Leading by Learning and Applying What You Learned

Who has taught you the best lessons? What have you learned that has become part of the value of your life and who was it who taught you?

Some people in your life had lots of opportunity to teach you. They had time. They had proximity. Maybe they even had authority. They were people involved with you closely: your parents, your grand parents, siblings, elementary school teachers, high school teachers, college professors, best friends, lovers, adversaries, organizational leaders, pastors, priests, gurus, yoga teachers, improv coaches, music conductors, choir leaders, policy officers, military officers, coaches, cooks, fraternity and sorority members, doctors, therapists, nurses, dental hygienists, dentists, chiropractors, delivery staff, food service workers, co-workers, bosses, mentors...if you dive deep enough for long enough the list is extensive. For all of us. Ponder that list.

Ponder those lessons.

Know it. Do it. Teach it.

What did you learn? What have you learned so completely, so thoroughly, so deeply that you know it, do it, and even teach it? (For, there are so many ways to teach. It need not be your job title.)

The best satires of your life can be told, over and over again -- with more detail, with different lessons, with seasoned meanings. We can keep learning something long after we think we have it all figured out -- even long after we think that we have mastered something, it peels away deeper layers and reveals new connections.

We're never really finished learning. And what we think we've learned is never really finished teaching.

What have you learned today?

-- doug smith

Comments

Goals are for People Like You

It's hard work. Most people are not willing to put in that work. Waiting for miracles or hoping to luck into achieving your goals might sound great for a video spin as a win but usually does not pay off -- it doesn't work unless YOU do. Goals are not meant for lazy people. Goals are for people willing to work in order to get what they want. People like you, right? -- doug smith

Make It Happen

When you decide you'd like to have something, or achieve something, how do you begin? It's easier to get what you want when you first set a goal. Make it clear, make it appealing, make it possible...and then, make it happen. -- doug smith

Move Past Doubt

So many times I have allowed doubt to get in my way. While it's wise to pay attention to risks and to create plans for overcoming obstacles, doubt is often an unnecessary encumbrance. It holds back without giving. It hinders without helping. When we develop the skills we need to achieve our goals, doubt is just annoying. Doubt doesn't diminish your ability unless you let it. Hear the doubt, then do what is necessary. Figure it out, then move past the doubt. -- doug smith

Accept and Level Up

It's a challenge to constantly strive for improvement. With an ever-raising bar there's no sense of accomplishment because we're waiting for the next improvement. Push, push, push! It may not be a science, but it sure is an art to be able to balance yourself and accept what is while working to level up more. Of course it can improve. Nothing is perfect. We are as leaders all about continuous improvement. Let's just remember to appreciate what we have already earned, what our teams have already accomplished. Imagine better, but appreciate what is. Your happy place is dynamic. -- doug smith

Change and Understanding

Do we have enough time to completely understand everything that we need to change? Of course not. We should understand with clarity what it is that is changing, and especially those things that we cause to change. But some change is completely new. Some change is game-changing. It's a dance on a wet floor. It's a jam session in twelve-tone jazz. It's a dish off the menu. Exciting, breathless, thrilling, risky, and sometimes scary. Changing something you don't understand will produce results you don't expect. Are you ready for the unexpected? -- doug smith

Dancing Shoes

The problem with perfection is that it's not sustainable. As soon as you get there, the landscape shifts. Standards change. Details emerge that switch everything up. We can get upset about that, but it won't change the inevitable. It's better to flex, to move, to dance with the waves Are your dancing shoes ready?

Is That Wise?

I love famous quotations, but sometimes they are just wrong. They might be out of context. They might be out-dated. What once rang truth now sours with disharmony. What might seem wise could be disguised. I've learned to think it thru. What's really being said? What's really being advised? Does that make sense? Is that wise? Wisdom misinterpreted isn't helpful. What do you think? -- doug smith

This Time Is Yours

If it feels like other people are deciding things for you, take comfort in the fact that it has always been the case -- always -- that some people will do their best to decide everything for you. Whether you allow that or not is up to you. Whether you lead ahead or follow (and fall) behind is also up to you. This time is your time -- embrace it completely. -- doug smith "The present time has one advantage over every other -- it is our own" -- Charles Caleb Colton Source

Are You Eager?

Maybe that road is speckled with potholes. Maybe that highway is heavy with tolls. How much do you want to go where you need to go? You can handle any rough road if you're eager enough to reach your destination. -- doug smith

Create a Better Future

Who is the future up to? Someone else? All of us? Today, this moment, I want to think about some problem that I can help solve. Some person that I can comfort. Something outside of myself that will make a difference. How do you feel about that? Solving problems is about creating a better future. That's something each of us can do, and needs to do, to see that better future come. What do you think? -- Doug Smith

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