doug smith training

How do you get people to change? Are there ways to increase and improve your influence?

The book Switch, by Chip Heath and Dan Heath is all about influencing others. It's nicely summarized in this video from The Productivity Game, a reliable source of some of my favorite videos.

What was your first job?

My first actual job (not counting being the official scorer and announcer at the local Babe Ruth League) was a short term deal at Burger Chef. It was the early days of fast food. I was in charge of the fries and the grill making burgers. It was a tough job, and I didn't do my best work then.

Did you struggle at all during your first job?

I'm going to guess that you are not in your first job now. Those first job struggles are over.

You're probably not in your last job now, either. A lot can change, and jobs change all the time. I might not even be in my last job and I truly love the job I do.

My point is that we need to push on. We need to keep working hard. We need to keep learning. No matter what your job is or what order it comes in your list of jobs, your job right now is to work hard, to lead effectively, and to help people do better than they are doing right now.

Get those three things right and you can truly call yourself a high performance …

Does your team see and feel the real you?

Are you the same person at work as you are when you are on your own? Or are there masks that you wear, roles that you play, that you leave backstage when the day is done?

Leaders should be authentic. They also have personal lives. Your life at work may not match your life at home, and that's OK. What's NOT OK is if your life at work does not match your values. High performance, centered leaders lead with the heart as well as the mind and they lead with integrity.

In "Alice In Wonderland" there are lots of surprises, lots of tricks, lots of turns, lots of levels of deception. Have you ever known a leader like that? How they achieve their goals and how they think thru their processes can feel like a total mystery.

I'd rather work for a transparent leader who has no secret agenda. I'd rather work for an authentic leader who shows you what you get and tells the truth first time and every time. How about you?

My guess is …

When was the last time you caught someone in a lie? How did you react?

It was probably not that long ago, maybe even today. People lie to each other everyday. Some of those lies we let pass, but some startle us so much in their boldness, in their malice, in their deviousness that we are emotionally moved to do something about it. What should we do?

We could react with anger. That is sure to stir up more anger.

We could react with sadness. Surely, we have every reason to be sad, but what will that accomplish?

A better reaction? Call to question the statement in question. Here are some things that work for me:

"I'm not sure that I understood what you just said, could you say it another way?" or
"I'm not sure I agree with that. Can you convince me?" or
"Wow." (the word I sometimes say when I can't think of what to say -- OR I'm thinking of a word that would not be socially acceptable or polite. And yes, even when you catch a lie in action yo…

Sometimes the best place to start is to talk about it.

-- doug smith

Until you can communicate your perspective to your team, how will they ever give their best effort to achieving your goals?

We all see things differently. Let your team know how YOU see things.

-- doug smith

A lie is a try to buy self-esteem and the price is too high.

-- doug smith

There are no perfect people, products, or processes. Life is more or less a constant improvement project.

-- doug smith

A typo can be the difference between distinction and extinction. Quality matters.

-- doug smith