doug smith training

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

The project team is stuck. Answers are not only hard to find, they seem impossible. The problem keeps causing mistakes and creating barriers. Within robust conversations we discover that although far from perfect, the process with the problem offers plenty of opportunity. Something small and almost unnoticeable turns out to be useful.  Within every problem is something that is working. What if that contains the secret to success? -- doug smith

It may be comforting to lean on what we've already learned, but it's not enough. That doesn't mean that we need to abandon everything that we've learned, just to pay attention to what is changing. We can rely on learned foundational principles like continuous learning, ethical leadership, participative leadership, respectful communication and other core strengths that serve us well and that still matter. We also need to react to and find ways to manage brand new learning. Just exactly WILL we lead completely virtual workforces? How WILL we manage misinformation? What SHOULD we do about creating fair opportunities? There is much to be learned, but then again there always HAS been much to learn. The challenge now is to keep up the pace, to distinguish truth from deception, and to treat people with respect while building our own flexibility. What we've learned is important. What we still must learn is critical. -- doug smith 

  The size of your goals does not define you, but your ability to achieve them does. What you define is secondary to what you do. Set meaningful goals, of course. Then, work them until you achieve them.  Sometimes you will fail. Try again. Sometimes you will succeed. Set a new goal. It's the work that gives you the juice you need to keep working. When people see that when you set a goal you mean business -- you mean to do what it takes to achieve that goal -- that sets a sharp definition you can live with. You do want to be known as someone who works to get what you want, don't you? -- doug smith

It's not the goal that makes you happy -- it's the work you do to achieve the goal that does. If it's too easy, it hardly matters. If it's too hard, you might not reach it. Calibrate your goals correctly and then do your relentless best to get the work done. That's where you'll measure success. -- doug smith  

  Coupled with healthy habits, good goals get great results. -- doug smith

How do you feel when things take longer than you expected? Complications, surprises, mistakes, barriers -- all kinds of things can make an easy path into a complicated trail. We're lost, but if we're paying attention, we're learning. Sometimes you need to spend a long time lost to find a better way to get there. -- doug smith  

  What makes you happy? What goals do you want to achieve?  You get to define success on your own terms, and until you do how will you ever reach it? Once you do, then your plan is already in motion. Keep going. -- doug smith

Is your team creative? When you need to solve a problem, does the team create lots of possibilities? Rather than lock in on what is already in motion, what if you found something completely new, completely different? Possibilities open us up. Curiosity gets us closer to what we haven't been able to see before. Answers to deep questions, solutions to problems, resolutions to long-standing conflict, innovative products and services -- all come from opening the door to possibilities.  Create more possibilities, create more success. -- doug smith

  Henry the Cat, photo by Judi Madigan It's tremendously liberating to realize that the only person who can define success for you is you. Not advertising. Not guidance counselors. Not consultants. Not bosses. You. You define success, and you also define failure. Don't let anyone define failure for you.  If you didn't achieve your goal, maybe you aren't done. Maybe your goal changed. Maybe part-way is far enough. You decide. I'm not saying to take it easy on yourself (although that's not altogether bad, either) but rather don't let others be too hard on you. You decide. You define success. Keep going until you get there. -- doug smith

I like this quote about coaching, and I think it applies to much more than coaching. Maybe, just maybe, everything. Where does confidence come from? Well, you might be able to drum it up or talk yourself into it but that's shallow and not so resilient. True confidence comes form competence: knowing you can do what you say you will do, and doing it. It's reliability. It's sincerity. It's thousands of hours of practices and service. Phil Jackson had a lot of success in his career. His teams oozed confidence. And you know what? They were also really, really good. Build that confidence. Develop that competence. Learn constantly, every day. -- doug smith

How do you measure success? Some people measure success with money, but you probably know that money alone is not success. Other people measure success based on the quality of their relationships. Or, success could be measured by the level of your game play, or the quality of your collectibles, or the land and resources that you control. There are as many ways to measure success as there are people measuring it. Success has many measures and yours are up to you. You might as well focus on what you think that means. -- doug smith

Peter Drucker (and others) said that it's the job of a leader to develop more leaders, not followers. High performance leaders surround themselves with people who show initiative, who get things done, who are ready to lead. They develop, sustain, support, and promote leaders without any fear or jealousy. Surrounding yourself with leaders who are growing and creating success will only make you more successful. It's what leaders do. Leaders develop leaders first to sustain long range high performance results. Better results, with their people taking care of themselves and each other. Isn't that what you want? -- doug smith

The song of success contains many variations. -- doug smith I'm not the world's greatest singer but wow do I love to sing. And, sure enough, I cannot sing everything. Almost no one can, of course. We're all limited by our vocal range and even though we can expand that vocal range, almost no one can sing ALL THE NOTES. And, we don't all like all the songs. Success is like that. What one person calls success, another might think of as torture. I know some jobs that people absolutely love that would irritate me to try to do. My own definition of success has evolved over the years. As I have discovered my limitations in some areas of aspiration (oh no, I CAN"T hit that note, or OH NO I'm NOT going to be a professional athlete!) I have also discovered new horizons -- all very colorful, exciting, and new. Success can be this simple: think of a goal, write it down, achieve it. Of course it's work. Naturally, there's much more to it than that. An...

You get to choose. Even when your boss gives you goals, you still get the chance to set additional goals that sing to your soul, that make you smile, that energize you and get you going. The right goals set you up for success. When you set your goals, set goals that set you up for success. What's your biggest, most exciting goal for today? -- doug smith

Successful leaders find ways to develop the talent on their team so that the tasks of leadership (mainly, management tasks to handle the day-to-day operation) can be shared with other team members. Until you can delegate you are stuck doing the same old tasks. Sharing the work frees up the team leader while also developing the team members. It's the right approach. Still, your team does need you. Even developing your team to the point where nearly every major task is handled by the team (even scheduling, delegating, assessing, interviewing...) the team leader provides a sense of direction not obtainable any other way. The team leader sets the tempo AND the temperature of the team. The team leader sparks the pulse, ignites the flame, defines the lines. Just because your team can function without you doesn't mean that your team can function without you. Stay in the game. Stay in the team. You are in charge. -- doug smith Leadership Call to Action:  Success team ...

Your wings won't work until you make room to fly. -- Doug Smith

Do you enjoy that feeling of being at the top of your game? I do. There's nothing quite like setting a noble and ambitious goal, working hard on the action plan, and then achieving it. We are most vital in those moments of hard work leading to success. Goals set the target, the plan sets the pace, and the work gets it done. We are most vital when we are achieving our goals. Why not get started? -- Doug Smith Successful Supervisors Achieve Their Goals If you'd like to increase and improve your possibilities as a supervisor I can help you with that. It's what I do. If you and others at your organization would benefit from a two-day workshop on high performance leadership, please do contact me about " Supervising for Success ." It's over twenty years of leadership experience, tools, methods, and techniques distilled into my "greatest hits." I love delivering this program and I enjoy watching supervisors realize that they CAN get stuff don...

Are you giving your goals all the help they need? Identify your biggest, best, coolest goal. Now, work that today... -- Doug Smith

How we define success will largely determine whether or not we achieve it. -- Doug Smith