doug smith training

  Your work environment has probably changed in the past two years. Mine certainly has. Have you used those changes as opportunities to make your work environment more conducive to the work you want to do? Do you have things arranged in ways that help you think, help you create, help you achieve your goals? You will benefit by designing an environment that supports your goals. Music...water...coffee...art...a notepad...? It's up to you, just like everything else. -- doug smith

In lean staff times, in fully staffed times, in hard-to-find-the-talent times, we need to keep recruiting. Even when you don't have a hiring requisition, or an open position. Top talent doesn't always show up on schedule. Sometimes it peaks in thru the window. High performance leaders are always recruiting. Your next MVP is out there somewhere. Keep recruiting. Keep recruiting by: creating an environment where people want to work developing your people, no matter what stage of their career building diverse teams with all kinds of people saying positive things to people about your team smiling when you are asked about your team and about your goals Keep recruiting. -- doug smith

When turn-over is high, find out why. It's easy to blame the economy, and maybe that does have something to do with it. It is also easy to blame other exterior causes. If you can't fix those exterior causes, what can you do? Look inside. Turn-over means that someone who works FOR you would prefer to do something else. Turn-over means that the team has tension you're not addressing. People need to work someplace, but if they choose NOT to work for you, the thing you can change is you. Listen. Talk about it. Connect with everyone on your team more often. Fix processes. Pay fairly. There are so many things that you can do, and you do have to DO them. When turn-over is high, find out why -- and fix it. -- doug smith    

Do you like to be micromanaged? I don't, and I don't know anyone who does like to be micromanaged. But I've learned that some people DO need it. Let's face it - some people will probably not get their work done on their own unless they are closely supervised. That doesn't make them bad people, but it does mean that they need supervision. They need attention. They need to be managed. It's not micromanagement if they won't get it done without your attention to detail. Help them help you: give them the management that they need. -- doug smith

  We live in a difficult world, in difficult times. It's easy to focus on the negative. It's tempting to become discouraged. We can't solve every problem or fix every situation.  Still. There is so much good, so many blessings, so many things to be grateful for. Why not start there?  Take a deep breath while you contemplate something or someone you are grateful for. Pause and...repeat. -- doug smith

  A quick and meaningful productivity assessment. If the video is not available, you can download the assessment here :  To join the Darren Daily newsletter's daily mentoring click here .

If you're a new supervisor don't expect to have it all figured out. No one has it all figured out. -- doug smith

  High performance leaders get stuff done, and they do that thru other people. We do our best to optimize our processes, and then we create environments and conditions where the people in our organization can prosper, Otherwise, what's it all about? Our customers = people. Our teams = people. Our stakeholders = people. High performance leaders focus on people first, and then on performance. -- doug smith

When people suspect you of lying you've got some truth to tell. Where's the doubt? Where's the suspicion? Where's the pattern of distrust emerging? Not everyone can even hear the truth, but we have a leadership option to tell it. And, maybe even more importantly, we have the need and responsibility to explore our truth before proclaiming it. What if we're wrong? What if our "truth" is incomplete? What if the delivery of our "truth" smells like lies? When people suspect you of lying -- it's worth checking to see if they could be right. -- doug smith

How do you develop performance? Every leader has a duty to develop performance. The status quo has got to go -- everyone everywhere benefits from constant improvement, constant development. When team members do not feel like they are being developed they are likely to leave. And, if they don't leave, how do you feel about their performance gradually falling behind? Because unless our performance improves, let's face it, it's falling behind. Performance is all about results but it is much more than that. Where does it begin? How do you start? Before we can feel the benefit of development it must be felt by others. People need to feel that how we perform our job is making a positive difference in their lives. And that is service. Developing performance starts with service. The ways that we serve others will be registered as our performance. Our customers aren't concerned about the financials, the KVI's, the deliverables. Our customers are focused on how we make them f

How many opportunities have you had so far today to do something great? How many opportunities have you had to demonstrate leadership -- spontaneously, graciously, unselfishly? They can slip right by, and yet they are there. Opportunities to make a difference. I'm sure that I miss them all the time, and I am grateful when I catch one and make a humble attempt. It's not that I regret all of those that go whooshing by, it's that I am working on mindfully finding more of them. Good luck, right? Yes. And more than that, good effort. No one even knows most of the opportunities available to them. Let's grab the ones we find. -- doug smith  

What if your biggest goal is not your most important goal? It's natural to think that your priorities are always determined by size: which goal will produce the largest revenue, save the most money, or give you the biggest impact. And, yes that's important. But should it determine what goal you work on today? I guess that it depends on whether you ask yourself or your boss, but I like to ask myself "which goal brings you the most joy right now?" Happiness matters. What if the purpose of achieving your goals is to make you happy? What if while you are working om your goals you felt great joy?  If the joy is missing, maybe the goal isn't so big after all... -- doug smith