Author: Ken Blanchard

Some Books I’ve Been Reading

/ Ken Blanchard

I love Mac Anderson’s and BJ Gallagher’s new book, Learning to Dance in the Rain: The Power of Gratitude. They say, “Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass…..it’s about learning to dance in the rain.”  In these tough economic times there is certainly a lot of rain, so I think we are going to have plenty of chances to dance before the storm passes.  There is also a wonderful quote by Nancy J. Carmody: “I am thankful for lawns that need mowing, windows that need cleaning, and gutters that need fixing because it means I have a home……….I’m thankful for the piles of laundry and ironing because it means my loved ones are nearby.”  My feeling is it is hard to get through tough times if you don’t appreciate the good times.

Another great book to read during these time is Spencer Johnson’s Peaks and Valleys. He makes a clear point that peaks are not forever and neither are valleys.  When we are experiencing a peak we need to prepare for when that might end.  When we are in a valley it is a great time to build up strength so we can prepare for the next peak.  Life is a very special occasion with its peaks and valleys.

Norman Vincent Peale said, “We have a choice every morning when we get up.  We can feel good about ourselves, or we can feel bad.”  The choice seems obvious to me.  Good on you all.

Admitting Mistakes

/ Ken Blanchard / 2 Comments

I have been working with two top guys from a radio program to prepare some “One Minute Advice” radio spots. I tell you, it’s really interesting in life—you have certain things you learn how to do and you get confidence, and all of a sudden you’re asked to do something that you’re not used to. In this case for me, it’s to say something in just a minute. Even though I’m called the One Minute Manager, you know, I usually have more to say than what takes a minute!

But it’s been a good learning process. I’ve thought a number of times about John Maxwell’s saying: “A winner is big enough to admit his mistakes, smart enough to profit from them, and strong enough to correct them.” So as I’ve been going through this process, I would do one of the spots and then laugh and say, “Of course, we need to do that one over again!” and try to profit from what didn’t go well and see if I could correct it the next time. So I’ve been dealing with my own image of myself—what I’m good at and what I’m not good at. But I’m learning! I’m getting better all the time. It’s been an interesting process.

I think that’s good advice for all of us, to be big enough to admit when you’ve made a mistake, smart enough to profit from a mistake, and strong enough to correct it. Otherwise you would do the same thing wrong over and over again. That would get a little boring and it could be career damaging.

Take care of yourself—have a great day. Life is a very special occasion even though some days are more learning days than others.

Celebration

/ Ken Blanchard / 2 Comments

Last week I had lots of festivities set up around my birthday. It’s really kind of funny—why did I do all this?  I invited all my coauthors, as many as could come, to come to our house for a little reception on Tuesday night. Then for the next couple of days we all talked about celebrating simple truths and what we’ve all done together. We talked about our body of work—what it was all about and where was it going in the future. Margie probably summed it up the best when she said it was really about being champions of self worth and individual dignity, and that everything we’ve done is to try to help make people feel important and cared for. And when people feel good about themselves, they produce good results. I think that’s probably a really good message for you as you continue to interact with each other and people at home and work. Every chance you get, ask, “How can I make the world a better place by the moment-to-moment decisions I make as I interact with other human beings, and build up their own sense of self worth?”

I’m really still amazed that the company Margie and I started with some of our friends is 30 years old, and that I’ve been able to do some of the things that I had never thought about before. People told me I couldn’t write—that I should be a college administrator. Zig Ziglar has a wonderful quote: “Regardless of your lot in life, you can build something beautiful on it.”  And you know, I didn’t do it all by myself. I think that’s one of the reasons I wanted to invite everybody—because you know, my mother always said, “Why don’t you write a book by yourself?” and I would say, “Mom, I already know what I know.”  So I built a wonderful life with the help of tons of people. I love another quote by Woodrow Wilson: “Friendship is the only cement that will ever hold the world together.” So we not only celebrated what we’ve accomplished together, but also our friendship. It was a special time and I really enjoyed it. Seventy is not a huge number. I have always thought that I wanted to be like Norman Vincent Peale. He died quietly in his sleep at 95. So that means I have another 25 years to go! I just feel great. I was glad I was able to put a bookmark there and take a look at what we’ve done over the years. We also got a chance to get our first copies of Helping People Win at Work: A Business Philosophy called “Don’t Mark My Paper, Help Me Get an A” that Garry Ridge, president of WD-40 Company, and I wrote. And then the first copies of Who Killed Change? which is the book that John Britt wrote with Judd Hoekstra and Pat Zigarmi and me. Everybody was excited to see those.

Somebody once said, “Many things will catch your eye but only a few will catch your heart. Pursue those.”  I really always tried to pursue things in my heart. Maybe I didn’t always make the best decisions. I could have probably done better writing fewer books and focusing more; we could have done things a little differently, but what’s happened has happened. So my 70th birthday, I think, has just been a celebration of life. We had a wonderful time; it was way beyond my expectations, and fun. I think life, as I’ve said for a long time, is a special occasion. And I don’t intend to miss any of it and I hope you don’t either.

Reach Out to Others

/ Ken Blanchard / 4 Comments

This morning I sat down and wrote a personal note to someone who recently helped me. You know, I have this personal stationery that was specially made and it’s just beautiful. And I thought, you know, I have to learn to use this more. Because just writing this personal note made me feel so good, and I think it’s going to make her feel good to get it. You know, everything is so instant around us nowadays. Everything is done in a fast-forward mode. There’s the EasyPass for our tolls, fast food for our stomach, ATMs and online banking for our finances. There are instant messages and all kinds of other stuff. But I tell you, I still think it’s important to reach out personally to other people. A handwritten note nowadays, when you get one, is just so special. I know when I was recovering from recent surgery what a difference it made for me to get cards from people I work with, with little personal notes on them, that people went out of their way to write. What a special thing. So my thought for today is this: If there are people in your lives that really make a difference to you, reach out to them in a special way. Don’t just email them or telephone them—those are nice and all—but sit down and write them a note to tell them how much you care and appreciate them. I think that would be a wonderful thing for you to do.

Joy

/ Ken Blanchard

We came back home from Tucson recently, and it was a joy to get here. Why? Because Joy was waiting for us—our fuzzy little dog. And you know, more and more I just believe that dogs, particularly puppies and all kinds of other pets, teach about unconditional love. They want a lot of attention but they give you back that unconditional love. She was just so excited to see us. It just kind of lifted up our spirits. I hope this week you will reach out and really hug some people and just tell them how important they are and make them feel like you are really excited to see them. You can even behave a little bit like a dog if you want to.  It’s just so wonderful when you get a sense that people really care about you and that you can make a difference in their lives that way. Dogs know how to do that. It’s great to be home.