High Performance Leadership

How will you inspire yourself to work on your goals today? Today, out of nowhere, this little acronym occurred to me: GOALS Go strong Overcome obstacles Act relentlessly Learn constantly Serve the greater good What do you think? Maybe it's not a whole training program. Maybe it's not a teleclass. Time will tell. But, it makes sense for today, don't you think? Goals require us to go strong and act decisively. We must take action! When we do take action we are likely to experience resistance (from ourselves and from others) so it makes sense to work to overcome those obstacles. Don't let them stop us. Move forward. Which brings us to the need to act relentlessly. We'll get distracted. We'll be given new work to do. Relationships will bring up new needs. But even while all that and more is going on we much work our plan. We must act relentlessly on our plan. When we are assertively working on a plan we are likely to make some mistakes. New oppo...

Do your people know for certain that you expect very high performance? Do you create an environment where your people are constantly challenged to work toward the next level? To exceed customer expectations? To grow new ideas and put outdated ideas out of their misery? It starts with your expectations. Whatever you are currently expecting from your people, I invite you to expect more. Let them know their journey has just begun. Let them know that you will support them in their struggles and that you fully expect them to struggle. If there is no struggle, they are likely holding onto easy expectations. You can do better. They can do better. Strong expectations fuel strong performance. Make sure that your expectations are strong. -- Douglas Brent Smith

Do you like being followed up on your goals? I really think goals are important. Helping people achieve their goals is what I do. And yet -- and yet, when I get followed up on, it can irritate me. I didn't expect it. It feels rough. And yet it helps me get that goal achieved. This week I've been working with a nurse because my mom just got out of the hospital. Part of the deal was getting her medications in order, organizing them and helping her get them into one of those pill boxes for the week arrangements. Between doctor and physical therapy appointments, trips to the grocery store, and shuttling people around I just didn't quite get around to buying that pill container.  Until the nurse followed up with me. Then, guess what. I bristled just a little, and then I went out and bought it. Mom's pills are all nicely organized now, thank you very much. And thank you nurse Linda, for the follow-up. How do you react to follow-up? Are you getting all the follow...

Do you roll with your instincts? Trust your impulses? Rely on your sixth sense? Instincts can serve us well. They can also be flat wrong. How do you know? How can you tell? Practice. Research. Learn. Trust your instincts, but prove them carefully with data. The further you get pulled from testing your point of view, the tougher it is to save you from yourself when things go sideways. And things will go sideways. How do you test your instincts? -- Douglas Brent Smith

Our next teleclass is free!  How to Achieve Your Goals  is open for registration now right on our  home page  or on the  info page  for the teleclass. WHEN: Tuesday, October 29 at 10:00 am Mountain Time You'll get the call-in number and download link when you register here . Here's what to expect: With all of the resources available on goals, why is it that we so often miss goals that matter the most?  During this session you will set into motion a plan for prioritizing and achieving your most important goals.  The goal setting and achieving habits that you create will serve you well in every new project and goal that you want to accomplish. In your personal life as well as your work-life you will find the material you cover in  How To Achieve Your Goals  to be action-packed and results oriented. You’ll participate in a highly interactive workshop where you explore, discover, and practice the skills you need to achieve y...

Can you hear it? Maybe it's softly speaking to you or maybe it's more of a loud scream of excited desperation but it's there: Your problem is calling you. Hey you, over there -- don't you want to fix this thing? Don't you want to put this problem behind you? Don't you want to feel the thrill of putting this problem away, of developing a great solution and making people really happy about it? Well, people will be happy if they want to but you know what I mean -- solving the problem will take the pain out of some folks' situation -- and even if it's just YOUR situation, don't you think that's worth it? Your problem is calling you -- why not act now? -- Douglas Brent Smith Get some help with your problem by booking our Solving Problems workshop at your location.

Does it sometimes feel like dog-eat-dog out there? Have you refined your edge to a sharp, cutting point? It does take energy to achieve your goals. It DOES take persistence. It does take the ability to disregard naysayers who stand in your way. But it also takes kindness. It also takes compassion. In our path to achieving our goals we do best to balance our skills of clarity, courage, creativity and compassion. Our beliefs should keep us going, and should keep us focused on how our work and life effects other people. Beliefs that leave room for any unkindness are flawed. It might feel like it takes longer to consider other people -- but in the long run can't you feel how right it is? -- Douglas Brent Smith Check our teleclass: How to achieve your goals