doug smith training

Why do people reject our ideas? If you're like me, this can drive you to distraction. The idea is sound, the logic is flawless, the need is palpable, and yet sometimes people reject our best ideas. Maybe they don't understand them yet. Maybe we don't understand what they are looking for (or more importantly, what they are seeing). The work has just begun. It does not good to walk away pretending we've reached an understanding when what we've really reached is an impasse. Whatever is blocking you usually doesn't go away on its own. We need to work harder at understanding what's going on. People aren't always trying to be difficult (yes, I know that sometimes they are). People don't always find us objectionable (although it can feel like that). Sometimes we just don't understand. We need to understand the value. We need to understand the urgency. We need to understand the need. We need to understand. Otherwise, we're not likely going

Does rejection stop you in your tracks? Do you ever find yourself altering your work simply to avoid being rejected. I hate rejection as much as the next person. It leaves a sour taste in my mouth. It sometimes discourages me. It causes me to question what I'm doing and even who I am. But that's not very useful, is it? Rejection does not have to devalue us. Rejection is simply one perspective, and hey, most of the time it's wrong. So what if that person does not want to buy your product? If it's still a good product, it can still help others. So what if that person doesn't want to spend time with you anymore (well, OK this is really more than a little "so what") it doesn't mean that you're a bad person or not worth spending time with you. It just says a little something about the person we perceive as rejecting us. Let that last sentence roll around your head a moment longer please: it just says a little something about the person we perceive

Have you ever been so busy and distracted that the whole morning goes by without even knowing what you did in all that time? I've done it. One distraction leads to another. One fascination opens doors to new branches of a constantly blooming tree that's completely unrelated to the garden you're supposed to be cultivating. Time doesn't care how we spend it. How we spend it is up to us. To achieve our goals, we need to work on them. We need to relentless work our plan. Then, instead of wondering where our time when we can see: it went to achieving our goals. It went to working on our mission. It made us more productive and successful. It's a beautiful day when you make progress on your goals. Why not make some progress on one of them right now. Right. Now. -- Doug Smith Front Range Leadership:  Training Supervisors for Success doug smith training:  how to achieve your goals

Have you ever offered the best possible piece of advice to someone only to see them fail to implement that advice? You knew it was fool-proof. You knew it would work. What were they thinking? What were YOU thinking? I've done that many times. My head can produce lots of creative ideas with the clarity it takes to get right to the heart of someone else's problem. Except, they don't see it that way. They may make a feeble or half-hearted attempt at the solution, but it's not their idea and they don't see how it will work. So it doesn't. Yes, as leaders we do need to coach and counsel and help people to come up with great ideas for solutions. Yes, we do need to collaborate creatively in a centered manner that allows our great thoughts to be heard AND their great thoughts to be appreciated. That's how we get to the agreements that lead to robust, workable, effective solutions. The problem with giving someone else the solution to their problem is that the

Do you have any walls around you? I do. I've built some walls so skillfully that I can't even see they're there. Maybe you have, too. Walls to protect us from hurt, walls to protect us from deception, walls to keep us strong and impervious. Except we aren't impervious. We're only as strong as we are willing to be vulnerable. And, our walls can seriously impair our ability to lead, to communicate, to solve our problems, and to achieve our goals. The walls that we build to protect us eventually fence us in. Break down those walls -- or at least open up a window. There's a lot of light on the other side. -- Doug Smith Front Range Leadership:  Training Supervisors for Success doug smith training:  how to achieve your goals

Are you getting all the feedback that you need - or do you sometimes avoid it because you won't like what it says? I've been known to avoid some critical feedback. It doesn't make me feel good. Sometimes, there's nothing that I can do about it anyway. But, by avoiding the feedback altogether I could miss the piece of positive feedback inside, or the advice that truly matters, or an opportunity to communicate more clearly and reach better understandings and agreements. Feedback can feel like hard work, but it's worth it. If we want to achieve our biggest goals it helps to know how we're doing along the way. Goal achievers learn from feedback every day. We don't have to apply every piece of feedback. And for heaven's sake, we don't have to take it personally. As my much respected graduate school professor Dr. Jay Desko has said, "feedback says more about the person providing the feedback than it does about the person receiving the feedba

What have you learned today? That's my favorite question. For years it was the tag line on my web site. I occasionally end a conversation or piece of writing with that question in hopes of provoking a moment of reflection that will help to capture and keep that learning. When we reflect on what we've learned we have a much better chance to put it to use. What have you learned today? Before every workshop that I facilitate I ask the group to reach some basic agreements. For most groups they are the same or remarkably similar. Occasionally, a group is so specialized or troubled that they'll need additional guidelines or agreements but these are the ones that I've found help the most, the most often: We agree to: Respect each other Focus on the problem Take charge of our own learning If we do those three things skillfully the workshop is a wonderful success. If we don't, well let's just say it could be a long day through a troublesome event. By

Have you ever come up with a really great solution idea that just didn't work? It had everything you needed to solve the problem except for one big thing: support? Developing creative and centered solutions to our problems is important. But what's just as important (maybe more so) is getting the support we need from the people impacted by the problem. They must help, they must support, they must agree. If you want a solution to work, pick the best agreed-to solution. It might not be your favorite solution. It might not seem like the best solution to you. But an agreed-to solution has a much better chance of actually working. Have you asked the people involved in solving your biggest problem what they think? -- Doug Smith Front Range Leadership:  Training Supervisors for Success doug smith training:  how to achieve your goals

Did you ever stop to wonder what that big problem is doing in your life? What if it's there for a reason? Not just because it is a problem that's developed over things that you've done or that other people have done or simply randomly appeared to interfere in your life - it may well have a reason. Every problem plays a role in the Big Picture. Finding that role is essential to solving the problem. Get clear. Get focused. Get moving. That's what the problem needs right now. -- Doug Smith Front Range Leadership:  Training Supervisors for Success doug smith training:  how to achieve your goals

If someone read your top five goals, would they know who you aspired to be? Do your goals create the tension, growth, and direction you need to become the next better you? It's not always easy. I'm not sure if you read my list of goals right now that you'd clearly know where I was headed. But it's something to work for. It's something to consider. And, it's a powerful indicator of whether or not we are growing. And growing is the way to be. Define your goals with the clarity it takes to define you as you want to be. Not as you are, but as you intend to be. Then your goals will help you get there. -- Doug Smith Front Range Leadership:  Training Supervisors for Success doug smith training:  how to achieve your goals

"Your ability to discipline yourself to set clear goals, and then to work toward them every day, will do more to guarantee your success than any other single factor."  - Brian Tracy There's a classic quote for you. Every once in a while it comes up in one subscription email or another and so today I feel compelled to share it because it's so good, so useful, so inspiring. Set clear goals. Work toward them every day. There's your formula for success. What are you working on today? -- Doug Smith how to achieve your goals: doug smith training Fast, affordable leadership training: Front Range Leadership

Have you ever hammered away on a goal that didn't really matter to you? It must have been hard. I know the feeling - something is due and you are obligated to complete it but it just doesn't stir you, just doesn't feel compelling. That's when procrastination can take over adding tension and delays and all kinds of nonproductive problems. We can do better. While we do not always get to pick our goals (sometimes our bosses or clients impose them) when we do, let's pick goals that resonate. Let's work on goals that make a difference. Let's choose wisely. Your goals will require significant time to achieve. Pick goals that truly matter to you. Life's too short for silly insignificant goals. What goal matters the most to you today? -- Doug Smith Doug Smith Training Front Range Leadership