Self Leadership And The One Minute Manager

Ken Blanchard Susan Fowler Laurence Hawkins To my mother, Dorothy Blanchard, who taught me how to take control of my own life before someone else did. —Ken Blanchard To my wonderful parents, Phyllis and Dick, who helped me realize the magic of self leadership by encouraging my curiosity, independence, and love of learning. —Susan Fowler To my three daughters, Genevieve, Ashley, and Juliet, with the fondest hope that they may be beneficiaries of these self leadership concepts and tools and immerse themselves in the good life. —Laurie Hawkins Contents Introduction by Ken Blanchard 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Do You Believe in Magic? 1 People Are Not Mind Readers Elephant Thinking 28 Cycles of Power 43 Diagnose Yourself 65 Getting What You Need 81 Running Together 94 No Excuses 115 One Minute Magic 136 v 18 Appendix: The Business Card Trick Acknowledgments About the Authors Services Available Other Books by Ken Blanchard and Susan Fowler Credits Cover Copyright About the Publisher Introduction In the last decade or so, the old deal in business has changed. In the past, the workforce traded loyalty for job security. If you showed up to work, made a good effort, and stayed out of trouble, you were usually secure in your job. When I graduated from college in the early 1960s, one of my friends got a job with AT&T and called home. His mother cried with joy. “You’re set for life,” she said. Are you set for life today with any organization? No! Lifetime employment is a thing of the past. Over the last number of years, I’ve been trying to find out what the new deal is. Talking to top managers around the world, I’ve asked, “If it’s not loyalty you want from your workforce today, what do you want?” The answers have been pretty universal: “I want people who are problem solvers and are willing to take initiative. I want people working for me who act like they own the place.” In other words, top managers, given a choice, would like empowered people—individuals they can respect and trust to make good business decisions, whether top managers are around or not. Does the workforce object to that? No! In fact, I’ve asked people, “What do you want from an organi- vi / Introduction zation if job security is no longer available?” Again, the answers have been pretty universal. People today want two things. First, they want honesty. “Don’t lie to us. Don’t tell us at one point there will be no layoffs and then turn around a few months later and lead a major downsizing.” Second, people want opportunities to constantly learn new skills. “At some point, if I have to look for a new job—either inside or outside my present organization—I want to have better skills and be more valuable than I was before.” What better way to become more valuable than to be able to take initiative, become a problem solver, and act and think like an owner. Bingo! We have agreement. Then what’s the problem? Most people will argue that most managers are not willing to let go, that they still want to maintain c