doug smith training

What is your primary goal as a leader? I consider my primary goal to be "helping people to achieve their goals." The most challenging thing to that is that I don't succeed unless others do. The longer I work, the more I am convinced that is true no matter what your primary goal is. To the extent that we help others, enrich others, empower others -- that's the degree of success we achieve. What if your success depends on your ability to bring success to others? Will it change the way you do business? Will it change the way you look at others? Will it recalibrate success? Sure. We have goals for ourselves. What I'm wondering, though, is how much more do we get when others do well as well? I'm thinking that the answer is: a bunch more. What do you think? -- Doug Smith

What happens when we use the same solution over and over even when the problems change? We don't really solve new problems that way do we? And yet so often we pull the same old tools out of our tool box and try the same old solutions. New problems require new thinking. New problems require new solutions. It's funny how we sometimes keep trying to same solution on totally new problems. Funny, but not effective. Let's do better than that. Let's be more creative. Let's develop new ideas. How do we do that? Here are a few ways: turn your idea upside down - how would it work reversed? ask other experts what they think ask people who are NOT experts what they think look at the problem as if you were ten years old again. What would you do? reframe your problem as a goal. How could you achieve that goal. rethink your problem as a benefit. What would you do to get more of that problem? Now, how would you reverse that? is the root cause what you think it

Are your people getting the training that they need? Full disclosure - I provide training for a living, so of course I believe that people should constantly train and keep their people in training. But aside from that, I've seen so many dysfunctional teams fall to pieces and clash with each other simply because they haven't developed the skills that they need to effectively do the job. Communication skills. Leadership skills. Problem solving skills. Goal attainment skills. People need training. Training is more a sleep-inducing e-course. Training is more than orientation. Training involves exploring, practicing, discovering, and performing the skills needed to prosper and achieve your goals. Are you people getting enough training? It's probably impossible to over train your people. What do they need to learn next? What will do to support their learning? -- Doug Smith

Do your problems threaten to wear you down? Are they pulling the energy out of you? Sometimes problems do that to me. It's almost as if they're looking for me to surrender. I won't surrender. A problem might wear me down but it won't wear me out. How about you? Will you endure? Will you persist? Will you be a durable problem solver? -- Doug Smith

Have you ever forgotten a goal? What causes that? Some people will say that we can forget a goal if we're too busy. Or, maybe we have too many goals. Or maybe, just maybe, we forget the goal because it just isn't that important to us. Any goal that I forget is not really a goal, is it? If that goal is worthwhile, work on it. If it isn't - make room for something that is! -- Doug Smith

How do you define your future? We create visions, we create dreams, we create plans. And most of all, when we create goals we define our future. Our goals can steer our actions. When we set ambitious plans and follow those plans assertively there is so much that we can accomplish. Our goals provide fuel for our better selves, our better teams, and our better organizations. Our goals can define our future. So form your goals carefully. What future do you want to create? -- Doug Smith What have you learned today?

What's your favorite goal? You know what I mean - the one goal you dream about. The one goal that is always on your mind. The one goal that means the most to you. What goal do you most like to talk about? Work on that goal. Today. Right now if possible. You've already got what you need to get it going. -- Doug Smith

Do the people you work with know and understand your priorities? It's easy to take for granted that our priorities are clear, but most of the time they are not. We need to let people know. We need to act according to our priorities. As important as our goals are, other people have goals of their own and sometimes they can hijack our efforts in service to theirs. People will shift your priorities unless you constantly remind them what they are. Talk about it. Tell people your priorities. What's your number one goal? Where do you expect your team to be a year from now? To achieve your goals, be sure to act relentlessly on your plan, no matter how many attempts to shuffle your priorities emerge. Day to day living is nice, but it's in communicating our priorities that we achieve them. -- Doug Smith

What keeps you going? Is it a great conversation? Maybe a note from a trusted friend? Or could it be that long phone call with someone you haven't talked with for a long time? I find all of that energizing. Also, reading great books, taking long walks, and yes of course - achieving goals along the way. Every goal achieved is fuel for even greater success. So as I work on my smaller goals, I know that they are leading to bigger goals. As I achieve my big goals, I know that I'm ready for even more. How about you? -- Doug Smith What have you learned today?

What do you goals add up to? Do they add up to major changes? Do they show the progress in your career? Do they provide motion for your growth and change? I realize that many people wander thru life with no true goals. They clock in and out. They go thru the motions. They walk beside their shoes. We are meant for more than that. We are meant for great things. We are meant to leave footprints that help others to walk - not cause them to trip. Our goals add up to a different life. A different life than the one we started out with. A different life than the one we are living. A better, more purposeful, more directed, more powerful life. A life of growth, change, and helpfulness. I'm going to start paying more attention to what my goals add up to. How about you/ -- Doug Smith What have you learned today?

How often do you judge people? In my most judgmental of times I can judge everything about a person and find them constantly wanting. But what good does that do? How do I feel about being judged myself? Where does it all lead? We are all deeply flawed humans. We make bad choices. We break things. We hurt people's feelings. That's all true (and more) about me and yet what makes me feel entitled to judge others? It's another mistake. The right balance, the right combination, the right focus, the centered degree of compassion, courage, clarity, and creativity makes much less room for judging others and much more room for working to understand. I need to better understand other people, especially when they aren't sure that they understand themselves. I need help in being understood especially when I'm not operating with the best of clarity myself. It's a dance, but a dance of cooperation, not comparison. It doesn't matter if someone achieves more, gain

How do you get better results? Create better goals. It's not all that you need but it's a great place to start. Whenever I create a goal that I find to be energizing that translates into more attention and action. Whenever I create a goal that has a noble outcome, I feel better about devoting resources to achieving it. Great goals are exciting. Great goals contain opportunity for growth. Great goals get you going. Here are what I believe to be the three key ingredients for great goals: ACTION WORD: The action word explains exactly what you will do. Create, make, deliver, teach, propel, design, change, sell, fabricate, transplant, modify, steer, obtain, tell, paint, draw, write...words like that. RESULT: The result is what you plan to achieve, usually expressed with some unit of measure. For example - a 200 word novel, 150 pounds, a graduate degree in chemistry, fifty new prospects, a year without crime, three healthy meals a day...whatever it is that you want to a