Servant Leadership

Feedback is the Breakfast of Champions

/ Ken Blanchard / 4 Comments

You know you’ve heard me talk a number of times about “Feedback is the breakfast of champions.” This is a saying that Rick Tate, who used to be a consulting partner with our company, often said. People in sales constantly get feedback. They know how well they are doing by whether it’s a “yes” or a “no.”  Other people with different jobs don’t get feedback as much as they want. That’s why it’s so important for us to reach out and thank people—particularly people who are in jobs where they can’t always count what they do in terms of numbers or anything like that. Because it really does feel good. I remember as a young man, cutting the grass—that was always a great pleasure—and then sitting up on the porch, sipping a beer and looking out to see what I had done. That’s immediate feedback.

So life is a special occasion, but it’s also nice to have something to do once in a while where you get feedback on results. So continue today to reach out and thank other people for the work they do—give them some feedback so they can feel good. Remember, people who feel good about themselves produce good results, as well as people who produce good results feel good about themselves. It’s all based on feedback.

Optimism

/ Ken Blanchard

Today I came across a wonderful quote from Winston Churchill, who I always felt was quite a guy. He said, “An optimist sees an opportunity in every calamity. A pessimist sees a calamity in every opportunity.”  I guess I’m an optimist. I’m always looking for the lemonade from the lemons. That’s the way my mom always was. She said I laughed before I cried, I danced before I walked and I smiled before I frowned. So what are you? Are you an optimist or a pessimist? I think optimists live life a little bit differently and, I hope, more joyously. So be an optimist today, no matter what’s bothering you. See if you can see the opportunity in the problem rather than seeing everything as a problem. Have a great day.

Ethical Leadership

/ Ken Blanchard

I recently had an interesting experience—I spoke to the Better Business Bureau of the whole Phoenix valley. Normally, you know, the BBB is a group that deals with whether businesses are doing the best practices. They started this night a number of years ago where they recognize companies in the area who are leading in an ethical, values-driven way. It’s become quite a prestigious thing. I got a chance to talk to them about The Power of Ethical Management, the book I did with Norman Vincent Peale. What I particularly like is catching people doing things right.

My own sense is that there are many good things happening in business that just don’t get publicized. You may think everybody is self-serving and doing everything for themselves—but that’s not really true. I think the number of people who are unethical and running businesses just for themselves is just a small percentage in comparison to the people who are doing it right. It was a real joy to be there and also to share with them our ethics check: Is it legal? Is it fair to all involved? How does it make you feel about yourself? Concepts like that. Being successful in business isn’t about perspective; it’s about both results and people, and that is so important to us. So it was an interesting night.

So you take care of yourself. Life is a very special occasion. Make sure you don’t miss it. You’re missing it if you think life’s all about you.

My Interview with Richard Morris at Simple-Talk

/ Ken Blanchard / 1 Comment

http://www.simple-talk.com/content/article.aspx?article=721

Personal Branding Interview

/ Ken Blanchard

I did a recent interview with Dan Schawbel for his blog, Personal Branding.  Read the interview at http://personalbrandingblog.com/personal-branding-interview-ken-blanchard/ and let me know what you think.