doug smith training

I once had a boss who had higher standards than me. Every day seemed like a challenge. There just wasn't any pleasing this boss. I'd get to a new level and she'd urge me to raise the level again. "Keep learning," she'd say. "Keep developing. Make your customers unforgettable and they will never forget you..." She was right. The chase is endless. The effort is unrelenting. And the joy, ah the joy becomes inexhaustible. If your boss has higher standards than you do, raise your standards.  -- doug smith  

How do you develop performance? Every leader has a duty to develop performance. The status quo has got to go -- everyone everywhere benefits from constant improvement, constant development. When team members do not feel like they are being developed they are likely to leave. And, if they don't leave, how do you feel about their performance gradually falling behind? Because unless our performance improves, let's face it, it's falling behind. Performance is all about results but it is much more than that. Where does it begin? How do you start? Before we can feel the benefit of development it must be felt by others. People need to feel that how we perform our job is making a positive difference in their lives. And that is service. Developing performance starts with service. The ways that we serve others will be registered as our performance. Our customers aren't concerned about the financials, the KVI's, the deliverables. Our customers are focused on how we make them f

Don't you just love it when someone is genuinely helpful? Those rare times when you can tell that they don't have a secondary motive, that they are just being helpful? Great leaders do that a lot. You can see it in their actions, and you can hear it in their talk. What if everything you communicated was meant to be helpful? Wouldn't more people listen? -- doug smith

How many people have tried to sell you stuff today? Six? Sixteen? Sixty-six? It's a lot, isn't it? Some days it feels as if everything is a sales pitch. Buy this, try that, sign-up for freemium but get ready to pay. It's good for you, it's what you need, it will bring you friends and fun. I know, I know, I know. We're all in sales. I sell stuff, too. I do better if people sign up for my courses. I make more money when customers supplement their learning by buying materials from me. I sell, I sell, so who am I to tell? I get so weary of people trying to sell me things that I almost stop selling things myself. But, I do find myself selling less these days. I'm not criticizing sales. I have a son who is an absolute ace at selling insurance and he does very well, and well -- people DO need insurance. It meets a need. But, we don't think about it, we don't address the need, unless someone tells us about it. Unless someone sells us something. How do we make pe

Why should anyone help you with your goals? You can probably think of at least three people right now who are not yet helping you, but if they did, would make achieving your goal much easier. You might even be able to think of some people who seem to be standing in your way of achieving your goals. Why would they do that? How do people decide whether or not to help? People have their own sense of reason, but one thing that influences them is whether or not they have gotten help from you. When we build relationships of trust and serving it becomes much easier for someone to offer help. It even becomes easier for them to see the need to offer help without being asked. But if there is no history of helping, if in fact there is a memory of an unpleasant lack of help, it's natural that they would resist offering help of their own. It's all in the history of the relationship. People can help us achieve our goals or they can hinder us -- it could depend on how well we serve those peop

Think about a time when you experienced tremendous satisfaction. You were not just happy, you were pleased inside and out. Your value was enhanced, your self-esteem was elevated. What caused that? What was it that you did? More importantly, who did you help? Chances are that you helped more than yourself. You probably started by helping someone else, and that lead to helping you as well. High performance leaders serve first. They aren't in it for the ego. The ego is fragile and near-sighted. True leadership achieves noble goals in the service of others. And that's what makes us happy in lasting and meaningful ways.  It is in service that we are best served. Serve first, my friends. It will serve you well. -- doug smith

Never stifle the desire to serve. It's what we are here for. -- doug smith  

Helping someone else solve a problem could help you solve ten of your own. How is that? By helping others you develop your problem solving skills, and that will serve you later. Also by helping others you build relationships with people who may well help you later to solve your own problems. The essential question is "how can I help?" -- doug smith

Do you care about your customers? Do your customers care about you? Unless we truly, sincerely, passionately care for our customers why would they ever care about us? It's too easy to provide shoddy service. In a world where price dominates and the lowest bidder gets the gig, we learn to cut corners in order to make more time for more work because we need more work because each job pays less. It's gotten many businesses to where we are today. What if we paused long enough to think that thru? It is still true that you get what you pay for when it comes to quality. But, we control our end of that bargain. Here's what I'd like to see: As a customer, consider carefully every transaction for value instead of just for cost. As a service provider, provide the best service available from anyone at any price -- even when we're underpaid We can impact every transaction, one way or the other. Let's care truly, sincerely, and passionately about our customers and provide the

When a leader's first thoughts are to service, all other jobs become easier. -- doug smith

Who, or what do you serve? As a leader, what is your way of helping others? Leaders must first serve. They must first serve to even understand the importance of leadership. They benefit tremendously by serving people, other leaders, and organizations before ever stepping into a leadership role. People who have not learned how to follow have very little chance of successfully leading. The credibility, the resilience, the humility that serving provides build the character needed to lead others in difficult tasks, projects, and movements. Leading is hard, and the muscle comes from following, from serving. Whether it's in the food industry, or emergency services, or education, or law enforcement, or housing, or foster care...there are dozens of ways to learn to serve and then to continue serving. It's what the world needs. It's what people need to develop leadership. A leader who remembers how to serve will lead longer than one who forgets. How, or who, are you serv

Do you love your team? I've been so blessed and lucky in my life to have been part of some truly outstanding teams filled with people who challenged me, supported me, and made my life (and work) better. I have loved the people on those teams and many years after working with the people on those teams I still think of them fondly almost every day. The team pictured here was one of my early teams at the Ryan Insurance Group. The talent on that team, and on other teams, astounded me every day. We had our struggles, but they were hard working, brilliant people and I miss every one of them. There have been other great teams of course. Today I think about this group and what it grew into as we expanded, improved, and grew as people and as a business. I was not a perfect boss, and I'm sure I sparked more than a little frustration now and then, but they patiently dedicated themselves to achieving the goals of the team. I'm proud of that team. I invite you today to reflec

The goal isn't goals; the goal is happiness. And, the strongest path to lasting happiness is thru service. -- doug smith

Are goals selfish? Is it self-centered to pursue your goals? Our goals are important. Successful goal achievement brings positive results along with a healthy sense of self-accomplishment. It builds our esteem. Even when those goals are dedicated to outcomes that benefit others more than ourselves, in fact, perhaps more so. Serving others as we achieve our goals builds good will, strong relationships, and more sustainable results. When others are happy, in addition to ourselves, the results are more likely to persist. It is at once unselfish AND self-improving. It's a winning combination: creating and achieving goals that serve others. We are best at achieving our goals when they are in service to others. I'm in favor of the best results possible for all. How about you? -- doug smith

How do you help yourself? Help other people. When we help other people we enhance our own self-esteem. When we do right for others we build relationship equity. And, most of all, when we help others we create a habit of service that makes the world a better place. Serve first, and see what happens. It's a habit worth developing. To help yourself the most, start with goals that help other people. -- doug smith Leadership Call to Action: Check your top three goals. How do they help other people? Which one helps people the most? What if you gave that goal your first focus today?