadership

When it sounds like I'm preaching I'm  primarily talking to myself. -- doug smith  

Do the people on your team get enough appreciation? Are you sure? No one wants to be taken for granted. We all benefit from recognition and appreciation. Plus, when high performance leaders give out appreciation, they discover that not only does the person who is receiving the appreciation enjoy it, it's also enjoyable for the giver. It's free, and the results are wonderful. Appreciation brings its own reward. -- doug smith

  Obvious, yet essential: The closer you get to a goal the less distance you have to go.  Keep going. -- doug smith

"It's just too hard!" they said, "and I can't find the motivation." "Where do you think motivation comes from?" "Powerful speakers, wonderful leaders, carefully written goals...I don't know." "You probably DO know. All of that is true -- we can find motivation in our circumstance, in our leaders, in our goals, but even if motivation smacks us in the face with a big wet kiss, unless we do something about it, what does it really mean?" "Is that supposed to be motivating?" "Only if you want it to be..." "But things are so tough!" "Sure they are. Always have been. Not likely to change. If the world was easy the soft would rule. If you don't want to BE ruled, you might need to find some inner motivation -- especially when you need it." Motivation matters most when times get tough. Find your motivation wherever you can. The reality is, motivation comes from yourself. -- doug smith

  It's a good start when you give it your heart. -- doug smith

  Set goals that set you up for success. You deserve it. Today's the day. -- doug smith

The trouble with assigned goals is that it's within our nature to avoid them. That's true even if YOU are the one assigning the goal. The first question for any goal is: what is your motivation to achieve it? What will you get out of it? How will it make you feel? If those answers come hard to you, it might not be a goal for you. Question any goal that doesn't promise to make your life better. -- doug smith

Today you can achieve something you have never done before. Success is your unofficial middle name. Embrace your inner power. There are things that you can do that no one else can do. You can do that now. --  doug smith

You are constantly changing -- getting better, faster, and smarter. Grow each day and float powerfully, like a butterfly, to your new destination. You have got this! -- doug smith

When you face today's challenges, no matter how early or late in the day, please remember: You are just about as good a leader as you want to be Your team will respect you when you lead from your heart You have what it takes to balance results and relationships - all day long Now go out there and create your best day yet! -- 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

Are you waiting for an epiphany of discovery? Do you think that creativity is going to sneak up on you and then surprise you with a flash of inspiration? Here's the news: it  does not happen that way. No sudden burst. No bright light of inspiration. No spirit-like brilliant glimmer of impulse.  Creativity is hard work. Putting in the time. Steady development. Practice. Making mistakes and correcting your direction. Creativity is more the result of a steady supply of study and work than it is a blast of sudden inspiration. You may get that blast of inspiration -- but probably only after putting in the work. Put in the work. -- Doug Smith

How would your team describe your goals? Ambitious? Lofty? Aggressive? Self-serving? Noble? What is a noble goal? I think a goal that is noble intends no harm. It drives action toward making things better for others. Noble goals create a better world, without creating any losers. Great leaders inspire noble goals. They focus on aligning their actions with accomplishing their mission -- a mission that simply makes things better. It's too easy to be self-serving. It's too easy to check the box on goals that highlight our strengths. The growth occurs in noble goals. Solving difficult problems. Creating opportunities for others. Living large without bloating the ego. Noble goals are tougher. That's why they lead to better results. Kick your own high performance leadership into gear today. Talk to someone about how noble your shared goals are. You might just inspire someone. -- Doug Smith

Have you ever seen a work of art and wondered what burst of creativity led to its creation? Inspiration is a funny thing. It's easy to romanticize it as some magical flash that happens  to us. We're minding our own business and wham! Inspiration! That's not what really happens. Creating something wonderful takes more than inspiration, and inspiration comes to those who have paved the way. People who have paved the way thru practice. Thru handwork. Thru training and coaching and trial and error. Lots of error. Lots of practice. To create something that stirs the emotions, that feels as if it IS spontaneous, takes much more than spontaneous inspiration. Emotionally moving creativity is hard work. As one of my best acting teachers often said, "Are you doing the work?" -- Doug Smith

Do you energize yourself with at least one inspirational quote of the day? I subscribe to many email newsletters and I enjoy the ones that provide a short quote to get me going.  One of the newsletters I subscribe to comes from KristinCoach and Kristin Taliaferro is consistently apt at picking wonderfully inspirational quotes. This one reminds us about playing a bigger game. Here is her selection for today: We have all been hypnotized into thinking that we are smaller than we are. Just as an undersized flowerpot keeps a mighty tree root-bound or a little fishbowl keeps goldfish tiny, we have adapted, adjusted, and accommodated to a Lilliputian (trivial or small) life. But place the same tree in an open field or the fish in a lake, and they will grow to hundreds of times their size. Unlike the tree or goldfish, you are not dependent on someone else to move you. You have the power to move yourself. You can step into a broader domain and grow to your full potential.  --...

I am never bored. Whenever someone tells me that they are bored, I do not understand. How can that be possible? There is so much to do! There are so many problems to solve! There are so many goals to achieve! And, there is so much fun to be had in the arts, in sports, in interpersonal conversation. Can inspiration be the same way? I think so. I never lack inspiration. I might lack motivation (Judi has told me that I occasionally procrastinate -- even though I teach NOT to!) but I am always inspired. I am inspired by potential, by possibility, by other people, by goals, by a mission, by my beliefs. Inspiration is free and plentiful. When we nurture our own inspiration it grows, and when our inspiration grows so does our potential and our power. It's truly wonderful. Hey, it's inspiring. High performance leaders never lack for inspiration - they create it. Create inspiration today - in yourself, and in others. See how cool that can be. What's inspiring you right now?...

Have you ever been caught waiting for inspiration? I've had times when I knew that something needed to be done but I was waiting for inspiration. I'll be ready when I'm ready, I'd fool myself into thinking. What's the best way to be ready? -- get started. There's no inspiration to wait for -- only the inspiration that we create. How will you inspire yourself today? -- Doug Smith