doug smith training

  Talking about what you want will do more to solve a problem than talking about what you don't have. Shift the focus and open the door to more than a thousand possibilities. -- doug smith

Do you want to really compliment someone and make them feel truly valued, really respected? Giving someone your complete attention is the best, most sincere compliment.  You'll feel great, and they will remember it a long time. -- doug smith  

When a problem surrounds you it often confounds you. Keep focused on the goal beyond the problem. --- doug smith

Do other people upset your inner peace? Do you ever find yourself getting emotional over something someone said, or did? Oh, have I ever done that! So many times! It's not inevitable though, and as leaders we do well to get our emotions under control. We do control our emotions. It may not feel that way, because emotions are extremely strong. We can tame them, we can control them, we can manage our emotions. In a world where emotionally intelligent leaders are needed more than ever, gaining that sense of inner peace is essential. Taking a deep breath. Reflecting on what we've learned. Meditating. Praying. Expressing gratitude. Building social equity by serving with kindness and compassion. The work is long and steady and -- strictly optional.  Will you take the option?  Develop your emotional core of strength, focus, and centeredness and it will serve you (and the people you serve) well. Your inner peace belongs to you.  -- doug smith  

The art of leadership includes knowing when to be sensitive and when to be tough. It could even be a combination of sensitive (caring about the feelings of others) AND tough (standing your ground.) High performance leaders balance sensitivity and toughness to make sure they don't break themselves or anyone else.  -- doug smith  

What controls your focus? There are so many choices. We can focus on trivial activities and simply pass the time. We can focus on noble causes but miss taking action to move those causes forward. We can focus on our goals and direct ourselves accordingly. It's up to us. It's up to you. No one else can decide where you'll focus but you. Find what matters most to you, and focus on that. -- doug smith  

You don't need permission to focus on what matters most. -- doug smith

How many top priorities do you have? The trouble with too many top priorities is getting them done. Too many top priorities means you don't really have priorities -- just a really long list of goals. Have all the goals you want. Goals are great. I've know people who carry a list of 100 goals. They check them off one by one, and some have truly accomplished nearly half. That takes time, and feels more like a bucket list than a goals list. Top goals are what you work on first. Top goals are what you prioritize above all else. Top goals are where your results make a meaningful distance. High performance leaders show the courage to focus on five top goals. How many do you focus on? -- doug smith

High performance leaders take care of the details. What helps the most in taking care of the right details is keeping focus. Knowing what is important is the first step, acting on what is most important is the next step. No one can do everything, so high performance leaders maintain a sharp focus. To determine that focus, identify your goals. Align those goals with your mission, and the focus develops naturally. Prioritizing becomes easier when you know what is most important. What is your focus? Our goals reveal our focus, so be sure to focus those goals! -- doug smith Leadership Call to Action: Play hard, work hard, be smart!

Are you easily distracted? I sure am. Shiny objects appear in front of me and suddenly I'm working on something different than I started to. Eventually, I have to get back to what I was doing. I've learned to (whenever I can!) delay that distraction and instead focus on what I'm working on. Finish something. Move forward. Focus on a goal. Get stuff done. It's still not easy. Sometimes I slip. But I'm getting better. How about you? Most distractions are less valuable than what they are distracting us from. High performance leaders focus. Focus on the mission. Focus on the goal. Focus on what matters most. -- doug smith

Have you ever seen someone who is so flexible that it's hard to know where they stand? There have been times when I felt that way myself. It feels free, but then limits because it's so hard to make a decision. How do you choose? What's best? I've since learned that it helps in making decisions to rely on a solid set of values, a strong sense of purpose, and a committed set of goals. Everything else, from projects to past times, falls in line with those three things. When you add your sense of faith to your values (or as one of your values) it becomes much easier to see when it's necessary to be flexible and when it's necessary to remain firm. High performance leaders maintain flexibility without losing focus.  They know when to be flexible and when to be firm. How about you? -- Doug Smith

If you take your goals for granted, so will everyone else. Keep your focus on your goals! They won't get done without you! -- Doug Smith

How energized is the team that is working on your biggest goal? No team? What will it take to interest others in your goal? Isn't it worth the time, the effort, the energy to get as many people involved as it will take to achieve your biggest and most noble goal? It starts with focus. Keeping your focus on that wonderful outcome. Identifying your true mission. Aligning your efforts with all of your work. Give people focus, and the energy to drive that focus appears. A brilliant idea is irresistible. Let people know your brilliant ideas. We create energy with our focus.  And energizing your team is a critical part of achieving your goals. -- Doug Smith

Have you noticed how much your performance depends on your focus? Whenever I am clear about my focus, and steady in my attention, my performance improves. It can reach the level of flow, where I'm no longer even aware of time passing or skill execution -- but that only comes after mindfully keeping my focus on the here and now, on what I'm doing. How about you? When you start with your focus, do you achieve better results? Are you goals easier to achieve? Even when our mission is clear, we need to keep our focus on identifying that mission and bringing our actions to the front of achieving our goals in service of that mission. Your performance starts with your focus. Do you want to improve your performance? Improve your focus. What's your focus for today? -- Doug Smith

Do you ever have someone stand between you and your goal? Does it ever sometimes seem that the actions of someone were an intention attempt to thwart your progress? Maybe, like me, you were over thinking the whole thing. People do things that we would not choose or pay for. People surprise us. Our job, as centered high performance leaders is to keep our focus anyway. Centered leaders forgive without giving up the goal. There's no success in revenge or in keeping resentment. Success is in remembering your mission and acting relentlessly on your goals. With that kind of focus, with that kind of passion, even people who at first seemed opposed to your efforts may find themselves eventually strongly attracted to them. And if not, why not forgive them until they do? -- Doug Smith

Even when you have a clear goal, do you sometimes find it difficult to achieve it? I know how easy it is to get distracted. Urgent needs pull us away. Other people's goals come between us and our goals. Before we know it, our important goals can seem unimportant and end up not done. Wouldn't your life be more exciting if you focused more on achieving your goals? What if you acted as if your most important goal were your most important thing? What if you gave it all of your best attention? Set clear and exciting goals, create an action plan, and then act relentlessly on your plan. Because when we focus on achieving our goals, we do. -- Doug Smith doug smith training: how to achieve your goals Front Range Leadership: High performance leadership training

When you run into obstacles are you ever tempted to blame someone? The goal is within your site, but something keeps blocking it so it must be someone's fault, right? Maybe not. And even if there is someone to blame, blaming them doesn't get you closer to your goal. Relentless action gets you there. Constant follow-up gets you there. Persistence and patience gets you there. Setbacks are not always rational and there isn't usually one thing to blame. So drop the blame. Move on with the action. Stay curious. Focus on your goal and (most importantly) the people who can and will help you achieve that goal. Because once you've achieved your goal, blame doesn't matter, does it? -- Doug Smith

Are you curious? Do you dig a little deeper to find out what's really going on when things seem odd? Do you keep a positive focus on your goals? High performance leaders stay positive, focused, and curious. What does that mean to you? What do you as a leader do to stay positive? What keeps you focused? What does that look like? Why is it important for a leader to stay curious? Could you prove to a detective that you have a long record of curiosity? What is your proof? -- Doug Smith