Release Resistance

image: https://pixabay.com/photos/man-think-throughts-sculpture-2546791/

"I don't know..."

"What don't you know?"

"If any of this makes sense..."

"You doubt the merit of the work?"

"The work, the mission, the whole thing..."

Doubt is natural. It's part of any important mission. Without doubt, how can you be sure? But, doubt can be paralyzing and stop the work. Doubt can be self-fulfilling.

If you are sure about your purpose, if you are sure about your mission, there is work to be done.

Let doubt spark action instead of resistance.

-- doug smith

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Give Your Gift

What is your most powerful gift? What is that thing that you rely on the most, that people find most compelling about you, that sets you apart from others? Everyone is a customer for your most important gift. Are you giving it freely? -- doug smith

Seriously

Did your most recent rude customer ruin your day? It doesn't have to be that way. Customers these days ARE tougher than ever. Their highly emotional outbursts can impact any attempts to provide good service. As a result, poorly behaved customers often get WORSE service than they would have otherwise. When I managed a customer service shop I often told my team members, "you may have to tolerate occasional rudeness sparked by emotions, but you NEVER have to tolerate abuse." End the conversation, politely, and decisively. Suggest a better time to talk, when things have calmed down. Service does not require surrender. We're people, too. -- doug smith

Keep Digging

The first cause you find to a problem is probably not the last cause or even the main cause. Keep digging. -- doug smith

Avoid Manipulation

Doesn't manipulation feel icky? If your inner radar works at all it goes all tingling in full tilt alarm when someone tries to force you into doing something, or tries to trick you into an action you don't want. Walk away from those who seek to win over you, and walk toward those who seek to win you over. -- doug smith

Be Careful About Punishment

It's tempting. It's right in front of you as a leader. Someone violates your trust, or misses a goal, or fails to respond to the promise of a reward, and the logical action seems to be to punish them in some way. Take away a perk. Deny a personal day off. Refuse a good assignment. Be careful. Every punishment brings about unexpected payback. Maybe it's immediate or maybe it comes months (even years!) down the road -- but payback is coming. It could be assertive, even aggressive -- or it could be so passive aggressive that you fail to see it coming. Oh, but it's coming. You may not like that payback. You may want to consider another path. What do you think? -- doug smith

Here You Are

Leaders do need a vision, a focus on where to go next, and they also need the pragmatic determination to get the work done now. Look ahead, but live right here. Your goal may loom ahead, while the work is right in front of you. -- doug smith

Commitment

How important is commitment to you? When someone tells you that they will do something, are you fine with a casual "maybe they will, maybe they won't" or are you looking for a true commitment? It's not always easy to find these days and yet it is more valuable than ever: commitment. If you want high performance results it takes commitment. If you want quality service for your customers it takes commitment. When there is an easy way out, people will find it unless they are committed to excellence. Everything is optional until you commit. -- doug smith

And That's That?

All things being equal, things are never equal. -- doug smith

A Pair, Not a Paradox

Discipline gives us the power to do what we want to do -- and that comes from developing discipline by doing work we don't want to do... That might sound like a paradox but it's more like a matched pair. I'm not saying that we should do a lot of work that we don't like, but rather that sometimes within the work that we choose are tasks that we would not have chosen. Those necessary but unappealing tasks give us the opportunity to persist -- to stick to our goals because of and sometimes in spite of the details. Discipline. You can live without it, but you probably won't achieve your goals that way. -- doug smith

A Big Reflection

Do you team members see you interact with customers? Do you see them? Your team's treatment of customers is a reflection of your treatment of your team. Treat your team well, and your customers will benefit. -- doug smith

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