doug smith training

Thinking the best leaves less room for the rest. I'm a fan of unconditional positive regard. I can assume that people are doing the wrong thing on purpose when I don't like what they do, but it doesn't change what they did and it's not likely to make things any better.  When I assume that people are doing they best they know how to do it's much easier to correct mistakes. Fix the process, not the person. Change the behavior, not the intention. People intend to do good things -- they just sometimes get confused. -- doug smith  

Successful supervisors keep their attitude clearly and constantly positive. Leave no doubt what you care about. -- doug smith  

Are you thinking positively? While it is not a magic formula, it does provide more possibilities than negative thinking. It's useful to think critically, but not pessimistically. Thinking positively can lead to disappointment but only it you stop. Keep going. -- doug smith

Circumstances might impose. Problems may arise. Difficulties will surely appear. How you deal with them starts with how you feel about them. Do you belief you can solve that problem? Do you think your team is capable of the challenge? Will your customers value you enough to compensate you fairly? Does ethical behavior pay off in the end? Some things you DO decide. Your beliefs, for example.  Your beliefs are up to your. Pick the ones that make a positive difference. -- doug smith  

It's a choice, most of the time. You do know which choice feels better and delivers better results. When in doubt, go positive. The trouble with being pessimistic is that you could prove to yourself that it is as bad as it seems.   Why not stay positive? -- doug smith

Would you like more power? Is gathering influence something that you value? You can gain that in many ways. Certainly, one way is to get promoted to a higher level job title. That does bring increased power. But, not enough, does it? You still want more. We all want more. We want as much agency and autonomy and independence as we can get.  Here's something you have absolute power over. You control this completely, and when you control it effectively it dramatically increases your power: Your attitude. How you look at the world. How you feel about your self. How you apply positive principles to persistent problems.  Your attitude is more powerful than your job title. You attitude is more powerful than any problem. Your attitude is a great source of power for you -- when you keep it compassionate, clear, courageous, and creative. Tap into THAT power -- it is inexhaustible. -- doug smith

Is it hard to muddle thru when people keep talking about how hard it is and how senseless it all seems? Of course. But it is not senseless. And the hard stuff build resilience to make us stronger, smarter, and more open to change. Everything you've ever done has helped to make you better. Keep going. Keep growing. Stay strong. It's hard to resist a relentlessly positive outlook. Stay positive because positive prevails over negative. It might take a while, but positive wins. -- doug smith

You CAN do it. You HAVE all you need. Your leadership makes a difference. We make assumptions every day, even when we know that we shouldn't. There's no reason to be annoyed. Instead, simply reframe. Making assumptions? Make them positive. If you're going to make assumptions you might as well make them positive. -- doug smith

What stands in your way when it comes to achieving your goals? Life will give us lots of obstacles. We have to learn how to deal with them. But, we also give ourselves some unnecessary barriers. We build walls out of our limiting beliefs. Limiting beliefs are those thoughts that we believe so strongly that they prevent us from doing what would otherwise be possible. They are different from person to person, but they often sound like this: "I'm not good enough...they would never appreciate me...I failed at this before so why try again...that's the kind of person who always gives me trouble..." and on and on. Our limiting beliefs are so deeply ingrained, many of them formed when we were very young children, that we often are not even aware that they are there -- or that they are limiting our possibilities. Our job is to increase our possibilities and choices, not limit them. Not to take unnecessary risks or subject ourselves to danger, but to overcome the lit

Be good to yourself. Say nice things. Things like... Creativity is good for me, and I am good for creativity The world gets better when my creativity grows My creativity is under my control and today I will ramp it up! I feel creative! Wherever I need to go, my own creativity will help me Have a great and creative day! -- doug smith

Every once in a while I will meet someone who is content to remain out of control. They refuse to believe that they can change anything because "the culture is so bad here" or because "my boss would never go for that" or because "that's all fine and good but it wouldn't work for me." What can you say in response? "You're absolutely right. At least, as long as you think that." Then I try to avoid saying one of those favorite consultant answers, "how's that working for you?" because, clearly, it isn't. Positive leaders believe in empowerment. Positive leaders believe that regardless of opposition or culture or challenges galore, the better route to achievement takes a positive approach. Do what we can. Challenge where we need to. Support each other all the way thru. A positive leader builds a positive team - a team that collaborates, cooperates, and cares. Of course the work is hard -- that's why it's

Do you ever get discouraged? It's not a weakness, but it is a roadblock. Even when we don't choose to get discouraged, once that feeling is there it can stand in our way. We missed. We made a mistake. We failed. Crap happens. What I've learned (and keep relearning) is to dust myself up, jump back up and find something compelling to get encouraged about. Sometimes picking the positive path really is empowering. Getting discouraged isn't going to get you what you want.  Remaining unhappy won't achieve your goals. Let's move forward. I've had some really big disappointment in my personal life this year and yet as I see sparks of sunlight at the end of a rather dark tunnel I know that I've kept moving through the encouragement of friends. When I am not able to encourage myself, I am not without help - friends will encourage me. Do you have friends who encourage you? Are you encouraging your friends? We're all in this together, my friends.

Do your problems ever seem bigger than they really are? It could be a wonderful day filled with opportunities and fascinating connections with other people and someone we get fixed on a problem that gives us permission to feel unhappy. That seems like a poor choice to me. I've done it though. Have you? One thing I've learned about my problems -- even as I work to solve them -- is to keep them in perspective. Compared to other problems, how do they look? Compared to other people's situations, how dire is this really? Especially knowing that with the right process and resources I'll be no doubt solving my problem, what exactly is troubling me? I served for a while as a volunteer fire fighter. There's nothing quite like moving into a burning building or carrying a power saw on a roof to cut a hole in the top so the fire can get out to give you a sense of perspective. Suddenly, the little problems of the day fade away. My oldest son is a paramedic. Every tim