doug smith training

Supervisors are asked to make more moves each day than a complicated game of chess. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes you end up in what feels like a stalemate. But you keep on pushing, you keep on growing, and you keep on growing. Making the right moves, what I'd call the Royal Moves , requires training, experience, and an open mind. You need the open mind when the moves don't go exactly as you planned. Are you making the royal moves? Are your people growing, thriving, excelling, and delighting their customers? Are you making the royal moves? Is your own career developing in ways that challenge you and still bring a smile to your face? The royal moves keep you growing. It's deciding to plan more carefully so that the unexpected is not quite so unexpected. It's building the relationships that help you resolve inevitable disagreements. It's taking the time to coach your team members every day instead of letting administrative details pull

Work on yourself and then working on others gets much easier. They're more receptive, and you're more prepared. -- doug smith

High performance leaders spend much of their time coaching their people. We coach so that our team members can learn to generate the energy and effort they need to do their best work. We coach so that our team members will light up. But, sometimes, the light within our team members wanes. Sometimes, they need a boost. Sometimes they need us to light the way for them. Bring the light. Light the way. Keep them on track. Then, watch them shine. -- doug smith

You've seen the classic bell curve. The vast majority of the data points fall in the middle. That's just about average. Most performance, most people, most results, tend to be just about average. That's not for you. That's not for me. High performance leaders work harder, communicate better, coach longer, and reach farther. Better than average. Let's do that again today. Whatever you do, beat the average. Do better than average. Be excellent. -- doug smith

If we don't share what motivates us we shall certainly share what de-motivates us. Energize yourself to energize your team. -- doug smith

Have you ever seen steps to nowhere? Since I travel a lot, I occasionally see a building with stairs that appear to lead nowhere, at least no where safe. Access is only semi-blocked, so the danger exists even if the destination is sketchy. Does your team have a destination? Have you updated your team's mission this year? Things are changing so quickly that what may have seemed important as recently as a year ago could be out of date now (or soon.) Is your team up to date? Do you have a vision for a vital future? Avoid those stairs to nowhere. Plan a vital, energized, noble future for your team. Get them involved. Show them how a high performance leader leads. -- doug smith

High performance leaders pay attention to detail. They know what matters most and they manage it precisely. They eliminate distractions and focus on the main thing. Do you manage what matters the most to your organization? Is your organizational house "tidy" and in order? If you want to empower people, make sure that you have the best processes in place to allow the flexibility they need. When there is a right way to do something, train your people that way. Attention to detail. It makes a difference. -- doug smith

From Don Miller, author of StoryBrand, who shares brief, useful videos he calls Business Made Simple Daily. I find the insights so useful that I recommend subscribing. Most are only a couple of minutes long and can get your day off to great, ambitious, energetic start. This video is about gaining respect. One fast way is to deal more effectively with drama. Too often a situation is overly dramatized and while that can get attention, it can also lose respect. The fast way to gain respect? De-escalate drama and tension. Remain calm, pull away slightly, and imagine the least dramatic solution to the problem.

Fascinating video on the impact of feedback on performance and how our expectations are often deceived. Is positive feedback more effective, or is negative feedback a higher impact to performance? Refection Questions What do you think? If regression to the mean (falling back or rising up to the average) is to be expected, which type of feedback do you think is more effective - negative or positive?  Why is that?