doug smith training

I like wild ideas. Game-changing concepts that transform transitions. The big boost. The mighty boom.  But just because an idea is wild doesn't mean it will lead to amazing outcomes. How can we ever know which wild idea will hit, and which will wither? Take that humble notion and do something. A little thing. A baby step. Then see what happens next. Many brilliant ideas started as humble amusing notions. Your next silly idea might be one of those. -- doug smith  

How patient are you? We are given so many opportunities to practice patience! Waiting in line, waiting online as a page loads, waiting for someone to get ready to go someplace or waiting for someone to arrive FROM someplace. Patience. For me, patience is a work in progress. The old term of "losing my patience" can easily lead to "losing my temper" (what exactly is being lost there?) and neither one is helpful. Better to remain patient. Not so that poor outcomes can win but so that we don't force them in. Impatience is a sign of taking your self too seriously. Patience. It's worth practicing. -- doug smith  

Sometimes we do things a certain way because we've always done things a certain way. It's easy, it's comfortable, it's probably inadequate and it can certainly be improved. Finding the right process powers your productivity. Better performance starts with better processes. For the next twenty-four hours, pay attention to each process you engage with, and ponder how you might make that process better or, find another better one altogether. -- doug smith  

Expecting good people to be perfect is expecting too much but expecting them to constantly improve is reasonable. Expecting everyone to constantly is reasonable.  How can you as a leader make that happen? 1. Tell your people that it (constant improvement) is your expectation. 2. Support your people in their development. Give them the training you know they need AND the training that they ask for. 3. Coach at every opportunity. Check in on their goals. Ask about their progress. Ask how you can help. The good news is the more that you do those three things the more you are also constantly improving. And, there's nothing like walking the talk to get more people improving. -- doug smith  

Competition can be rough but it can also be educational. If you study your opponent you might learn their secrets. If you can listen to your opposition, they might be sending you valuable signals that could improve your own performance. What if your rival is also your best coach? -- doug smith

Build things that people need and you'll always be needed. Just remember, you may have to change how you build those things.  People's needs change and those needs are often more complicated than they seem. There is also a power difference between "classic" and "obsolete." As hard as it is, leaders need to navigate that difference. Build things that people need -- practical goods. And keep improving how you do it. -- doug smith 

If you've ever had a boss who treated you like you should be perfect, you know how uncomfortable and how unachievable that expectation is. As leaders, we need not ever expect perfection. What we are reasonable in expecting is constant improvement.  Even with constant improvement as an expectation, we should also realize that it is natural for people to plateau, for that level up to level off. It's like breathing. We can only inhale so much without exhaling. Expecting perfection guarantees disappointment. Expecting non-stop improvement invites burn-out. Let's be reasonably demanding leaders with the accent on reasonable. I'll try. How about you? -- doug smith  

Do you say "yes" too quickly or maybe "no" with no conviction? What if you could change the outcome of a request? What if you could more clearly decide how to get more of what is best and less of the rest? What if you negotiate situations more often? If you don't negotiate it you'll never know how good it could be.  -- doug smith Bonus Tip: The best book I've read on negotiating is "Never Split the Difference" by Chris Voss. 

Be kind, even when it's hard. Even when the way escapes you at first. If you can't think of a fast way to be kind, a slow way will do just fine. The point is to act with kindness. -- doug smith  

Everything is work in progress. What will you improve today? -- doug smith  

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 

My late friend and fraternity brother, Jim Aker, a man of serious intellect and even more serious opinions, was an avid fisher. One time in Colorado, he was fishing with a mutual friend and confounded her with the concept of "catch and release." "If you catch it after all this work, shouldn't you keep it?" she asked. Jim just smiled. Nah, he probably had a lot to say about it. Achieving your goals is not fishing, and it certainly is not "catch and release" fishing but let's face it, sometimes you have to let go of a goal that's getting you nowhere. Pretending a goal matters is ending any chance that you'll achieve it. Make the goal important enough that you will apply the discipline you'll need to achieve it -- or let it go. -- doug smith  

It hurts to feel that you're not good enough. Doubts creep in and sting with a discouraging pain. But what if there's another way to process it? Not good enough, as bad as it feels, is always true, isn't it? We can always be better. We should constantly improve. And sometimes, in that process, we can realize that good enough -- for now -- may be good enough. Until we make it better. Let's enjoy the moment, and breathe, and then focus on making it better. -- doug smith  

Your best chance for success is to do what you do best. -- doug smith  

Sometimes a normally great performers gets in a slump, like an athlete who can't find their flow. Whatever the job, it's possible to get in your flow and it's possible to fall out of your flow. The flow is the place where you do your best work, where the conditions that create your own personal space for success propel your performance forward. When our team members fall out of their flow (maybe they've got an emotional challenge, maybe their favorite piece of equipment is malfunctioning, maybe more problems than usual are bombarding them...) we can help.  By coaching constantly we can recognize each team member's flow AND recognize when they are out of their strength and into trouble.  Coaches don't fix people but they can help them find their flow. Who needs your help at finding their flow? What feedback can you share that will help them get it back? -- doug smith  More On Flow Distinctive to each person, although you may observe similarities Requires the righ...

Find your flow -- the conditions and mood when you are at your absolute best, and you've found ultimate control.  Your flow could change. You will continue to learn and to grow. Why not accelerate that learning? Start where you already flow, and go! -- doug smith

There's more to the score than winning. There is discovering, and perhaps proving your potential.  There is  making adjustments and pivoting. And, maybe most of all, there is learning. Keep score when it's required. But use the score, don't let the score use you. -- doug smith

Do you keep score on yourself?  When you set a goal, do you record your progress? How do you know when you're doing a great job? Track your results if you want to improve them. It works. -- doug smity  

How much do you practice the skill that is most important to your success? We do best what we do most. Practice. It's the best way (maybe the only way) to get better. You name the skill -- communication, leadership, problem solving, managing conflict, playing music, running, swimming, singing, dancing, acting...practice is the key. -- doug smith 

Things work out when we work out -- exercise every gift you've got.  Here are three gifts we could do more of and be better off for doing it: Listen, Love, and Learn. Listen more to what people say. Listen more to hear real meaning, real life, real emotions. Love more as a first reaction, even when it's rough. Love our work more, love our family more, love our chances to love even more. And, Learn more each day on how to be better. Better leaders, better people, better communicators. What do you think? -- doug smith