Helping People Work Through Disillusionment

/ Ken Blanchard / Leave a comment

As leaders, we’ve all seen it happen: Your direct report starts a new project or task, filled with excitement about what they can achieve. While they may not have all the skills they need, they’re enthusiastic about learning what to do, taking action, and achieving their goal.

A few weeks go by. The next time you check in with your direct report, you discover that their progress on the project has stalled. As the two of you talk, it becomes clear that your direct report is finding the work more difficult than they thought it would be. They are no longer engaged and they’re having a hard time staying committed to the task.

In the language of SLII®, the direct report has become a Disillusioned Learner. This is a predictable passage along the journey from low to high competence. Yet many managers don’t know how to lead people at this stage.

Flex Your Leadership Style

The best leaders know how to flex their leadership style to adapt to the changing needs of their direct reports. Yet our research shows that 54 percent of managers use just one leadership style, regardless of the situation. So, in the case of our Disillusioned Learner, most leaders will default to a supporting leadership style, giving the direct report needed encouragement—but providing little help with working through the roadblocks. Some leaders will default to a directing leadership style, closely supervising every move—and undermining what little confidence the direct report has around that task.

Neither approach will be very effective. What the Disillusioned Learner really needs is a coaching style, delivered through coaching conversations that blend direction and support. Learning to be flexible can be a challenge at first—especially for leaders who have become accustomed to using a “one size fits all” approach.

Have an Alignment Conversation

To help the Disillusioned Learner, the leader’s first step is to partner with their direct report by having an alignment conversation. The purpose of this conversation is to clarify the goal or task, confirm the direct report’s development level on that task, and agree on the best leadership style for the situation. Remember:

Leadership is not something you do to people,

but something you do with people.

To give you an idea of what this looks like in the real world, let’s eavesdrop on a leader talking with a direct report during their regularly scheduled one-on-one meeting. As they talk, it becomes clear that the direct report is having trouble with one of her tasks.

“I’m just not feeling very confident about this,” she says. “To be honest, I’m not sure what to do next.”

The leader recognizes that these are the words of a Disillusioned Learner, someone who may have started the task with enthusiasm but is feeling discouraged after running into obstacles. As I mentioned earlier, a person at this stage needs a coaching leadership style, which is high on direction and support.

Having diagnosed her direct report’s development level, the leader now engages her in an alignment conversation, getting agreement on the coaching leadership style that she will use:

“Since you’re still learning and not feeling confident, would it be helpful if I provide you with direction and support?”

“Sure, I could use the help,” the direct report replies.

First, the leader provides some perspective and encouragement:

“Look how much you’ve already accomplished! You’ve made some good initial progress. I’d like to hear your thoughts and ideas as we work together on this.”

To provide direction, the leader offers continued training, instruction, or assistance in problem solving. Her directive comments might begin:

“Let me show you how to …” or “Here’s how you might want to approach this …” or “Here are some more resources/examples….”

To provide support, the leader asks questions, practices active listening, and offers praise and encouragement to help build the direct report’s commitment and motivation. Her supportive comments might begin:

“I know you can do this …” or “I’m confident you can do this …” or “I know this isn’t easy at first, but it gets better. Hang in there. I’m here to help.”

The goal of these coaching conversations is to build the direct report’s competence on the task and pull her out of her disillusionment.

Development Level Varies from Goal to Goal and Task to Task

It’s important to remember that development level applies to a specific goal or task, not to a person generally. For example, while the direct report in the scenario above may be a Disillusioned Learner on that particular goal, on a different goal she may be an expert—a Self-Reliant Achiever—able to achieve outstanding results without any direction or support whatsoever. At that development level she would need an entirely different leadership style—but that’s a topic for another blog!

If you would like to improve the morale and engagement of your people by learning to adapt your leadership style to their needs, I encourage you to take advantage of the many resources we have on our website. Our goal is to make work more inspiring, motivating, and meaningful for all.

Who Are the Innovators of Today?

/ Ken Blanchard

It’s commonly assumed that the top leaders in organizations are the ones who come up with the best ideas—ideas that lead to positive changes such as new products, bigger profits, better customer service, higher employee engagement, lower turnover, etc. But this is a misconception.

Executives at successful companies know that all the brains are not in the C-suite. These leaders work side by side with their people, empowering them by sharing information about the company, asking for input on important topics, and keeping the lines of communication open. They believe people at every level are capable of innovative thinking—everyone should be included and their thoughts, opinions, and ideas should be considered. Just think: if every leader acted on this belief, what a difference it would make in how people feel about themselves and their work!

You never know when innovation will strike. Back in 1981, Spencer Johnson and I did something a bit innovative. We coauthored a book that was unlike any other at the time—The One Minute Manager. When we met Spencer, my wife, Margie, and I were in the early stages of our leadership training and consulting business. We had been invited to an event for local authors because I had coauthored a college textbook titled Management of Organizational Behavior. Spencer had written a children’s book series and was working with a psychologist on a book for parents titled The One Minute Scolding. Margie met Spencer first, hand-carried him over to me, and said, “You two should write a children’s book for managers—they won’t read anything else.” Soon thereafter, Spencer and I decided to write a short parable about a manager who knew how to get the most out of his people by empowering them and catching them doing things right. Everyone we showed the manuscript to raved about it. We self-published and sold 20,000 copies of The One Minute Manager before meeting with any of the big New York publishers.

Our company has been in the business of empowering people for 45 years. Two of our cofounders, Don Carew and Eunice Parisi-Carew, coined the phrase “No one of us is as smart as all of us” while we were working on the book The One Minute Manager Builds High Performing Teams. In essence, the saying means that no one individual can take the place of a roomful of creative team members trading ideas and working together to find solutions. That’s innovation in action! Being a part of this kind of dynamic connection creates feelings of safety, belonging, and inclusion in every team member.

To get people on board with the idea that every person can be an innovator, leaders must first commit to something rather risky: they must let their people know that it is okay to make mistakes—and it’s okay to fail. If people believe they will get reprimanded (or worse—be out of a job) when they make a mistake, they simply won’t move toward innovation. They will keep their head down and just do their job. It’s up to the leader to bring people together for brainstorming sessions and involve them by not only allowing, but encouraging them to step up and share their ideas with the group. 

My good friend Garry Ridge, CEO Emeritus of WD-40 Company and my coauthor on Helping People Win at Work, wanted to create a safe culture where people knew they wouldn’t be punished if they made a mistake. He said when he took the reins at WD-40, “I had to redefine the concept of ‘mistakes.’ I needed to teach people to not be afraid to fail.” Lots of leaders who promote innovation in the workplace feel the same way. They treat mistakes and failures as important data—Garry Ridge calls them “learning moments”—because they often can lead to breakthroughs.

Organizations that rely only on designers and senior leaders to come up with all the innovative ideas for positive change are underestimating the rest of their workforce. Everyone can contribute to a culture of innovation.

Leaders Must Extend Trust First

/ Ken Blanchard

Trust is essential for any healthy relationship. Warren Buffet once likened trust to the air we breathe. “When it is present,” he said, “nobody really notices. But when it’s absent, everybody notices.”

In a working relationship, it’s up to you as a leader to make the first move to extend trust. This often comes as a surprise to many leaders, who assume they are automatically trusted by others because of their position or title. In fact, the opposite may be true. Because you have more position power, people may be wary of you. That’s why it’s so important that leaders extend trust first.

What It Looks Like to Extend Trust to Your People

One of my favorite stories about extending trust to your people comes from Horst Schultze, one of the founders of the Ritz-Carlton Hotels. After extensive training, Horst’s employees were given a $2,000 discretionary fund that they could use to solve a problem without checking with anyone. Now that’s extending trust!

One day, a businessman who was staying at one of the Ritz-Carlton properties in Atlanta had to fly to Hawaii, because the next day at 1:00 p.m. he was making a major speech to his international company. He was a little disorganized as he was leaving. On his way to the airport, he discovered that he’d left behind his laptop computer, which contained all the PowerPoints he needed for his presentation. He tried to change his flights, but he couldn’t. So he called the Ritz-Carlton and said, “This is the room  I  was  in,  and  this  is  where  my  computer  was.  Have Housekeeping get it and overnight it to me. They have to guarantee delivery by ten tomorrow morning, because I need it for my one o’clock speech.”

The next day Horst was wandering around the hotel, as he often did. When he got to Housekeeping he said, “Where’s Mary?” Her coworkers said, “She’s in Hawaii.” He said, “Hawaii? What’s she doing there?”

He was told, “A guest left his computer in his room that he needed for a speech today at one o’clock—and Mary doesn’t trust overnight carrier services.” Now you might think that Mary went for a vacation, but she came back on the next plane. And what do you think was waiting for her? A letter of commendation from Horst and high fives around the hotel.

Use Discretion, Then Take a Risk

I don’t mean to suggest that leaders should blindly trust everyone. That would be foolish. Leaders need to assess an individual’s trustworthiness before they extend trust. For example, Mary, the Ritz-Carlton employee, was trustworthy because she had completed her training and orientation and was known to be reliable.

Think of a risky situation you are facing where you may be hesitant to trust someone.

  • What about the person or situation gives you confidence to extend trust?
  • What gives you cause for concern?
  • How you can extend trust while also addressing your areas of concern?

The next step is to take the risk to extend trust. You don’t need trust if there’s nothing at risk. That’s called certainty, a sure thing, a guarantee. But if there is risk—if there is a chance you might get burned extending your faith in someone else—that’s when you need to extend trust.

Trust doesn’t happen by accident. For trust to develop in a relationship, one party has to make the decision to extend trust in the hope it will be reciprocated. Ernest Hemingway summed this up simply yet eloquently when he said, “The way to make people trustworthy is to trust them.” In other words, while you can use discretion, you won’t really know whether you can trust someone until you make the first move.

At some point you, as a leader, must take a risk by extending trust and turning over responsibility to your followers. First, be certain they are clear on the goal. Make sure they have the right resources, skills, and training to do a good job—and then let them do it.

By extending trust first, you demonstrate respect and create goodwill. Soon your people will begin emulating your behavior by extending trust and respect to others. In a workplace where trust is the norm, people collaborate more, produce better results, and have more fun.

To learn more about building trust and other powerful leadership practices, pick up a copy of my new book with trust expert Randy Conley, The Simple Truths of Leadership Playbook. And please join us for a free webinar, Simple Truths of Leadership: From Intention to Action on Wednesday, February 21, 7:00 AM PST. Register now at https://event.on24.com/wcc/r/4444232/962C05294BC6C39A0C1D43B595A0D7AB.

Let’s Catch People Doing Something Right in 2024

/ Ken Blanchard

Catching people doing things right and praising them is a timeless principle I learned and began practicing and teaching years ago. It is a powerful tool for bringing out the best in others. So instead of making a personal New Year’s resolution this year, I want to make one to share with leaders everywhere: Make 2024 “The Year of Catching People Doing Something Right.”

I don’t want this resolution to pertain solely to our direct reports, though. Let’s also catch our peers doing something right. Let’s catch our bosses doing something right. Let’s catch our partners, kids, relatives, and friends doing something right. And let’s catch ourselves doing something right!

As an example of how to praise someone for doing things right, here are the basics of the One Minute Praising from my bestselling book with Spencer Johnson, The One Minute Manager.

  1. Praise someone as soon as possible after you see praiseworthy behavior.
  2. In very specific terms, tell the person what they did right.
  3. Relate their good behavior to the broader picture by telling them how it made you feel.
  4. Now pause briefly to give the person a chance to feel good about what they did.
  5. Encourage the person to keep up the positive behavior.

This is a concept that still holds true—in fact, it’s woven into all of our company’s training programs and most of my 70 published books. When you catch somebody doing something right—or approximately right—praise them.

Catch your people

To great leaders, acknowledging people’s efforts and encouraging their progress is common sense. These leader behaviors set up a positive cycle: Their praise helps people feel good about themselves, people who feel good about themselves produce good results, and people who produce good results feel good about themselves.

Think about a time when you were proud of something you did, but nobody seemed to notice. How did it make you feel? Now think about a time when you did something well and were praised or otherwise recognized for it. How did you feel then? What was the difference between the two?

Note: a One Minute Praising is not the same as flattery. It’s a statement that builds trust and improves communication because it’s based on facts and data. The phrase “nice job” isn’t specific enough to build rapport. But if a leader says, “William, I appreciate your sending me your weekly report on time. It provided accurate information and allowed me to meet my deadlines. Keep up the great work,” it clearly states the leader’s appreciation, which will boost William’s morale and help him realize he is an important member of the team. Catching people doing things right provides satisfaction and motivates good performance.

Catch your coworkers

Encourage your teammates to catch each other doing things right and praise each other’s progress. This kind of camaraderie can go a long way toward building trust among peers, which helps everyone feel good about their job. People never tire of sincere praise. It’s good for motivation, morale, and momentum.

Catch your boss

When was the last time you praised your boss? Even if you are good at praising direct reports and coworkers, you may have to think long and hard to remember the last time you recognized the efforts of your manager.

It’s easy for people to picture their leader getting positive feedback from their own bosses. But think about how meaningful it would be for your manager to hear you say, “By the way, thanks for letting our team know about the exciting new client we just landed. It felt great to get this news directly from you rather than reading it in an all-company email.” Depending on your relationship, it could also be appropriate to give your boss a compliment on a blog post they wrote or on their caring leadership style.

Catch your family

This principle can also help relationships flourish at home. It’s important to express positive feelings we have about our family members and friends, so that those relationships stay healthy. Catch your partner, your kids, or your parents, siblings, or friends doing things right on a regular basis. Don’t wait for the perfect moment—do it as soon as you see or hear about something good that they have said or done, or even when you have a positive thought about that person.

For example, if your school-aged child makes his bed or does his homework without being asked, let him know right away that you notice and appreciate his efforts. Call and congratulate your nephew on his new job. Or send a card to thank a friend for helping you through a tough time.

Catch Yourself

Did you make a New Year’s resolution this year? If not, you have company. A new YouGov poll shows only 34% of adults in the US made a resolution for 2024. Why? Because people believe New Year’s resolutions fail more than they succeed. They grade themselves on a pass/fail basis—there’s no in-between.

But many people who think that a previous year’s resolution failed may, in fact, have made great progress in that area of their life during the year even if they didn’t technically achieve the original goal they had set.

Remember, in The One Minute Manager, Spencer Johnson and I state that a praising can be given not only when you catch someone (including yourself) doing something right, but alsowhen you catch someone doing something approximately right. So if you stick to your resolution well enough to make key improvements in that space, that’s praiseworthy in my book! Now put your right hand on your left shoulder and your left hand on your right shoulder and give yourself a hug.

Well done! Bring on the new year!

Catch everyone!

Good feelings generated from catching people doing things right can be habit-forming. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself passing along praise to your next-door neighbor, your yoga teacher, your postal carrier, or the cashier or bagger at the grocery store.

Good thoughts not communicated are meaningless. But positive praise creates a significant energy boost in both the giver and the receiver. So let’s all catch people doing something right in 2024!

Are You Merely Interested in Being a Trusted Servant Leader—or Are You Committed?

/ Ken Blanchard

Most of us can remember a time when we had every intention of accomplishing a specific goal, but didn’t follow through. Perhaps we were beginning to get serious about joining a group, learning a skill, or improving ourselves in some way—but when it came time to act on the idea, for some reason we lost interest.

My good friend Art Turock taught me that this behavior usually is the result of not knowing the difference between interest and commitment. We were very interested in the idea, but not committed enough to put it into action. We didn’t keep our commitment to our commitment.

Through the years I’ve had all kinds of people tell me they have learned a lot from my books. Of course, I am always grateful to hear that. But when I ask leaders how they have applied some of the Simple Truths they’ve learned from me, many can’t come up with an example. It surprises me how some people can read a book, and another book, and then another without actually using anything they are learning from those books. They are interested in learning about leadership, but not committed to putting their learning into action. I think that’s a shame. After all, effective leadership is about employing commonsense leadership principles that will help your people and your organization thrive.

So how can commonsense leadership become common practice?

In an effort to resolve this age-old question, in 2022 my coauthor Randy Conley and I published Simple Truths of Leadership: 52 Ways to Be a Servant Leader and Build Trust. We wanted to show leaders how to incorporate simple but essential principles into their leadership styles. We were delighted when we started hearing stories from readers telling us about the positive differences the book was making in their leadership. What a joy to realize that leaders everywhere were beginning to not only commit to our Simple Truths of servant leadership and trust in principle, but also put them into action at work.

Feeling the need to help leaders embed the information even more deeply, Randy and I decided to take the next step. The result is Simple Truths of Leadership Playbook: A 52-Week Game Plan for Becoming a Trusted Servant Leader. It’s a structured workbook that allows leaders to craft their approach to leadership one week at a time. When a leader reflects on each of the 52 Simple Truths, responds to the prompts in their own words, and does the activities, that’s half the work. The other half is the call to action—the “Try it This Week” section—which is all about the leader implementing the lessons into their leadership.

Effective leaders are committed to learning—and the best leaders apply what they learn to their leadership. Any leader who reads Simple Truths of Leadership Playbook can acquire the practical skills and experience they need to put commonsense leadership into practice and reach their goal of becoming a trusted servant leader. Now that’s what I call keeping your commitment to your commitment!