doug smith training

Sometimes the best place to start is to talk about it. -- doug smith

Until you can communicate your perspective to your team, how will they ever give their best effort to achieving your goals? We all see things differently. Let your team know how YOU see things. -- doug smith

A lie is a try to buy self-esteem and the price is too high. -- doug smith

There are no perfect people, products, or processes. Life is more or less a constant improvement project. -- doug smith

A typo can be the difference between distinction and extinction. Quality matters. -- doug smith

High performance leaders know that performance is a long term goal not a short-term gain. Think long range, long term, and strong impact. -- doug smith

Find out what your team means to each team member and then build from there. -- doug smith

This is a picture of my good friend Tubs. He has a look of anticipation and expectation in his eyes. He wants to be sure that whoever he is communicating with understands those expectations. If his tongue is showing, he expects a treat. If there's a toy in his mouth, he expects to play. And if he walks toward the door, he expects to go out. Life is simple and good when your expectations are clear. As a leader, you probably have some expectations, too. You expect a certain level of performance from each of your team members. You expect a certain professional conduct. You expect respect. Does everyone on your team understand, clearly, your expectations? Not last year's expectations, and maybe even not last month's expectations, but rather your current expectations? And, not only what you expect but to what level of urgency do you expect prompt action? Let them know. Tell them again. They do need to be reminded. There's no room for a mystery here, is there? Co...

Do you know someone who will say anything? Some people have no filters, as one of my friends used to say. No sooner do they think it and then they say it. Sometimes, it doesn't even seem like they gave it much thought. We all have important things to say. As leaders, what we say has direct results on how our teams perform. We can talk with an edge if the relationship is strong enough to support a high level of assertiveness, and we can say nearly anything IF (and it's a BIG if) we include respect and kindness. When we can talk about it with respect and kindness we can talk about anything. Keep the kindness, whatever you say. -- doug smith

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

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...

Have you ever been on your way somewhere and suddenly realized that you were on the wrong road? Before GPS, that would happen to me frequently. I'd get lost. Things looked different than I expected. On our road to our goals, things can get distorted. Our expectations, formed with optimism and trust, can get twisted or tumble over a cliff. The road to any goal requires a toll. Are you prepared to pay that toll. One early toll is seeing thru the distortions. To achieve our goal we need to see clearly. That could mean seeing things thru someone else's viewpoint. Find out the facts, sort out the feelings, and focus on as much objective truth that is available. The road ahead is distorted. It's up to us to stay centered, focused, and on the right route to our goal. Keep you map handy. -- doug smith