doug smith training

What if everyone were completely clear and open about their goals? Imagine working with no hidden agendas. -- Doug Smith

Goals give direction. The work is up to you. -- Doug Smith

Have you noticed that even when you have a truly sensible solution to a problem that you can encounter resistance to change? Why do some people resist making things better? Why wouldn't they want to solve that problem? Most problems have someone or something invested in the status quo. It works for them. They're getting something out of it. Even when it's a problem for someone else -- until you identify the payoff to the status quo, solving it may prove to be difficult. A great solution does more than solve the problem -- it does no harm. -- Doug Smith

Have you ever seen someone who is so flexible that it's hard to know where they stand? There have been times when I felt that way myself. It feels free, but then limits because it's so hard to make a decision. How do you choose? What's best? I've since learned that it helps in making decisions to rely on a solid set of values, a strong sense of purpose, and a committed set of goals. Everything else, from projects to past times, falls in line with those three things. When you add your sense of faith to your values (or as one of your values) it becomes much easier to see when it's necessary to be flexible and when it's necessary to remain firm. High performance leaders maintain flexibility without losing focus.  They know when to be flexible and when to be firm. How about you? -- Doug Smith

How big of a deal is stress in your life? We all endure a certain amount of stress. Depending on what's going on in your work and in your life, you may be going thru more stress than you want. Not all stress is bad (setting an ambitious goal, for example, adds a kind of good stress) but too much stress can slow you down. How much of your stress are you choosing? Certainly, not all of your stress, but could you admit that some of it is the result of you doing too much worrying, or waiting too long to work on that big goal, or taking what the boss said too personally, or procrastinating when you knew the deadline was going to be tough? You know as well as anyone else the answer to what to do about the stress you cause yourself: let it go. Stop it. Relax, breathe, focus, and then get to work. When we do that, when we control the stress that we can control, when we choose "no" to a piece of self-selected stress, it makes handling the tough unchosen stress much, much e...

Our limitations are meant to spark our grown. -- Doug Smith

Memorizing your goals will help you achieve them. Too obvious to mention? Maybe. But what if you're working on some goals right now that you can't remember? That makes it tough to get any traction, doesn't it? We all do it sometimes. It's another obstacle to achieving those goals that need not exist. Memorize your goals. Those that you don't remember might not belong on your list. -- Doug Smith

A goal that is too long to remember can feel too complicated to complete. -- Doug Smith

Your team's mission should determine what kind of team you build. -- Doug Smith

Successful supervisors set high performance standards and collaborate on accountability. -- Doug Smith

Communicating effectively is a skill AND a choice. The skill takes practice and training. The choice takes intention based on values and character. We aren't born gifted communicators -- we develop or not. How are you developing your communication skills? -- Doug Smith