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!

Processing Gratitude During Difficult Times

/ Ken Blanchard

Hard to believe, but it’s already November. Where has the year gone? Every year in November I write about the importance of having an attitude of gratitude. But I certainly understand how wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, mass shootings in the US, and other tragedies dominating the news can make it a lot more difficult for folks to focus on feeling grateful. What can we do to keep our thoughts from sinking downward?

I’m going to offer up a few ideas in the hope they will help motivate you to move toward feelings of gratitude for the simple things you have to be thankful for.

  • Margie once created a simple model she calls PACT—Perspective, Autonomy, Connectedness, and Tone—that addresses both life balance and stress reduction. In teaching this model, Margie and I found focusing on the four elements of the PACT model helped people not only manage the demands of a busy life but also deal with unexpected stress.
    • Be grateful for perspective. Perspective is a picture of where you’ve been and where you’re going that sets the context for your day. When you watch “Breaking News,” it can seem like nothing good is happening anywhere. Sometimes the best thing you can do for your own well-being is to turn off the news and find a good book. Go outside and play with the dog or watch the wind blow through the trees. Put on some uplifting music. Have a meal with a friend. You have the option to change your perspective. Once you ground yourself and reclaim your own real life, it is easier to find things that make you feel grateful.
    • Be grateful for autonomy. Autonomy is the feeling that you have some control over what happens to you—the freedom to make your own choices and steer yourself toward your goals. When current events cause you to feel anything but in control of things, remember that you have the ability to control where your thoughts go, and you can choose how you react to current situations. Start by being more intentional about the messages you pay attention to. Look for the good—it’s out there! Mr. Rogers said he was taught by his mother to “look for the helpers” in tragic situations. Be grateful for the helpers—people who are helping others and working to make a positive difference in the world. Be grateful for who you are—a person with autonomy—and for being alive.
    • Be grateful for connectedness. Connectedness is generally about your relationships with others. Be grateful for how many ways you can connect with your family, friends, and colleagues. We’ve all learned that connectedness can happen even when we aren’t face to face with another person. I’ve said often how grateful I am for Zoom. I became a true Raving Fan of Zoom the first time I attended an all-company meeting and saw everyone from the office that I had missed seeing since the shutdown. It was fabulous! I soon learned that I could see and talk with clients around the world without getting on a plane! It changed my life. Even when you can’t connect with someone in person, you can still let them know you are grateful that they are in your life.
    • Be grateful for tone. Tone is how you feel about yourself physically, your energy level, and how you present yourself. This is the most important element in the PACT model because high or low tone can affect the other three elements. When you feel good and have a positive perspective, your tone is high. You make good choices for yourself and want to stay connected to others. But you can tell if your tone starts slipping into a lower state—you may feel like staying home more, staying up later or sleeping in, or not caring if you wear sweats every day. When you feel your tone sliding down, work on the other three elements of the PACT model—your perspective, autonomy, and connectedness with others. You’ll soon feel less stressed and more balanced.
  • Here’s a wonderful perspective: a poem of gratitude from the late Thich Nhat Hanh, who was one of the most beloved Buddhist teachers in the West. This was his morning prayer, which can be practiced by anyone of any faith or no faith:

               Waking up this morning, I see the blue sky.

               I join my hands in thanks

               for the many wonders of life;

               for having twenty-four brand-new hours before me.

  • Every night, Margie writes down three positive things that happened in her day. These could be as simple as hearing from an old friend, or finishing a great book, or the joy she gets from teaching her career planning class at work. It’s her way of ending each day with positive thoughts and a peaceful mind.
  • As the holiday season approaches, think about giving your loved ones, friends, and colleagues the gift of your presence. We all get busy with work, shopping, and other tasks and sometimes forget to simply make time to be present with people we care about. Let them know you love them and are thankful they are in your life.

Finally, we need to keep our hearts open to the innocent victims of war—the citizens and families of the Middle East and Ukraine. However you wish others well, be it through caring thoughts, meditation, prayer, or another type of reflection, let’s send safety, peace, and love to those who are suffering.

This November, I hope we can all find a way to feel and express gratitude for everything we have and everyone we love, including each other—and ourselves.

Leading Others to Find Meaningful Work and Satisfying Careers

/ Ken Blanchard

Nobody wants to stay in a dead-end job. To retain and attract top talent, organizations must provide growth opportunities. My wife, Margie, is passionate about this subject. To promote professional growth in our own company, Margie offers a three-day, two-hour course called Career Discovery that invites people to explore their career development.

It Doesn’t Have To Be Awkward

Many leaders feel awkward about discussing career development with their people. They worry that they will lose the person just when they’ve gotten them trained.

Because she knows that leaders might feel uncomfortable about their direct reports exploring career growth, Margie has a video meeting with each participant’s manager to educate them about the course. She prepares each manager for the discussions that might come and assures them that just because their direct report is asking questions doesn’t mean they are unhappy or uncommitted. It means they want to grow and develop—and that’s a good thing! In fact, Margie encourages managers to take the course, too.

Helping People with Career Development Is Part of Every Leader’s Job

Margie explains that every manager has three responsibilities: 1) doing their own work; 2) developing their direct reports for today’s work, and 3) developing their direct reports for long-term careers. In most cases, the third responsibility gets short shrift.

At least twice a year, managers should have one-on-one conversations with each direct report about their long-term career plans and goals.

“You can be sure that your direct report is thinking about their career, so you need to have what I call Courageous Conversations,” says Margie. “It’s important to understand that it’s just a conversation. You don’t have to have an immediate answer or a job ready for the person to go into. The answers and opportunities will come over time.”

To get the conversation started, Margie recommends asking some exploratory questions, such as:

  • What makes you want to stay in this job/company?
  • What challenges you?
  • What would lure you away?

Managers should assure their people that it’s healthy to look at their career path and congratulate them for thinking about it. “Let people know that they don’t have to wait until they’re unhappy with their job to talk about it,” Margie says.

People appreciate managers who care enough to have career conversations. Showing people you’re interested in them as a whole person—not just in what they can do for you—builds trust.

Four Steps Along the Course of Career Discovery

During the course, Margie takes people through several steps to discover more about themselves and the kind of work they will find meaningful and satisfying.

Sharing Success Stories: To begin, she asks people to talk about the most satisfying times in their life. What have been their peak experiences and successes? After people share their success stories, others comment on the skills they saw being used. For example, “When you won that basketball championship, I saw you using leadership skills to encourage your team members.”

Reflecting skills back to them not only gives people a sense of what they enjoy and are good at, but it also shows them that everyone has a different stengths and that each person is unique.

Taking assessments: The course offers people the opportunity to take career assessments, such as Harrison Assessments. Designed to help match people with the right jobs, the assessments can also identify areas that may be less suitable.

“These assessments help people zero in on what they enjoy, what they’ll be good at, and where they will thrive,” says Margie. “If you enjoy something, you’ll get better at it—and vice versa. Assessments can help people clarify their interest areas and shorten the research phase. They cut down on trial and error—which is expensive for everyone.”

Information interviewing: The course encourages people to reach out to others who are working in jobs they may be interested in, to find out what that job entails. This can also cut down on trail and error.

“Information interviewing would have helped my mother,” Margie says. “She went to all the trouble to get a real estate license, only to find out that the job required her to work on weekends, which she was unwilling to do. An information interview with a realtor would have saved her a lot of time and trouble.”

Coaching: Finally, people in the course are encouraged to get coaching to help them explore career ideas. At our company, we offer everyone six coaching sessions, which can be used for career development.

It Pays to Have Career Conversations with Your People

Margie’s Career Discovery course has been a big success in our organization. Twenty-five percent of the people who have gone through it have either been promoted or have moved into more suitable jobs. Many people have discovered that they are in the perfect job. Everyone who has been through the course has come away with more confidence and a greater awareness of their strengths.

Even if your organization cannot offer a career planning course, as a leader you need to talk regularly with your followers about their long-term goals and dreams. With open communication, you can often retain talent that would otherwise go elsewhere.

“You need to be proactive,” Margie explains. “Headhunters often know more about your people than you do. You want to earn the right to have the first conversation when someone is dissatisfied with their job.”

Summer’s Almost Over—Time to Look Ahead

/ Ken Blanchard

In September, a lot of people get a melancholy feeling. Summer will soon be behind us. The weather will cool down, kids will be back in school, and leaves will start falling. Back to the old routine. But I’d rather look at this time of year another way—with hope and anticipation for what lies ahead.

I love the saying every ending has a new beginning. I always see September as a new beginning. Because I grew up in the K-12 public school system, completed a few years of college, and then taught at universities for more than a decade, I came to think of September as the start of a new year. No matter what had happened before—how many teachers or students I had annoyed, problems I’d had, or mistakes I had made—I gave myself a clean slate in September. The classrooms opened and the year began. I kind of translated that into my life; so to me, September—not January—feels like the beginning of the year.

The first weekend in September is Labor Day weekend in the U.S.—the last holiday of summer. It is dedicated to the efforts of everyone in the workforce who contributes to the greater good in our society. For many people, Labor Day is a day off from work, perfect for spending leisure time together with family and friends having a picnic or barbecue, going to the pool or the beach or the lake, or observing other traditions. I find it interesting that most countries have a holiday like this that celebrates working people. Why does this holiday exist all over the world? I think it’s because people who work hard for their families, employers, and customers deserve it! So put your right hand on your left shoulder and your left hand on your right shoulder and give yourself a hug—because your work is important and you’ve earned a special day, no matter who or where you are.

Time for me to get pumped up about what’s coming my way this fall—such a lot of things to look forward to!

  • First of all, there’s always more thought leadership, innovative learning solutions, and nonstop inspiration coming from the brilliant folks in the Blanchard organization, led by our talented leadership team. Talk about a hardworking group of people!
  • I’m eager to continue working with my son, Scott, on our upcoming book. Tentatively titled It’s Always the Leader, the book will explore Scott’s fresh perspectives on leadership. It’s a joy to work alongside him, exploring a topic that has such significance in both our lives.
  • I can’t wait to see this year’s theme for Halloween (our favorite company holiday) and to learn what’s cooking for Thanksgiving (my favorite family holiday).
  • I’m also really looking forward to the first week of December and the release of my new book with Randy Conley, Simple Truths of Leadership Playbook. It’s a structured workbook that takes a deep dive into our 52 lessons from Simple Truths of Leadership, challenging readers with thought-provoking questions, assessments, and other activities to help them apply what they’ve learned. Promoting a new book is joyful for me because it means doing webinars, podcasts, and other fun events.

Remember, life is a very special occasion—so don’t fret about summer coming to an end. Make your own list of work activities, personal celebrations, and important events coming up in the next few months. Every ending is a new beginning—and this fall is going to be fabulous!

Great Leadership Starts with Self-Awareness

/ Ken Blanchard

Self-awareness is among the top leadership skills required from future leaders, according to Blanchard’s 2023 Trends Report. Yet the lack of it is one of the biggest challenges leaders face as they step into increasingly higher management roles. Not only is self-awareness a prerequisite for effective leadership, it’s also essential for effective human interaction of any kind.

The best leaders have a high degree of self-awareness. These leaders understand themselves and their needs, strengths, weaknesses, and temperament. They are aware of their thoughts, feelings, and personal motivators. They know how their behavior affects people around them and how to model trusting servant leadership for their team.

Self-aware leaders have a special kind of perspective on leadership. Being grounded in knowledge about themselves helps them be more mindful of the people, experiences, and values that have made them who they are—as both a person and a leader.

How’s Your Ego?

Leaders who lack self-awareness often have egos that they allow to go unchecked, which slowly but surely erodes their ability to lead. These leaders see themselves as the center of the universe. They put their own agenda, safety, status, and gratification ahead of the people they lead—the people most likely to be affected by the leader’s misguided thoughts and actions.

As a leader, if your self-worth is tied up in your achievements and what others think of you, it becomes increasingly difficult for you to maintain a healthy self-image. Why? Because your performance—like everyone’s—varies from day to day, and human judgment is fickle. So your self-worth is up for grabs on a daily basis. It’s easy to get caught between false pride and fear—two ways the human ego can be an obstacle to success.

  • Leaders with false pride are generally seen as controlling. They have a high need for power even when they don’t know what they are doing. They insist they are right even when it’s clear to everyone else that they are wrong.
  • Leaders driven by fear are generally characterized as do-nothing bosses. Their fear of making a mistake and other insecurities keep them from taking action when they should. They are seldom around—and when they are, they avoid conflict and aren’t very helpful.

A lack of self-awareness combined with an overactive ego can topple an otherwise great leader. Don’t let your ego keep you from being your best self or bringing out the best in others.

Can You Be Trusted as a Leader?

Effective leadership starts on the inside. To be a truly trustworthy leader, you must first possess a strong sense of self-awareness by knowing yourself and what you need to be successful.

To help you increase your self-awareness as a leader, we’ve developed an assessment leaders can use to gauge their trustworthiness in the four elements of trust found in our ABCD model:

  • Able: Do you demonstrate competence in your role?
  • Believable: Do you demonstrate how to act with integrity?
  • Connected: Do you demonstrate that you care about others?
  • Dependable: Do you demonstrate reliability?

To gain even more self-awareness, we encourage you to have each of your team members fill out the same assessment, rating you on your trustworthiness. Not every leader is vulnerable enough to ask their people to assess them as a trustworthy leader—but I’ve done it, and I found it to be a humbling, yet enlightening experience!

Important note: make sure you are ready for what you may learn. When you invite people to discuss these potentially sensitive areas, you must be ready to listen. Remember that feedback is a gift. There are only two things a leader should say when they receive feedback—either “Thank you” or “Tell me more.”

Don’t worry—it’s never a bad thing to learn something new about yourself as a leader. Take a tip from the One Minute Manager: If you find out you are doing something right, give yourself a One Minute Praising. And if you discover you are off track in an area, give yourself a One Minute Redirect and get back on the right track.

The more self-aware you are, the better you will be able to serve, care for, and lead your people, which builds trust—and awareness—in every direction. Being self-aware, keeping your ego in check, and learning how to be more trustworthy are all parts of leading at a higher level.