doug smith training

Are you a strong starter, a strong finisher, or both? (Let's not even consider "neither" as a viable choice for any high performance leader.) Time will tell, as my grandmom used to say. Time will tell. However you approach performance, the performance will emerge. It just depends on whether you want to celebrate that performance or regret it. The test of time does not grade on a curve. What you want will require work. The goals that you set will need a plan that you work on relentlessly.  Are you going to achieve your best goals? The test of time will tell. -- doug smith  

  We can push really hard on hard problems and not get anywhere. The problem may be too fixed to get fixed. It may be too tough to push over. It feels like the problem is going to win. What if you didn't push? What if you took a quiet, calm, centered approach to truly observing the problem. What exactly is going on? Who is being served or deterred? Hard problems can benefit from soft solutions. What do you think? Is it worth a try? -- doug smith

Do you have a regular morning routine? Setting a routine that establishes good habits is a great way to continue your grown, energize yourself, and get each day started right. Only you can determine what should be in that routine -- some people are heavy on exercise, others in medication, prayer, or contemplation, others in reading, writing, whatever sets you up for success. It takes discipline to get a healthy routine started. Distractions happen. Once the routine that works for you is in motion though you'll find it easier and easier to stick with. Once you realize that it works, why would you ever stop? You could probably measure this level of success. Plenty of people do. This is a case where the metrics don't matter as much as the intangible results -- clarity, composure, centeredness, even comfort. The comfort of a regular routine is an unquantifiable bliss.  What's your morning routine? -- doug smith

Life is opportunity. What we believe can uncover -- or cover over that opportunity. What you believe is up to you. -- doug smith  

Change is hard for some people, whether that means adjusting to change or driving change, the change comes hard. For others, it seems easy because they don't stop to consider what their change initiative will do to others. Either that, or they don't care. That feels easy at first -- push hard enough and your opposition will move. Drive insistently enough and people will toe the line. At first. That degree of change will also spark resistance. It will make enemies, active as well as passive aggressive. The change slips in and then falls apart. That's not what anyone wants. The reality is, if you want to change people, you need to consider those people. Ask them. Work with them. Get them involved and listen to their feedback.  It's more work, and it produces more lasting works. One person's disruption strategy is another person's aggravation.  Aggravate people enough, and they will find ways to push back. What's your secret to human change? -- doug smith  

How do the people on your team feel about themselves? How about you? How do you feel about yourself? Self-esteem matters. The way we see ourselves influences the work that we do. If you want healthy, vibrant, vital work from your team, why not make sure that the way that they think about themselves is strong? There are few things stronger than healthy self-esteem. To strengthen self-esteem among your team members: Appreciate good performance by providing specific compliments Spend time talking one-on-one with team members just to let them talk about what interests them Smile The list is longer than that of course, but start with those three things and you'll like the results. And that is good for YOUR self-esteem, isn't it? -- doug smith

  As a leader, do you ever sing the side-hustle blues? That's when your team seems distracted because they're tired from working multiple jobs. When I worked in food service it was all around me: team members who were already wrestling with variable schedules and also juggling multiple jobs. Maybe because they enjoyed their other gigs -- like the musicians, actors, artists, and writers on the team. Or maybe because otherwise they couldn't make ends meet so there were the side-hustles in driving, delivering, retailing, and add-on food service shifts.  People are wonderful and their potential is unlimited but their physical selves are not unlimited. Which can bring on the side hustle blues when people are tough to schedule, hard to motivate, and just plain tired. You'll never eliminate the gigs that team members enjoy, nor should you. Those are not the ones really sapping the energy as much as those that they are in only for the money. Employees won't need an only-for...

Positive thinking might not fix everything that's wrong with the world but it will re-direct bundles of misdirection. How we look at people affects how we see them, which effects how they see us. Why not manage that better? Of course! Trying to mend a broken relationship? Appeal to their better self. Hoping to influence a stranger? Appeal to their better self. Building a better team for better performance? Appeal to each team member's better self. Appeal to someone's better self by first knowing that it is possible. Their better self is there even if you haven't seen it yet -- even if no one's ever seen it yet. What if you could be the person who sparks the inspiration in someone to grow better and better still? You can. -- doug smith  

Problems bring pain. Maybe it's physical, or emotional, or logistical-- as long as the problem is there, so is that pain. When we solve the problems in front of us we can put the pain behind us. -- doug smith  

Successful goals are supported by productive habits. Some productive goal-achieving habits include: Working on your goal everyday Scheduling time to work on your goal Breaking your goal down into smaller, easily achieved tasks Telling other people about your goal What other productive habits do you use? -- doug smith  

We're all busy. No one can do everything. Creating meaningful goals matters in order to use our time and resources responsibly. Even when the intention is good, a bad goal is a burden. Unless the goal is important, is is worse than unimportant, it is a distraction.  You don't need more distractions, do you? -- doug smith

Who do you get to help you solve your problem? You, of course, that's a given. Also, people who will be impacted by any solution you try. People who are feeling the effects of the problem right now. Even (especially) people who you think may be at the root cause of the problem. Get the benefit of many ideas. Enlist the help of people who will care how it turns out. Collaborate to gain commitment. Engage the right people in creating problem solutions so that they don't become the wrong people while implementing them. -- doug smith  

How many solutions does your problem need? Sometimes the answer is just one more. It could also be that your problem needs twenty more before you find the one that sticks. Finding solutions is the fun part anyway so just keep going.  Create more solutions to a problem than you need in order to find one that works. -- doug smith  

We're all in a hurry. Urgency is a way of life. When we're working on a problem it feels as if the faster we solve it the better. But, have you ever solved a problem only to shortly discover that you haven't solved it at all? New complications arise. Surprises confound you. The problem roars back. The worry creates the hurry. The rush is not enough. Better to find the actual cause of the problem and face that issue.  Taking time to analyze a problem will save time in solving it. And that saves time overall. That pause you take may be more important than you thought. -- doug smith 

Your goals matter to other people when other people matter to you. -- doug smith   

We do get to choose.  It's as easy to be positive as it is to be negative and the results are much more pleasing. What's your choice? -- doug smith 

  Think about the most likable person you know. It's probably someone who makes you smile, who cheers you up, who says positive things during an otherwise tough day. The most likable person you know is friendly. They treat people with kindness. They do their job without complaining, completely and competently. They clean up after themselves and sometimes even for other people without being asked.  The most likable person around just seems to make everything better. Could that be you? You're the most likable person you know if that's what you decide to be. Try it for a day -- you might like it. -- doug smith 

It's so tempting to get louder when your words aren't delivering the results that you want. I've done it. Raising the volume feels like action, it's more of a reaction. Emotions are so powerful that they can make us forget what we're thinking. Emotions are also contagious, and that extra volume invites a loud response.  If you've ever been in an argument where you're shouting at each other, you know how ineffective that is. Saying something louder does not make it more true. Winning leaders manage their emotions. They check their thinking to see if it aligns with their goals. It could be easier to meet someone halfway than to pull them all the way to your way of thinking. That doesn't mean we need to compromise every time -- but we do need to show that we're willing to consider someone else's point of view. And then, that we do understand that point of view. Louder is seldom better. (Unless you're playing guitar, then loud could be good...) -...

As leaders our development is never done. There is always more to learn, more to master. It's possible to get the "people part" of leadership right and still fail as a leader. Strategy, critical-thinking, planning, and problem solving are still critical.  What have you learned today? -- doug smith 

How is your sense of urgency? When something is important, do you ramp up a bit, do you ratchet up your resources, do you move faster and more decisively? Most leaders can tell just by looking at someone whether or not they have a sense of urgency in that moment. There's an important feature in that skill: in that moment. Just because someone doesn't look urgent right now doesn't mean that they aren't sometimes quite urgent. We can, and should, practice urgency without burning out. "In that moment" matters. That's one of the benefits of deadlines: creating those moments of urgency that we might otherwise lack. There's nothing like a deadline to make you increase your sense of urgency. And usually, more urgency translates into more speed. We do want to get things done, right? -- doug smith