High Performance Leadership

When was the last time you judged someone or something? For many of us the answer is minutes ago, maybe even seconds ago. We're good, and well practiced at judging. The problem is we judge too much. We judge when people aren't expecting it. We judge when people don't need it. We judge when it doesn't do us any good. We could all judge a lot less. We can keep a sensible manner about us without all of that evaluation. We can learn to accept some things and some people for what and who they are. Especially when they have not asked us to help them change. We should be careful about becoming a self-appointed judge. If no one elected us to that position, chances are they won't care about our judgments anyway. And without the pretense, we could be much more free to enjoy people the way they are. Successful supervisors, centered leaders, and high performance leaders use judging sparingly. -- Douglas Brent Smith

Do you know anyone who has lots of great ideas but seldom (if ever) takes any action on them? How does that work for them? I've seen people who were completely frustrated because they didn't get what they wanted and hoped for -- but didn't do anything to bring their desires into reality, either. I've done that myself. Ideas are great. Actions make things happen. Act on your great ideas and your great ideas can come true. Sit on your ideas and, well, nothing happens. The universe isn't really listening to your wishes with any plans to bring them about. It's up to you. It's up to us to make our dreams come true, to turn them into goals and then plans and then actions. Actions! Our best ideas are only as strong as the actions we take to bring them about. Successful supervisors are people of action. Centered leaders bring great ideas AND decisive actions into play. High performance leaders act on their ideas. What actions can you take today? --...

Run away! Do you ever find yourself simply avoiding a big problem? Even though you know for sure that problem is not going away on its own, it's just too hairy and slippery to figure out right now and it doesn't seem as if the effort is worth the anxiety. But what eventually happens to our anxiety if we do nothing about our problems? It just grows bigger. Before I run from a problem I need to ask if that's the best solution for all concerned. How about you? -- Douglas Brent Smith Are you interested in helping the people in your organization to learn how to solve more problems faster and more collaboratively? Check out our one day workshop on Centered Problem Solving .

Does emotional baggage ever intrude on your problem solving process? Sometimes people bring up feelings that were deeply hidden yet growing. Sometimes unresolved conflict re-emerges creating sparks and noise in your attempts at collaboration. It's easy to get excited about a problem. It's especially tempting when people seem to be making the problem worse. But does getting angry help? Does attaching yourself so tightly to the outcome that you burst help your situation? Probably not. Any problem is big enough without adding emotional baggage. Why not drop the emotional baggage and focus on your goal? -- Douglas Brent Smith

What kind of legacy are you planning? How would you like for people to remember you? Will they remember you as someone who solved problems? Will they recall the goals that you achieved? And most importantly, will people remember you as a centered person of strong character? Let's not wait until the end. Let's not put this off. Let's work on what people remember beginning now. What if your legacy depended completely on what you did today? What would you do? What part of that are you willing to do today? -- Douglas Brent Smith

What does being a supervisor have to do with reducing the glorification of violence? Good question. I think it is everyone's responsibility to find ways to create more peace in the world. Successful supervisors, centered leaders -- bring about more peace in the world. These days that is really a challenge, so every little thing that we can do as individuals matters. One of the other things that I do, in addition to training supervisors for success, is work on films. Usually that is as an actor in a short film production. Sometimes, I'm an extra in a larger film. I haven't scored that really big role in a really big film yet but hey, life is for living the adventure and I'm having a blast with the art that I create. Since when I do get a role my "type" is usually the antagonist (the creepy morale bending bad guy is my specialty -- go figure!). Sometimes that means handling violent action. A gun. A knife. Usually, for my character it involves actions oth...

There are different definitions of centered leadership out there, and each has merit. I highly recommend reading the book "Centered Leadership" by Joanna Barsh. She takes a different view on centered leadership and yet it's harmonious with what I call centered leadership. It's a good read, filled with instantly usable advice on becoming a better leader.  Here is a brief summary of my idea of centered leadership: Centered leadership requires constant development in both the  skills  of leading and the  character  of leadership. Centered leaders maintain the core of their character while selecting and using the leadership skills necessary for each specific situation. Centered, high performance leadership achieves positive, goal oriented results while leading with clarity, courage, creativity and compassion. Centered leaders are dynamic. They find the point of focus, the center, of each moment to be able to operate with a sense of balance and well being. They...