High Performance Leadership

There's a lot of good advice out there. It's tempting to gather it all, gather some more, and then keep gathering. And, we should keep learning. Oh, and if we want to  put all that learning to use, we should use it.  Your philosophy only works if you do. -- doug smith

Jobs are a balance of learning and repetition. We forge new ground and we walk on well-worn territory. The routine wears us down, even when it's necessary.  High performance leaders show the value of a well practiced, skillfully executed job routine. Discipline in work comes from the extra effort of pushing thru when the task is due. Maybe you did it before, maybe you'll do it again -- give it all you've got right now. Someone is watching. -- doug smith 

Do you envy people who seem to be naturally gifted? They seem so comfortable in their craft that the work is invisible and all that remains is the gift, the talent, the performance? While the raw material may well be a gift, the actual deliverable is the result of hard work. Musicians must practice. Actors must rehearse. Athletes must work out. There are so many talented people working as hard as they can right now that no-one gets to slack off and shine. The stakes are too high, the field is too crowded. The good news is that as crowded as the field is, there is room for everyone. All it takes is work. Hard work. Creative inspiration isn't magic -- it comes from hard work. Note to self: do the work. -- doug smith

Many years ago when I was music director and touring with Child's Play Touring Theater we were putting together a show for children with a work-related theme. Children are often fascinated by jobs, by what their parents do, by what they see adults doing in the world. It was just one of hundreds of shows that we did, but I remember one song from that show that I wrote especially. The first verse was: there's a little bit of work to be done an American phenomenon there will always be a little bit of work to be done to be done, to be done, by everyone... I can't take credit for the lyrics because we used poems and stories written by children as the basis for our material. It was fun. And it reminds me today that what was true then is still true today. There's a little bit of work to be done. We have problems to solve. We have goals to achieve. High performance leaders are never finished. Even as I near retirement age (don't fret, my bills will keep ...