doug smith training

Short and to the point: practice builds character. Experiencing imperfection, enduring failure, trying and trying again -- there is no other way to acquire that massive benefit other than practice. Practice your skills. Practice your discipline. Practice your changes. As we practice it sharpens and strengthens us as long as we respond to the results we generate with openness and willingness to change.  Not there yet? Don't give up -- practice. Practice builds character and any success worth achieving relies on character to endure. -- doug smith

Have you ever had a boss who cares more about results than character? The kind of boss who doesn't mind a short-cut ethically if it gets the job done? It's easy to give in to that kind of boss, because they are powerfully insistent. Easy, but not necessary to surrender but your character does matter. Honesty, integrity, ethical behavior -- traits that may not be rewarded but are clearly observed. Any time you cut a corner someone feels the edge. Your team cares about your character even if your boss doesn't.  Strength of character matters and, long term, will serve you well.  -- doug smith

To speak with courage you might need to defend the right to dignity for yourself and for everyone. Everyone? Really? Yes, everyone. -- doug smith

Have you ever had a leader who kept trying to push you out of your comfort zone? Kept trying to get you to do more than you'd ever done before and try things that are, frankly, scary? I sure have. And truth be told, didn't like it much at the time. A great boss is supportive, which we like, AND also challenging, which we might not be so happy about. The growth does happen, though, outside of our areas of ease. To stretch, we need to move those muscles.  The hope of a high performance leader is that we'll move those muscles so much that they grow stronger. The goal is to grow so much that our former team looks like the glimmer of promise that our future team becomes: faster, stronger, smarter, better. The growing zone takes us far, far beyond our comfort level. What if we pushed ourselves so far out of our comfort zone that we never came back?  What are you doing today to stretch yourself or your team? -- doug smith

It might seem obvious, but it's worth remembering: strong goals provide you with strength. They provide you with strength of purpose, strength of direction, and strength of endurance.  A goal that you truly care about, that's written with clarity provides help when others try to hinder. Lots will try to get in the way. The best goals resist this resistance and persist to achievement. A solid, clear goal can withstand any judging. -- doug smith

Our leadership strengths are like muscles. The more we use them, the more we apply them to situations, the stronger our strengths become. How many problems could stand up to you using all of your clarity, courage, creativity, and compassion? Use your leadership strengths. Develop your leadership skills. Solve those problems and achieve those goals with the ease and elegance that you deserve. -- doug smith

We all have agendas. All organizations have agendas. All movements (useful or not) drive agendas. This leads to a variety of mixed motives and unsavory outcomes. This leads to conflict and trouble. It doesn't have to be that way. What you live for, what you trust in, what you drive could be for the benefit of all. What you live could be a model for how you want to be treated -- and isn't that below the surface of most worthy faiths? Found your faith in love. Seek that good in the world that you can accent, amplify, and add. Add love Unless your faith was founded on love it's standing on shaky ground. Add some stability. Add some endurance. Add some goodness. Add love. -- doug smith Leadership Call to Action: Whatever you do today, add love.