First-Time Leaders Accelerated℠

First-Time Leaders Accelerated℠

Leading people is the most important responsibility in the world, yet, alarmingly, 60% of first-time leaders fail. With over 4 decades of experience in leader development and culture improvement, I created this podcast to help you solve 3 critical and costly people problems: 1. Endangered People Skills: The Communication Paradox 2. Peer to Leader, Now What? 3. Sunday Feelings About Monday Mornings If you’re a first-time leader, someone who hires or promotes first-time leaders or a solopreneur building your first team, this is your podcast. I’m Timothy Dean Smith, your host & coach. Monthly, from January through July, I’ll offer you concise, practical solutions you can apply immediately and benefit from for a lifetime. If you find my solutions valuable, share this podcast with your collages, wherever they listen to podcasts. Leading people is the most important responsibility in the world and I’m here to ensure your leadership matters. Thank you for listening to the First-Time Leaders Accelerated℠ Podcast. Take care. If you need a Leadership Speaker or you need help with Leader Development and/or Culture Improvement, visit tdspi.com and Click on Meet Me. I look forward to our "get to know each other" conversation. Treat people like they make a difference and they will.

Episodes

April 30, 2025 5 mins

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To be a great people-centered leader, you must genuinely care FOR and ABOUT people. You need to do both.

1.Caring FOR people is doing something for their well-being and helping them grow. It’s something you do to demonstrate you care for those you lead.

2.Caring ABOUT people is being emotionally concerned about their well-...

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We live in an “always on” and “always connected” world. We expect instant gratification, either accessing information or receiving a response.

Are you prepared to lead people? Find Out

If you need a Leadership Speaker or you need help with Leader Development and/or Culture Improvement, visit tdspi.com and Click o...

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It's unfortunate but all too often organizations unknowingly get rid of their best people and simultaneously wreck their culture, in three easy steps. I will explain how and why this problem occurs and how to fix it.

Are you prepared to lead people? Find Out

If you need a Leadership Speaker or you need help ...

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January 21, 2025 3 mins

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New Year's resolutions should not only consider improving existing processes but also have an atypical consideration of whether those processes should continue to be performed at all.

Are you prepared to lead people? Find Out

If you need a Leadership Speaker or you need help with Leader Development...

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Late Sunday afternoon or early Sunday evening, many people start thinking about Monday morning and their return to work. These thoughts reflect their feelings about their work culture.

Are you prepared to lead people? Find Out

If you need a Leadership Speaker or you need help with Leader Development and...

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June 28, 2024 8 mins

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Many things in life are cyclical. Leading people is no different. Today I will explain the People-Centered Leader Cycle.

Are you prepared to lead people? Find Out

If you need a Leadership Speaker or you need help with Leader Development and/or Culture Improvement, visit tdspi.com and Click on Meet Me.

I ...

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Remember, it’s more than having the right people on the bus, those people need to be in the right seats. This means the right people should be performing using their strengths.

If you need help with Leader Development and/or Culture Improvement, visit tdspi.com and Click on Meet Me.

I look forward to our "get to know ...

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Improvement and adaptability are our two most important abilities for survival. Just focusing on continuous performance improvement will not necessarily sustain an organization. Adapting to our everchanging world is important to remain relevant.

Visit tdspi.com and select one of two options:

Click on Find Out to ...

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March 26, 2024 7 mins

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When you transition from individual performer to first-time leader, often you inherit something you did not create. Unless you are an entrepreneur, hiring your first employees, you inherit everything, including the Vision, the Mission, the people, the culture and organizational history.

Referenced Episodes:

...

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Delegation is the process of entrusting another person, to perform something other than their primary responsibility. In this episode you will learn why delegation is more than getting things done.

Are you prepared to lead people? Find Out

Treat people like they make a difference and they will.

Support t...

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January 26, 2024 5 mins

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Often top performing individuals are promoted to a leader role, based on their current performance. The flawed assumption is, they will be successful leading people, just as they led themselves, as an individual performer.

In this episode you will learn why it's okay to say "No, Thank You"

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November 27, 2022 5 mins

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The common problem I solve is twofold:
1. Only 5% of companies have a leader development strategy, because most companies don’t have this competency on staff.
2. 60% of first-time leaders fail.

I have a phrase that sums up why 60% of first-time leaders fail. I call it:
“Get rid of your best people an...

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October 18, 2022 5 mins

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Perspective is not what you look at it’s what you see. It’s your point of view of the world. Everyone sees things differently. Five people could watch an event and each might have a different recollection, based on their perspective. We are all born with varying perspectives and our perspectives continue to be developed ...

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September 20, 2022 4 mins

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This was one of my most downloaded episodes. I'm offering it as a bonus eposide.

I will explain why first-time leaders fail at an alarming rate and the devastating monetary and emotional impacts, your organization will experience for years. My research and experience revealed somewhere between 40% to 60% of...

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August 18, 2022 7 mins

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The three most importance foundational aspects of every successful business, is the Vision, Mission and Culture Experience. Successful leaders must clearly understand the importance of these three aspects.

Do you know your organization’s Vision & Mission? Regardless of whether they are documented or not, they exist.

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I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase, “know, like and trust”, often referred to as the natural progression for healthy relationships. There is a word missing from this phrase. The word is Distrust.

All relationships begin with distrust, which is our survival instinct, that has been honed over centuries. Until recen...

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June 5, 2022 7 mins

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Today our conversation will be about a concept I pioneered, called Leader KPIs.

KPI is a business acronym that’s been around for decades. KPI stands for Key Performance Indicator. These indicators are about numbers. Numbers used to measure performance and make decisions.

So, what do you think I mean by Leader KPIs? I’ll gi...

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Today I am going to explain why we are experiencing a Communication Paradox and share a couple tips to flip the script in your favor, BIG TIME.

Communication is the foundation of relationships and relationships are the essence of our existence.

Our face-to-face communication skills are being eroded by a...

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April 13, 2022 7 mins

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Today I will share insight into the 2 most important people skills and why they are endangered.

 Ironically, with each passing year people skills are becoming increasingly more in demand. People Skills are often inaccurately referred to as Soft Skills or Life Skills. The term People Skills is more descriptive.

If...

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"Send me a text message and let me know what you think of the First-Time Leaders Accelerated℠ Podcast."

Did you ever wonder what makes a great people-centered leader and why the world desires them? This new bite-sized episode answers these two questions and more.

If you find my insight valuable, please share this podcast with others.

Treat people like they make a difference and they will.

Support the show

E...

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