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Ken BlanchardSupplied
Ken Blanchard, the university management professor who went on to become one of the all-time best-selling authors of business books, was originally told he couldn’t write. Indeed, because of that failing – his style was too breezy for academic papers – mentors advised him to become a university administrator rather than professor.
But breezy worked for him. And so did writing. Mr. Blanchard has 70 books to his credit, many of them fables, the best known being The One Minute Manager, which sold 15 million copies in its first edition, was translated into 47 other languages and ended up being updated into another edition. But he also produced more academic works, including his first book with colleague Paul Hersey, which gave birth to the key notion of situational leadership, Management of Organizational Behavior: Leading Human Resources.
His first leadership position came in grade seven, when he won an election for president of his class. That also gave him one of his earliest leadership lessons, reveals Martha C. Lawrence, in her new biography of Mr. Blanchard, Catch People Doing Things Right. When he came home after the victory, his father, Ted, a U.S. navy rear-admiral, congratulated him but added a caution: “Now that you have a leadership position, don’t ever use it. Leaders are great not because they have power but because people trust and respect them.”
His mother, Dorothy, was no leadership slouch either, telling him at one point: “You’re not better than anyone else but nobody is better than you.”
In his early years, he often didn’t get what he initially sought in schooling, athletics and work but somehow always bounced back through affability and friendships, knowing someone who could help open an alternative door or path. And they were invariably willing because he routinely forged close friendships.
His journey is the opposite of the dictum sometimes given to not work with close friends. He brought them in to his projects and the company he founded – indeed, often pulled them in – and helped them to excel. They, in turn, helped him to excel. “I liked Ken the moment I met him,” Hall of Fame golfer Bob Toski said. “He had a twinkle in his eye that immediately invites an exchange of ideas.”
Mr. Blanchard has proven particularly adept at working with people whose demanding personalities put off other colleagues. “Ken’s superpower is being able to work with kryptonite,” his former publisher, Tim Moore, has said.
An example of his collegial attitude is that most of his books have co-authors. He and The One Minute Manager co-author Spencer Johnson insisted the slim volume be priced at $15, double what publishing experts considered sensible. They added a sticker to the cover: “Small, Expensive, and Invaluable.” Also on the cover was a money-back guarantee. Thirty people were to ask for their money back, but the ever-personable (and persuasive) Mr. Blanchard called each one and in the end none returned the book.
Business books were a niche product at the time, with low sales and never on best-seller lists. This one came about when his wife, Margie Blanchard, told them, “You two should write a children’s book for managers. They won’t read anything else.” The parable of a young man looking for an effective manager was on The New York Times best-seller list continuously for three years with its simple, humanistic approach, broken down into three management techniques: One-Minute Goals, One-Minute Praisings, and One-Minute Reprimands.
Managers were to set clear, concise goals with employees, ideally described in one page or paragraph, and review those regularly. They were to catch employees doing something right and provide immediate, specific praise. They were to also address and correct poor performance, being specific about the behaviour that was wrong and how they felt about it, but also remind the individual that they were valued.
At the time, management was top down. When they updated the book in 2015 with The New One Minute Manager, they recognized that command-and-control leadership was being replaced by a more effective side-by-side leadership.
One-Minute Reprimands became One-Minute Re-directs. “It’s not helpful to reprimand or punish a learner,” Mr. Blanchard writes in a recent blog post. That instinct traces back to his earliest days as a professor, when he enraged colleagues by giving students the exam on the first day of class and worked with them to learn the course material so well they could ace the exam, which he considered the ultimate goal.
With redirects, one of the toughest aspects of management, he advises redirecting them as soon as possible after the mistake. Confirm facts and review the mistake together, being specific. Express how you feel about the mistake and its potential impact on results.
“Then pause for a moment to allow the person to feel concerned about what they’ve done,” he continues. “Let them know that you know they are better than their mistake and that you think well of them as a person. Remind them that you have confidence and trust in them and that you support their success. Then understand that when the redirect is over, it’s over.”
In another blog post he warns that poor leaders catch people doing things wrong. Instead, you should catch them doing things right. The leader’s praise helps the person feel good about themselves. And people who feel good about themselves produce good results. “People never tire of being told they’re doing good work. It’s good for morale and engagement, and it leads to confident, empowered employees,” he writes.
Maybe he was a good writer after all.
Cannonballs
- Customer service consultant Shep Hyken uses the term artificial incompetence – AI, for short – to describe companies that improperly use artificial intelligence and cause customers to be frustrated, scared and/or receive bad information.
- Intel and Amazon popularized the notion of “disagree and commit” for the practice of executives disagreeing with proposals but after the decision was made committing fully to the effort. That can be particularly difficult when you have to move on and convince others to support something you may disagree with. Consultant Molly Graham suggests an alternative: “Disagree and let’s see.” That softens the pressure to commit to something you still doubt but still keeps the company moving forward.
- The Hacking HR group recommends reminding people in onboarding why they chose to join your team by asking, “What made you say yes to this role?” Two other onboarding questions: “What kind of support helps you to do your best work?” and “what’s something that frustrated you in a past role and how can we avoid that here?”
Harvey Schachter is a Kingston-based writer specializing in management issues. He, along with Sheelagh Whittaker, former CEO of both EDS Canada and Cancom, are the authors of When Harvey Didn’t Meet Sheelagh: Emails on Leadership.