doug smith training

As a leader, how much attention do you give to improving processes? Are they optimized fully, or just barely inching along? Too often I've seen leaders spend their efforts trying to fix people, when the center of their problems is usually broken processes and procedures. Any process can be improved until it's no longer necessary. And then you can shut it down. Work at it until it is optimized -- doing everything that you expect the process to do without creating problems and without slowing people down. Keep improving those processes. If you're still doing it, you can still improve it. -- Doug Smith

Are your products or services priced correctly? If your sales are slower than you expect, it could be that the price is too high. People will resist prices that they perceive to be too high, sometimes without even knowing it. Movie theaters can sit empty. Used car lots can sit full. Inventories can create mountains as expectations whither in the wind, products obsolete themselves, and customers take new options. But is there a price that people will buy? My son Juan and I went to the movies to see the 4th Pirates of the Caribbean movie. It's an entertaining movie, but having seen the first three and considered the last just a little over-the-top, I could easily have skipped number four. But the theater we attended has a Tuesday night special ticket price of just $5. For a movie, that's good. We'd seen "Thor" a few days earlier and paid a whopping $13 a ticket (it was in 3D). For that showing of "Thor" there were maybe 12 people in the audience. I have t

What happens to your project team as your project gets closer to the deadline? Does it gain momentum? Does it play fast and enthusiastically toward the goal? High performance leaders do not assume that a project team will remain cohesive thru the project and beyond. They could get distracted. Resources could dry up. Technology could break down. Relationships could strain or get muddled. What's a leader to do? Increase the level of communication. Drive deeper, more meaningful conversations to see how everyone is doing. Keep team meetings focused and on task to make them more productive.  Create powerful presentations that ask compelling questions and create an atmosphere where you the leader listen and encourage others to listen with curiosity. Reward people for progress made -- but don't forget anyone. Singling out top performers at the expense of those carrying the bulk of the load can backfire. There's much that a high performance leader can do to ke

What is your best point of view? Given the choice of selecting the way you look at things, how should you look at things? Your optimal point of view is informed, curious, positive and productive. Your optimal point of view may have other characteristics as well. What would YOU consider to be your best way of looking at things? How can you best express that positively? Start by writing about it. Invite someone into a deeper conversation to explore it more. Listen to their reactions with curiosity, And, take it from there. Your optimal point of view is ready to be formed. That's when the powerful communication begins. -- Doug Smith

Does your leadership communication style attract the people you need to achieve your mission? It takes many kinds of people to truly optimize your results. The size of your team may determine how diverse you can get, but centered and high performance leaders who communicate effectively find ways to add diversity to their teams. Maybe it's in how you collaborate with people from other teams. Maybe it's how you work with your clients. Maybe it's how you listen with curiosity and express yourself positively.Attracting people to your team -- even if they aren't actually ON your team, is essential.  High performance leaders attract diverse talent -- and let them be who they are. -- Doug Smith

Want to send a powerful message to your people? Want to communicate more effectively? Smile. They want to know how they are doing -- AND they want to know how you're doing. Walking around with a serious face all the time will wear them down. They'll wonder what's up. They'll start to question the path your team is on. Their desire to communicate will diminish. You can do better. You can create better conversations. Start with a smile. Find the joy in what you do and share it. Find the happiness in your team and grow it. Smile. -- Doug Smith

Your goals gain power when they also become someone else's goals. Suddenly, you have the force of multiple people on your side. The stakes are higher. You've got partners who can help, who care, who will push forward with you. You've got more power for your goals. Who do you know who can share your goals? Could you create a better than ever conversation by including your goals?  When will you ask them? -- Doug Smith Get help with your goals in our teleclass "How To Achieve Your Goals" .  Contact us today for more information.

If your vision cannot endure the actions of your team, one of them needs to change. Have you assembled the people you need to accomplish your vision? Or is your team pulling you into strange and unexpected directions? Before you lose track of your vision, get focus on your team. Check your processes, procedures, plans and people. Focus on your vision and adjust your team appropriately. -- Doug Smith

Is your team complete? Have you built the perfect work group capable of achieving every goal you could ever conceive. Probably not. Centered leaders realize that a team is never fully complete and needs constant change. Not change just for the sake of change -- but meaningful, mission-based, vision-focused change. Are you ready for that? What will you do today to bring that closer to reality? -- Doug Smith

What is your direction? How are you making things better? Where will you be a year from now if you keep doing what you're doing now? Is that where you'll want to be? What can you do TODAY to set a direct course for where you want to be? How about trying some of these CLUES to Success: - Create agreements - Listen with curiosity - Understand the facts AND the feelings - Express yourself clearly and positively - Share responsibility for success It takes practice, so clue someone in and practice together. Once you've become comfortable adding these CLUES to Success to your conversations you'll find that you experience deeper conversations, more powerful presentations, and more productive meetings. And, quite likely, you'll find that your relationships improve as well. Set a course for where you want to be: in a great dialogue. -- Doug Smith

What happens if one of your goals slips from your memory? As busy as most leaders are, it's easy for that to happen. Pay attention to any goals you've been ignoring -- they could reveal a quiet weakness. What goals on your list no longer belong on your list? What should you do about the things you avoid? When will you start? -- Doug Smith Help your people develop their leadership, communication, and productivity skills. Contact me today at: doug@dougsmithtraining.com about scheduling a workshop or teleclass.

Which leadership traits are you working on today? Do you walk your talk? Centered leaders speak and act with courage. What does courage mean to you? When has your courage been severely tested? Where do you go to get help with your courage? How does building your courage help you to constantly optimize your results? -- Doug Smith Help your people develop their leadership, communication, and productivity skills. Contact me today at: doug@dougsmithtraining.com about scheduling a workshop or teleclass.