High Performance Leadership

It is not always the answer, but surprisingly often it is: It's easier to hire a motivated worker than it is to motivate an unmotivated one. That's not the end of the story. It could be great hiring advice though. Whatever the technical skills are for people you are interviewing to hire, be sure to ask some questions about motivation that can't be answered with a yes or no. Questions like: When were you the most motivated in your life? What kinds of work motivate you? What's your approach to a work day when for one reason or another you don't feel very motivated? If you had been here for one week, what would we see that shows us how motivated you are? Start there, and follow-up with more questions. Give each candidate time to convince you whether or not they will bring motivation to your organization.  You can teach people almost anything, but it's always easier if they are already motivated. -- doug smith  

As a leader, do you ever sing the side-hustle blues? That's when your team seems distracted because they're tired from working multiple jobs. When I worked in food service it was all around me: team members who were already wrestling with variable schedules and also juggling multiple jobs. Maybe because they enjoyed their other gigs -- like the musicians, actors, artists, and writers on the team. Or maybe because otherwise they couldn't make ends meet so there were the side-hustles in driving, delivering, retailing, and add-on food service shifts.  People are wonderful and their potential is unlimited but their physical selves are not unlimited. Which can bring on the side hustle blues when people are tough to schedule, hard to motivate, and just plain tired. You'll never eliminate the gigs that team members enjoy, nor should you. Those are not the ones really sapping the energy as much as those that they are in only for the money. Employees won't need an only-for-t...

New ideas won't break you but they can make you bigger. -- 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  

It's not the problem that upsets you, it's not getting what you want. Get clarity about what you REALLY want, and then work relentlessly to get it. If it was easy, how much fun would it REALLY be? -- doug smith  

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

Beat your average performance every day and you elevate your expectations, AND your performance.  You know the drill: a little adds up to a lot. -- 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

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

Progress provokes discomfort. The alternative invites extinction. Endure the growing pains and keep going. -- doug smith  

If a goal energies you, motivates you, and excites you it's a goal worth working hard on. To quote the Beastie Boys, "Get Busy!" -- doug smith  

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  

  As far as you've come, there is more to go... High performance leaders push beyond the status quo. -- doug smith

  It's been a year. It's been more than a year, it's been a dilly. Are you building muscle? Are you building resilience? Are you creating greater possibilities by hanging in there and doing your best. Of course you are. And we can even do better. We are all far stronger and far more vulnerable than we've ever imagined. Keep thinking, keep singing, keep going strong. Just look at those muscles now! -- doug smith

  It's easy to get discouraged. Work, people, even life throws more challenges than we expect or ever ask for. Keep going. Obstacles will slow you down and pull on your momentum until it screeches like the bad brakes on an old Chevy. Keep going. Tasks will blur together in a fog of business that makes that vision ever harder to see and follow. Keep going. Keep going. Your work is important, and it's just beginning. -- doug smith

The secret of joy in work is contained in one word -- excellence. To know how to do something well is to enjoy it. -- Pearl S. Buck

We are only at our best when we are doing our best. Do your best. -- doug smith

The world is filled with possibilities. You're in charge of the ones available to you. Don't think so? Then, that's your answer. Think so? Then, start digging. Sometimes the gold is deep. -- doug smith