What's Behind The Curtain?

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 that is what our people want, too. A leader who does not have a secret backstage agenda. A wizard who is the wizard in front, and behind, the curtain.

There's a tiny door behind that curtain that Alice is moving. Neither one of us will fit thru it. We're bigger than that. We're better than that.

-- doug smith

Comments

More Than Potential

"She's filled with potential!" "There's no limit to his potential!" "They're nothing but unlimited potential!" It's both promising and frightening to be described as someone who is filled with potential. It means that a) the potential is still unfulfilled, and b) may NEVER be fulfilled. Still, aren't we ALL filled with potential. No matter what we have accomplished or failed to accomplish there is more ahead of us to be done. Potential might get you started. It might open a door or two. Potential will take you only as far as your discipline drives you onward. Whatever you're capable of still requires your action. What are you working on that is potentially awesome? -- doug smith

Small but Growing

Bumping into our limitations is irritating, isn't it? It's a distant, but vivid memory I have of eagerly raising my hand in class because I knew the answer, only to discover that my answer was incorrect. Ouch. It was one of those small things that felt like a big thing. I often call myself a "recovering know-it-all" because the more I learn the more I realize the vast amount of things that I do not know. The first answer that comes to me is not always correct. There is always more to learn. We're all small at some level. Knowing that level leads to growth. -- doug smith

Wisdom Knows No Age

It's not years that make you smart, even though time can help. It's not age that develops wisdom, although heaven knows as we get older we should gain some wisdom. If you've never heard a profound piece of wisdom expressed by a child, then I suggest more conversations with children. They are often astounding in their wisdom, unfiltered as it may be by cultural expectations. Wisdom knows no age. Wisdom knows no limits. What have you learned today? -- doug smith

Put In The Work

Are you a positive thinker or a negative thinker? Or, maybe you're something in-between, a kind of situational-thinker. Given the choice between negative and positive, I've found that positive thinking does a better job of keeping me on track and helping me feel better. Positive thinking is great. Positive thinking is uplifting and filled with hope. But, positive thinking is not enough. Positive thinking only works if you put in the work. That's why I work so hard, how about you? -- doug smith

Continue The Search

What happens when you've found what you've been looking for? If it was difficult, if you worked hard, if there were some challenges along the way you will likely be grateful and satisfied. How long will that satisfaction last? We are meant to be happy. We are meant to be fulfilled. But, we're not meant to stand still. Find what you're looking for and then keep looking. Growth is always ahead of you. -- doug smith

Courage Against Corruption

Even when it looks like corruption is everywhere, we do not have to let it rule. Leaders need the courage to resist corruption -- no matter how small and no matter how large and no matter for how long. When in doubt tell the truth, play fair, and act with integrity. Anything else will always catch up to you. -- doug smith

Better Still

I don't like rejection, yet it's a part of life. I don't like it when people don't support a project that I'm working on, and still there are usually people who don't see the value in a new change. How about you? We could take that personally and stop doing the thing that matters so much to us -- or we could do something else. We could improve that thing. We could make that thing shine. We could make that thing irresistible. We could use that feedback to find new ways to achieve our goal. "They" as we so often like to call "them" don't know what's best for you -- and still they can be seriously helpful. When they tear down your plans, build something better. Won't that feel great? -- doug smith

Respect Anyway

Do people need to earn your respect? Some people do believe that it is necessary to prove yourself worthy of respect before someone should grant you respect. What's the problem with that? When we put ourselves into the position of judge we also open the door wider to being judged. Can people tell when you respect them? Undoubtably. We seem to have an inner radar that differentiates respect from disrespect -- or worse, disregard. We can tell, and we care. Deeply. Whatever a person has done in the past that we might question, it is still possible to treat them with respect. Kindness, compassion, even love know no limits. Respecting someone does not mean that you agree with everything that they've ever done -- or even with what they are doing or saying right now. Respect means that you treat them with human dignity, fairness, compassion, and honor. I know that it can be tough to show respect in the heat of an argument or when someone is not acting in a likable mann...

Fear and Change

Change, while necessary, can also provoke fear. Solving problems requires change. Given a choice, it's easy to shy away from the fear of change. We hold onto our problems when change causes fear. Stay centered, manage those emotions, and reach for courage instead of fear. What if you DID solve that problem by changing the process, the situation, or the interpersonal dynamics? You can. Fear might just be the excitement you feel from the shift of the solution. -- doug smith

Centering Questions

Centered leaders ask the questions that others are afraid to ask. Questions like: What's your vision of success? Is the organization doing all that it can to support your development? What part of serving our customers do you enjoy the most? Are given enough choices in how you do your work? Do you feel connected in meaningful ways to other people here? Questions like that. Deep, thinking, honest, open questions. What would be a good question for you to ask today? -- doug smith

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