High Performance Leadership

What if we lived like a teacher teaching the unknown, reaching the loved, and preaching possibility? What if we did our best to bring out the best in everyone we encountered? It may not be possible to do that all of the time, but it is certainly possible to do that more often. Let's do that more often! -- doug smith  

  Have you ever had a boss who seemed to ignore you? Feedback was rare, expectations were hidden, they only seemed to talk when it meant confrontation?  That's not motivating, is it? What IS motivating to team members is when their boss pays attention, when their boss knows and understands what is going on. There are so many questions you can ask and find the answers to just by paying attention. Questions like: Who needs more training? Where are the customer complaints coming from? Are there any resources we need to replenish? What are we always running out of and why? How can I be the best possible boss right now? See your team members. Listen to what's going on. Spend time with each and every one of them. Supervisors can motivate a lot by paying attention. People will notice. -- doug smith

  High performance leaders recognize and appreciate the work of their team members. You might think that they are fine, you might think that they are self-motivated, and maybe they are -- but everyone craves recognition. We all want to be appreciated. What gets appreciated gets repeated.  What gets neglected feels disrespected. Let your people know that you care! -- doug smith

Have you ever noticed that people tend to default toward rejection? A "no" comes quicker than a "yes." That's annoying to a sales person, but it's big trouble for a team leader who has a team stuck in the status quo. For teams, for leaders, there IS no status quo. A leader's job is to provoke change, to spark action, to get stuff done. High performance leaders provoke. Not to be bossy, but to be effective. When people aren't responding it's time to lead with more strength, more resilience, more persistence. It's time to provoke. How do you provoke? Keep asking questions. Keep communicating your expectations. Talk about it at length -- so much that if your team member is tired of hearing from you simply say that they will hear less when they have done more. High performance leaders provoke positive actions. And, they don't stop until those positive actions start. -- doug smith