Sunday, August 16, 2015

I Love Ken Blanchard!

Sometimes the best way to get a simple idea across is with a simple story.  The practice of delivering business or leadership lessons in a fable is more common today than it was when Ken Blanchard first started kicking out his timeless little tales of success in the workplace.  Here are some of my favorite Blanchard tales, each of which I recommend.  Clicking on the title of each will take you to a free downloadable summary of the book written by me. 




The One Minute Manager; The Quickest Way to Increase Your Own Prosperity (with Spencer Johnson, author of Who Moved My Cheese, Berkley Books, 1981.)  Here's a quick primer for anyone who finds themselves in a management role at work even though they've never had any training.  The basic premise is that successful leaders know to moderate their style depending upon the needs of the person being managed, and upon the specific situation.  People need different things at different times from their managers... but no one should ever need more than a minute to set goals, receive praise or take in a reprimand.  I'm not sure what the subtitle is about. This book is not about personal wealth. It is about managing others.


Leadership and The One Minute Manager: Increasing Effectiveness Through Situational Leadership (with Patricia Zigarmi and Drea Zigarmi, William Morrow and Company, 1985.)  Though this one involves the same fable character as in The One Minute Manager, this book is denser and more complex than the others in the series.  Here Blanchard and his co-authors take the "Different strokes for different folks" theme a little further to describe how managers and leaders can determine what level of guidance their employees require.  By the time we get to page 94, a fairly sophisticated flow chart is presented, detailing the steps in the "Contracting for Leadership Style" process.  Once again, each employee will get the level and intensity of management they need according to their skills, motivation, and work goals.


Raving Fans: A Revolutionary Approach to Customer Service. (with Sheldon Bowles, William Morrow and Company, 1993.) Truly, truly I would like to live in a world where every business I encounter is eager to make a raving fan of me!  The strategies spelled out in this fun little tale (including a Fairy Godmother named Charlie) could be applied by any restaurant owner, nurse, cashier, case manager, realtor, or consultant.  Anyone who ever has to serve another person's needs would benefit themselves and their customers by picking this one up.  It's so easy to make the people who pay us wildly happy... why doesn't everybody do it?

Gung Ho! Turn On the People in Any Organization (with Sheldon Bowles, William Morrow and Company, 1998.)  What do squirrels, beavers and geese have in common? They all have lessons to teach us about motivation and how it influences the quality of the work we do in groups and organizations.  Squirrels busily gathering food for the winter are engaged in the worthwhile work of preparing for their future.  Beavers take on different roles and seem to leave each other to organize their work however they like.  And geese are famous for the noisy way they cheer each other on.  Unlike other Blanchard classics, this one is based on a true-life story of a factory that was saved from closure because of the business learnings embedded in the stories one middle-manager's Native American grandfather told. (And because the top manager was wise enough to listen.)



Whale Done! The Power of Positive Relationships. (with Thad Lacinak, Chuck Tompkins, and Jim Ballard, The Free Press, 2002.)  Whales don't learn to jump through hoops because they are punished when they fail to jump through hoops.  Whales learn to jump through hoops when they are rewarded for jumping through hoops.  Can it really be that simple?  Well, not quite.  But the truth is that people respond to and perform better for managers who guide them toward the actions and behaviors they seek, rather than only ever steering them away from the actions or behaviors they dislike.  Tell me what you DO want and not just what you DON'T want.  I'll get it done! 


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