doug smith training

  Leadership is a combination of big-picture thinking and attention to detail. One without the other will leave you lacking. Big picture thinking is the inspiration, the invitation, the appeal to all of your senses for some noble cause.  Attention to detail gets it all done.  Everything will work out when you work out the details. Work out the details. -- doug smith

The goal is not the point. The goal is the way TO the point. High performance leaders keep their focus on the mission and then work on goals that support that mission. Anything else is piece work. -- doug smith  

  Have you ever found yourself involved in a mission that feels disconnected from who you really are? It happens far too often. We start by chasing a dream, get distracted by chasing money, and get misdirected by a mission that makes no sense for who we are. Maybe it's the company's mission. Maybe it's your own mission that got lost in the fog of survival. We sometimes face a decision: keep working that mission, or listen to our heart. If your mission is forcing you into actions that make you uncomfortable from a values standpoint, you've likely reached a decision point. If your character and values can't survive your mission, abandon the mission. It's both difficult and simple. Simple in that it tells you what you already know, and difficult because the work still wants to be done, your boss still needs you to comply, your organization has already decided for you. You decide. It's your decision.  -- doug smith  

  How far afield have you ever gotten distracted?  Have you ever gotten so far distracted that you forgot who you are? Not literally who you are, but rather who you are supposed to be in your work. Your role, your vision, your mission -- your PURPOSE for working. Presumably who you ARE is safely lit in your heart. It's in our work that we can get confused. At least, that's true for me. I've at times taken assorted bunny trails down jobs that were not suited for my purpose. I did them, whether it was as a favor, or out of a desire to serve, or to simply earn some money -- but I could always feel, in those times, a gentle tug telling me "hey, this isn't you..."  Like a small cat patting me on the head when I shouldn't be sleeping. Like a small puppy tugging on my pants leg when I should be outside, moving around...that gentle but irritating feeling that there is better work ahead, but what I'm doing is getting in the way. It's easy to do. Life will l

  How is your sense of direction? By that, I mean -- do people know where you are directing them? Are you providing the vision that pulls people toward higher performance?  High performance leaders make the map to their plan extremely clear.  Doubt causes delay. Certainty creates energy. Make your message clear. -- doug smith

Have you ever seen steps to nowhere? Since I travel a lot, I occasionally see a building with stairs that appear to lead nowhere, at least no where safe. Access is only semi-blocked, so the danger exists even if the destination is sketchy. Does your team have a destination? Have you updated your team's mission this year? Things are changing so quickly that what may have seemed important as recently as a year ago could be out of date now (or soon.) Is your team up to date? Do you have a vision for a vital future? Avoid those stairs to nowhere. Plan a vital, energized, noble future for your team. Get them involved. Show them how a high performance leader leads. -- doug smith

Money is important. High performance leaders must pay attention to money and how it effects their team. When you can, make sure that your team is positively impacting the larger organization's bottom line. That keeps you in the game. And -- there's more. Much more. What is it about your team's work is transformational? How much are you improving the lives of others? Is your team helping to create a better world? We can care about money and still be noble. We can focus on important areas such as service, helpfulness, safety, truth, happiness, heath, quality -- whatever it is that is there for your team to prosper, drive, and deliver on. The bottom line is not the only line worth measuring. It's not even the most important. Define your most important bottom line, and make money subordinate to that. -- doug smith

Values evolve over time. If values are ever true, they refine without denying what once was. They grow. They distill. They find ways to self-generate the results they aspire to. Here are some values I've refined into calls to action. I don't just agree with them, I expect to do them. To show them. To act on them. Sometimes it goes well, and often I fall short. The journey is a long one, so keep going. Here are my current calls to action: Be your best Stay curious Say yes! Communicate, Connect, Interact! Challenge yourself Reach out with compassion Expand your possibilities Appreciate Play nice, work hard, stay smart Learn constantly What are your values? What are your calls to action? -- doug smith

Identify the vision and the goal is easier to see. -- 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

What do you dream about? For years I dreamed about starting my own training company. I yearned to set my own hours and choose my own topics. So I set a goal to do that. Are your goals pointing you in the direction of your dreams? If you complete all of the goals on your list today, would your dreams come true? Possibly not. That's OK. But, are they moving you in that direction? What do you dream about? What occupies your mind? Given three wishes, what would they be? You know how to turn a wish into results: make it a goal. Set an action word, result, and deadline. And then get busy. You do want your dreams to come true, right? -- Doug Smith Are you interested in how to achieve your goals? Contact me about scheduling or attending our next How To Achieve Your Goals webinar.

Who knows about your true vision? Not some slogan, tag line, or inherited mission given to you by someone you don't even know, but rather your true vision. What you see as the reason you are here. What you hope, plan, and expect to accomplish in your lifetime. That's a big one, isn't it? Big because it requires thought and effort and big because as we form our vision we may have absolutely no idea how to accomplish it. If it's too easy it's not a vision, it's just an incremental goal. A vision is tough work. Why go at it alone? Why not get the help you'll need to bring that vision about? Why not find out if that vision even makes any sense (the world probably already has enough Don Quioxotes tilting at windmills out there). A vision is only as powerful as those who share it. Build your vision with your allies. Develop your vision with your friends. Create your vision with your mentors. Get the help you need. You'll need it. -- Doug Smith

Why are you a leader?  What do you hope to get out of being a leader? Chances are, you got started in leadership for any one of thousands of reasons, but soon realized that what leaders do is help other people to achieve goals:  - your goals - your team's goals - your organization's goals - the personal goals of your associates To do this takes a combination of coaching, counseling, helping, equipping, encouraging, prodding, following up -- and basically, serving.  The purpose of leadership is serving a higher purpose that helps other people live better lives. It's what centered leaders do. It's what you can do. Why would you ever settle for less? -- Doug Smith

If your vision cannot endure the actions of your team, one of them needs to change. Have you assembled the people you need to accomplish your vision? Or is your team pulling you into strange and unexpected directions? Before you lose track of your vision, get focus on your team. Check your processes, procedures, plans and people. Focus on your vision and adjust your team appropriately. -- Doug Smith