doug smith training

  One of the benefits to growing older is the possibility of expanded perspective. Because things have changed so much, change doesn't seem so disruptive. Because we've experienced difficult times before, tough times seem more like the natural order of things rather than impending doomsday. For goodness sakes, having lived thru the daily fear of nuclear annihilation other problems pale in comparison. They're still serious, yet survivable. As leaders we owe our teams a sort of resilient perspective. Especially our younger team members, who have not lived thru crisis after crisis for decades on end and might hear their own doomsday clock ticking loud enough to deepen their anxiety. We can help with that, even when we can't solve every problem. For not every problem is solvable, at least not immediately, but given determination, science, and able leadership each generation can make life better.  I admire our youngest generations for their willingness to make things better.

  Every leader is also a trainer. You either train well or lose ground. High performance leaders train their team members. Coach the skills, develop the bond, build your team. It will make you a more effective leader. -- doug smith

How many times have you started over? Not a minor change, I mean completely started over? New job, new relationship, new car, new year? Starting over is tough, but necessary. It's aggravating, but essential. To get where we'd rather be we have to change where we are. Changing feels like leaving an old friend behind and that makes us drag our feet. Yet here we are, in constant unrelenting need to pick up our feet, to move on. It's good. Change gives us chance -- the chance to improve, to learn, to grow. How many times have we started over? Every day we're starting over. Let's start over in joy. Let's start over with learning, with growth, with new levels of understanding, understanding that we can't possibly know it all and that is fine. We just need to keep starting over.   -- doug smith

Do you ever get discouraged trying to lead your team forward? I know, they give you challenges that annoy you. They forget what you've already taught them. They miss time after time after time. And yet, they also bring a smile to your face. They surprise you with an insight that goes far beyond anything you've ever taught. They connect with customers in ways that reflect how YOU feel. They also bring you joy. Up and down. Down and up. Leadership is one challenge after another, randomly peppered with joy. If leading was easy they wouldn't have to pay people for it. But if there weren't rewards far beyond the money, no one would do it. Leading is tough. Leadership is the best. -- doug smith

Who sets your goals? Yes, there are goals we must achieve because we're in a job and because a boss sets them for us -- but those are just an entry ticket into the big game. The bigger game, the big picture, includes the goals we set for ourselves. Some people will understand that, and some will not. Be careful about letting anyone else judge your goals. They have their purpose, you have yours. Your goals are your business. -- doug smith

How successful would your team be if everyone on it worked as hard as you do? That's a question with more than one implication. Are you working hard enough to set a great example? Or, are you setting the bar so low that results suffer? The leader sets the example. The leader, as John Maxwell as said, "models the way." As leaders, let's model ways we'd like our team members to follow. Let's work hard. Let's work ethically. Let's work together. -- doug smith  

Do you like to give advice? I don't know how many times people have asked me for advice and in return I just let them hear what I had to say about what I thought they wanted to know. That has two big problems:  Maybe I haven't really understood their issue, and Maybe they aren't really ready for advice until they've thought it through By asking questions, I can learn more about their situation to find out if I even have advice worth sharing on that situation. Sometimes, they have all they need to solve the problem by themselves. Also, by asking questions and letting them think through the situation in greater detail, they can tell that I'm not just going to pull out a stock answer -- and the answer will come from our dialogue together, not some ready-supply of world wisdom. I'm smart, but I can't solve everyone's problem. How about this -- do you like to get advice? Asking for advice (without paying for it) can be an imposition. It can also be rude. It c

Have you ever wished for a better boss? Have you ever wanted someone as a leader who made your job better just because of the kind of leader they were? What would that be like? What would that kind of boss say? How would that kind of leader act? What would people say about that kind of supervisor? You could be that kind of boss. You could be the kind of boss people always wanted to have. Be the kind of leader you'd like to have as a leader. It's probably what your team members want from you. -- doug smith

Which should come first to be a high performance leader, strength, or character? High performance leaders do need to be strong. They need to be able to stand against opposition, correct wrong doing, and push on even when loss seems certain. But even more important than strength is character. Being truthful, trustworthy, and fair. Making a difficult decision even when personal gain could tempt that decision to go in another direction. Treating people with compassion. Leaders can easily cross ethical lines but a person of character sees those lines, honors those lines, and no matter how creative, manages to stay within those ethical lines. Strength without character breeds corruption. Stay strong, stay true, and may your character never be questioned. -- doug smith

When we first get promoted to supervisor we tend to make mistakes. I remember one mistake that I made was being too "hands-off" as a leader.  I didn't want to come off as a boss. I didn't want to take command because I thought that people's feelings would be hurt. I tended to let them be.  It didn't work very well, and I quickly got over it. People DO need attention. Your team members NEED to know what matters to you. They NEED to know your expectations. And, they expect YOU to challenge them a bit. They won't ever ask for that, but they do need you to edge them forward. Keep your hands on. Conduct regular one-on-ones with your team members. Challenge any assumptions your team is making. Raise the bar and keep on raising it. Your job as a leader is to help your team members level up, not level off.  A hands-off leader is not really leading at all.  Stay in the game. -- doug smith

Why should anyone help you with your goals? You can probably think of at least three people right now who are not yet helping you, but if they did, would make achieving your goal much easier. You might even be able to think of some people who seem to be standing in your way of achieving your goals. Why would they do that? How do people decide whether or not to help? People have their own sense of reason, but one thing that influences them is whether or not they have gotten help from you. When we build relationships of trust and serving it becomes much easier for someone to offer help. It even becomes easier for them to see the need to offer help without being asked. But if there is no history of helping, if in fact there is a memory of an unpleasant lack of help, it's natural that they would resist offering help of their own. It's all in the history of the relationship. People can help us achieve our goals or they can hinder us -- it could depend on how well we serve those peop