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Showing posts with the label improving performance

Plan Next

  Feeling discouraged? Did that plan go wrong? Plans go wrong all the time. Make new plans and keep moving. You've got everything you need. -- doug smith

Refresher Training

  How often do you participate in some refresher training? Those skills you acquired may be doing fine and yet as time goes on we smooth over the edges of our sharpness and take unexpected shortcuts that costs us quality. Refresh, re-learn, re-discover, re-apply: it's an important part of leadership development. We don't remember everything we learn, which makes refresher training so vital. Which of your skills could use a bit of refresh? -- doug smith

Good Intentions, but...

  Problems are not always caused by mistakes. Sometimes they're caused by good intentions. While it is great to begin with good intentions, what we do still matters more than what we intend. If a leader creates an unfair atmosphere out of the intention to help one particular team member, that could be a problem. If a leader intends to build a high performance team and yet supports without ever challenging team members, that could be a problem. Good intentions are not enough. Right actions matter more. -- doug smith

That Silly Ego

  How do you feel about the ego? Or, how does your EGO feel about the ego? A healthy self-image is essential. We do better when we feel better about ourselves. But, it's easy to take that too far. It's easy for someone to make critical decisions based only on the impact to the ego. That causes more problems than it solves. Silly ego. We shouldn't let it decide for us. It will learn to get over whatever is going on. Let that ego energize you, but don't let it polarize you. The ego is less dangerous when you see how funny it is. Laugh, and move ahead using your head. -- doug smith

What What Matters

  How do you feel about keeping score? In nearly every job (could it even be in every job?) we are forced to keep score. One metric after another lets us know whether or not we "measure up" to the company standards. Oh, sure they change, which makes it necessary to react and shift our efforts, but inevitably there are measurements to meet. People are going to keep score anyway no matter what we do so why not help them to count what matters most.  Measuring what does not matter is a waste of time and  profound aggravation. Negotiate what to measure before you get measured and see if it makes a difference. And if you don't have the freedom or influence to negotiate those measures, master them until you do.  -- doug smith

What to Keep?

  It's an effort in refinement. As we move ahead, creating new forms of success, we face the challenge of what to keep and what to discard. What matters to some of us does not matter to all of us most of the time. If we're not careful, we end up discarding something that turns out to have been valuable, like for instance ethical standards and rules that prevent chaos from destroying everything in its path. Part of learning is differentiating the obsolete from the classic. One might look like the other, but they are not the same. Before you break a rule, maybe find out what it is holding together. -- doug smith

Right and...

You've been working hard. You've been learning, growing, and evolving. Now is not the time to stop. Even as we master our work (which is never fully mastered, is it?) we find new opportunities. You're doing it right AND you can do it better. Discover how to do it better. It will be fun. -- doug smith

Find the Joy

  What's the hardest job you've ever had? Factory work? Kitchen work? Military service? Law enforcement? Fire fighting?  Some jobs are tough physically, some are tough mentally, and some will tax you both ways. I have seen people be completely miserable in their jobs while other people were perfectly focused and prospering in the very same jobs. Those who were happy knew that no job needs to be forever and that all work has dignity in it. Everything we do can lead to something better to do when we always do our best.  I've had tough jobs and yet no matter how tough, there was always some joy to be found in the work. Fellow team members, friendly customers, understanding managers, meaningful work -- there is always something if you find it. You may need to look for the joy in the job, but once you do you can find it. When you find the joy in the job the work gets easier.  When you must work either way, why not make the work better? -- doug smith

Not too short

  We like things short. To the point. Skip the filler. Brief is good, but sometimes deep is necessary. Deep takes longer at first, but eventually produces more -- when it's needed. -- doug smith

How to Deal with Boring Meetings

When was the last time that you bailed-out of a boring meeting? In-person meetings are tougher to bail-out on because everyone in the room will watch you leave. They'll be looking for a reason. They'll be criticizing your commitment. In a virtual meeting, it's easier. Especially if there are dozens of people in the meeting. You wouldn't think twice about leaving a meeting of a hundred people that turned out to be a droning infomercial for someone's product or service. I don't like the choice to bail-out, but it's not the worst choice. It's just a choice.  Finding myself in a boring meeting I gave it some thought and drew this chart. These aren't the only choices for reacting to a boring meeting, but they do give us a range of options. Influence Escape Partical Escape Disrupt Influence My first choice is to influence the meeting. Make it better. Help it get back on track. Even when we aren't in charge or leading the meeting we can influence the pr

No disrespect?

Give disrespect the attention it deserves: none. That does not mean that you accept abuse, illegal, or unethical behavior. It just means that disrespect does not earn respect. I advocate starting from a position of respect. We do well to respect everyone from the start. Respect people in the way we greet them, treat them, and (when in competition) beat them. When someone does not return that respect, or when they begin from a place of disrespect, we don't have to get angry, but we do have to get active.  Often the fastest way to get active when confronted with disrespect is to disappear. Leave. Stop honoring that person with your presence if their only goal is to do you harm. Leaving isn't always possible or recommended when you or others are in danger. Then, opposition to that disrespect may be necessary. Not to create harm or revenge, but to create safety and honor. Is that easy? Oh, no. You already know that. Is it necessary? More than ever. How do we do it? By beginning --

Master Something...

Are you good at everything? Me, either. The list of people who are good at everything is short. That's OK. You don't need to master everything, but you DO need to master something. What are you working on to master these days? -- doug smith  

Play On

How resilient are you? Would your team say the same thing? So many times in life (and in leadership) I have been disappointed. Whether it was circumstances, scarcities, or troubling people, it felt easy to give up.  But even when the cards seem stacked against you -- even when defeat seems certain -- if you persist you will learn far more than you ever thought possible. I remember a time long ago when as a high school coach for a middle school basketball team, drawing a bunch of inexperienced and un-developed players and doing my best to coach them beyond their perceived weaknesses into an enthusiastic team capable of embracing of who we were -- rank underdogs who were surrounded by supremely talented teams who always won more games than us until the playoffs came, the games mattered more, and somehow we managed to hustle our way to a trophy. It was fun, but just before it became fun it was a lot of hard and sometimes discouraging work. When in your life do you remember overcoming the

No More Cranky Leaders, Please

Have you ever worked for a cranky leader? Someone who can't be happy no matter what? Grumble, grumble, grumble! It's easy to fall into a habit of frowning, scowling, and growling. Easy, but silly -- because it does not good, I've tried being cranky and it just makes things worse. Stay positive, be positive, create positive change. Your mood is SO contagious, why not spread a positive mood? -- doug smith  

Goals, Plus

Goals make a profound, positive impact on people and their work. Goals help us focus our efforts and rally our support. We need goals. As important as goals are to your overall big picture, they are truly only part of the picture. You still need work. You still need support. You still need the knowledge it takes to make decisions quickly.  Goals aren't enough to make you happy, but they sure do make it easier. What's your top goal today? -- doug smith

Pride Delays Improvement

It's fine to feel proud about hard work that is well done, about accomplishments, about achieving your goals. When you've worked hard, you do deserve to be proud. I've learned to be careful about how much of that pride influences me. Too much, and pride creates blind spots covering up the areas in need of improvement. Too much pride and arrogance toward others, or toward disciplined good habits, can sneak in. Pride delays improvement.  Feel the pride when you've earned it, and then get back to work with the full sense that none of us are perfect yet -- and never will be -- and yet we can constantly improve. -- doug smith  

The Difference

How hard should we work? How much does it matter? Work as though your work will make a difference and it will. To you, to others, to your organization, to the world. -- doug smith  

Constructive Feedback

Wouldn't it be nice if the only feedback we got was all positive? Our self-esteem would be so happy. Our confidence would be flying high. Work would be wonderful! The problem is, the mistakes we make, the opportunities we miss, the offenses we offer would go unchecked leading to - gulp - worse performance. Yes, we love the positive feedback. I can run a week on one "good job!" We also really need the constructive comments. Ready or not, we can always improve. Asking only for positive feedback sounds comforting but it's wrong. We need to ask for feedback and handle it, positive or not. If we do not receive any constructive feedback, as high performance leaders we owe it to ourselves and our teams to ask for it. It's also true when it comes to delivering feedback. Our constructive feedback for others may make them uncomfortable. Our observations of behavior may run counter to their self-evaluation. As leaders, we owe it to people to help them improve, to lead them t