High Performance Leadership

Incremental goals make geometric goals possible. Little goals get giant goals going. Whatever your goal is, break it down into something small enough to do right now. One step forward is all you need to get going.  - - doug smith

Adversity creates urgency for you goals.  You might not want the conflict, but it just might catalyze your actions toward success. Find the good in it and move ahead. Any important goal will spark a bit of conflict. Use that energy to help you achieve your goal. -- doug smith

Keep your goals simple and keep your work on them steady. Goals are nice to have. Action is essential.  -- doug smith  

You don't have to trick yourself or hyper-motivate yourself to achieve your goals -- just pick goals that you really care about. It's not a great goal until you can't stop thinking about it. -- doug smith  

  Goals may not be the cause of all happiness, but they make a lot of happiness possible. What is the most important goal that you're working on today? -- doug smith

Has anyone ever told you not to rest on your laurels? It's OK to celebrate. It's good to reflect on the bright spots. And then, with all of the possibilities in front of us -- to move forward.  -- doug smith

When you set your plans to achieve a goal, do you factor in the unknown? The unexpected is part of every goal calculation. How will other people react? What if your goal changes relevance just as you're able to finish it? What if you change your mind (or your heart?) The design for your plan to achieve a goal should factor in the unknown. -- doug smith

  Standing still is not an option. We can pause, we can relax, and we can certainly breathe, but there is work to be done. There are problems to be solved. There are goals to achieve. The status quo is not for you. High performance leaders push beyond the status quo. -- doug smith

  How many goals are on your list? I've know people to have over a hundred goals on their list. That's fine. Many people have declared great success with an extensive list of goals. For me, that many goals will overwhelm me. To look at a list and see more than fifty unachieved is less than encouraging. Keep the long list if you like, but here's what I suggest:  Show to courage to focus on five top goals.  Put five goals at the top and focus on them until each one is done. Big or small, that's up to you. But leaders get stuff done. Get stuff done! -- doug smith

  We're never done. There are always more goals. There is enough to keep us busy as long as we like. As leaders, there's our choice: do we continue to lead? Do we tackle new goals? I think, yes. Achieving a goal does not promise you perfection. There is always another goal. -- doug smith

How important are your goals? Do you know how I can tell? I can tell how important a goal is by how disciplined and hard I work on them. Big effort = big importance. Little effort = just nice to have. Your effort measures the true value of your goal. I'm going to work today to put more effort into those goals that matter most. How about you? -- doug smith

Goals worth gold require us to be bold. Be bold. -- doug smith

Go for goals that light you up, even if they frighten you. -- doug smith

A goal too long to remember takes too long to solve. Set short goals. -- doug smith

Are you competitive? I am unreasonably competitive. I get so excited about winning that I can work thru vast amounts of trouble to achieve a goal. I've learned though, that while in sports it may be true, in most enterprises your goal does not need to be a zero sum game. You can win without creating any losers. Because if anybody loses, it's not over. If anyone perceives that they were taken advantage of or abused or cheated -- or even if they just feel like they lost without a chance to get what they really wanted -- the struggle is not over. They'll be back. The conflict will rage on. Unless. Unless when you win your opponent also wins. It does not take some imaginary Valhallo to achieve this. It starts with identifying what each person wants. What is the goal? Then, carefully, compassionately, courageously creating many alternatives. The more possibilities you can generate the better your chances are of a victory that won't sour your relationships. You can...

It might seem obvious, but it's worth remembering: strong goals provide you with strength. They provide you with strength of purpose, strength of direction, and strength of endurance.  A goal that you truly care about, that's written with clarity provides help when others try to hinder. Lots will try to get in the way. The best goals resist this resistance and persist to achievement. A solid, clear goal can withstand any judging. -- doug smith Leadership Call to Action Check in on your top three goals today. Are they providing you with strength of direction? How could you make them even stronger? What will you do today toward achieving them?

How many goals do you have? How many of those goals are contributing to your mission, your sense of purpose, your reason for being? It's a smaller list, isn't it. The right goals help make the right decisions. Which list are you working on? -- doug smith

Have you ever been stuck with goals that no longer work for you? Did someone else stick you with those goals, or did you do it to yourself? High performance leaders set lots of goals, but they don't get emotional about realizing that they can't possibly achieve all of them. Life brings complications, strategies change, better goals come along. Working on a project, working for a boss, working on change -- if the goal is big enough there is likely to be disagreement. That's OK. Talk about it. Negotiate. Find a goal you can agree on instead of grudgingly plunging forward on a loser. And then, stay calm. There's no need to take a disagreement personally. We can disagree on goals without becoming disagreeable. -- doug smith

Achieving a goal does not promise you perfection. There is always another goal. Find it. Set it. Get it going. -- doug smith

Are you talking about your goals? Unless you demonstrate enthusiasm for your goals by talking about them with others you may well find yourself blocked. Goals without enthusiasm struggle to bubble to the top. It's easy for busyness to cloud over your vision and keep you mired in the day-to-day. That's what goals are for. Ambitious, noble goals. Goals that inspire you and lift your team to the next level. Goals that propel you toward success. Any goal you don't talk about is slowing you down. Talk about your goals. -- doug smith Doug Smith Training: Developing Leadership Skills