doug smith training

Someone once told me that they always win. "How does that work?" I asked. "Simply," he said. "I always win because I'm the bigger dog." Maybe. But what happens when he meets a bigger dog? (and guess what -- there's always a bigger dog.) If you embrace a dog-eat-dog approach to leadership be careful. You will most certainly be eaten by a bigger dog. -- doug smith

Creative leadership finds new ways to assemble your most vital and high performing teams. -- doug smith

Have you ever gotten frustrated while looking for the solution to a problem? It's not just common, we should probably expect it. If it was easy, it wouldn't be a problem, would it? Maybe we just need to keep thinking. Maybe we just need to quietly identify possibilities. What if the best answer to your problem hasn't been thought of yet? The answer, even if it's just "manage the outcomes and make peace with the problem" is likely there. Keep digging. -- doug smith

How important are your goals? Do you know how I can tell? I can tell how important a goal is by how disciplined and hard I work on them. Big effort = big importance. Little effort = just nice to have. Your effort measures the true value of your goal. I'm going to work today to put more effort into those goals that matter most. How about you? -- doug smith

Things change fast. Things don't ask, they just change. Where do we go from here? Wherever you are, there is room to grow. We may stay idle for awhile. We may sleep, rest, nurture. When we are ready, let's grow. Where to begin? Start with what's possible and grow. Ready when you are... -- doug smith

My former acting coach, Brian McCulley once said that "done is better than perfect." I don't think he meant to minimize quality, because that is also important. But sometimes urgency is more important than perfection, considering that we'll never achieve perfect. There are no perfect people. There are no perfect products. There are no perfect processes. We may travel John Wesley's road to perfection without ever getting there. That is completely fine. I've learned to seek wisdom rather than perfection since discovering the endless amount of personal flaws has destroyed any illusion of perfect. Still, I travel that road, whether it's driving or as a passenger. It's a good road, even when it never ends. I've also learned not to let it grieve me.  We are all here to improve. Let's keep improving. When we look into the mirror, let's not expect perfection. Let's not let disappointment cloud our days. Expecting perfection is not a

You never know how influential you might be until you try to expand your influence. You never know when the smallest problem solving step might lead to an evolution of ever expanding and more effective steps. You might think you know, you might not. Expand it. Grow it. Get to know people and work on that problem. When a problem is beyond your influence, build your influence. -- doug smith