High Performance Leadership

Did you ever have someone who kept insisting on a particular deadline, whether or not the deadline made sense? I've had bosses who set arbitrary deadlines and then treated them as if they were the most important thing in the world. One in particular kept asking his favorite question, "Are you done yet?" Deadlines ARE important. What we are working on is important. Deadlines matter. But why we are doing what we are doing may determine how much effort and urgency we give to the task. Why matters. Importance is relative. Priorities are necessary so that we spend our limited time working on what truly matters most. Why is more important than when. As a leader, when you are delegating, help the team member identify why they are doing the assignment. As a highly productive, high performance leader, when you prioritize your own tasks, ask yourself why number one is number one in order of priority. Why matters. Why is more important than when. Wouldn't you rath...

Do you ask why frequently? I once had a boss who asked why over and over -- beyond a reasonable amount of times. It starts to feel like a persecution. We need to know why, but we also need to use the question carefully. How we ask "why" matters, as does how many times we use it. When we're doing a root cause analysis on a problem, we might ask why five or six times on a perceived cause to search for its root. But that's on a thing, on a process, on a condition -- not on a person. Go ahead and ask "why" but realize that most people don't enjoy the question. -- Doug Smith

Do you know why you have a big problem? Before you start working on the cause, before you even think about thinking about solutions, ask yourself why you have this problem. Is it a goal you haven't achieved? Is it because you have taken on a new project? Is it about people or conflict? Knowing why we have a problem is eye-opening. I've even discovered that what I thought was a problem was not even a problem once I identified why it concerned me or why it was there. We do things to invite problems. We may not even be aware of it, but we open the door to problems when we try new things, make big changes, meet new people, expand our teams. We do need to do all those essential things of growth -- it's just that when we do, we invite new challenges. Embrace those challenges. Figure out how you invited that problem to the party. And then decide what's next... -- Doug Smith

Questions are powerful. I've been lucky to work with two powerful mentors. Each helped me to realize and utilize the importance of questions. Lester T. Shapiro told me, "The principle role of a leader is to ask relevant questions." Relevant questions get to the heart of things. Relevant questions get to the motivations, needs, and causes of things. Ask relevant questions. Another great mentor, Andrew Oxley, told me "If you don't like the answer to a question, ask a better question." Powerful stuff. And here's the thing: there are always better questions. We need never be the victim of someone else's poor communication skills again. Simply ask better questions. It's up to us as leaders to keep the inquiry going long enough to complete a satisfactory dialogue. It can be hard work. The work is worth it. Part of those questions includes the most demanding question of all, the deepest question of all, the question most likely to trigger def...

Remember that advertising slogan for a very questionable publication that kept saying "Inquiring minds want to know"? We all have inquiring minds. We all need to know. And what we need to know the most is why. Why do we do what we do. What makes what we do cool, important, necessary? It's never just a job. It's never just an interaction. There is always a reason why. Know why. Figure out your why. Identify your mission. Then roll with it. -- Doug Smith P.S. My good friend David Spiegel has pointed out that Simon Sinek is a great source on WHY. Here's the video where I first was drawn to his thinking on this: