Performance

Why Catching People Doing Things Right Is the Best Way to Lead

/ Ken Blanchard

Catch People Doing Things Right, Martha Lawrence’s new biography about my life, is coming out on October 21. That might seem like an odd title for a biography, but I can see why Martha chose it.

I’ve often said that if I could hold on to only one of the leadership lessons I’ve taught over the years, it would be to catch people doing things right. Why? Because a person who works hard needs positive feedback for their efforts. Praise is inherently motivating and only takes a moment—yet it can make all the difference in how the worker feels about their day, their job, their leader, and their organization.

I once asked a young woman if she liked her boss. She said, “She’s okay. She seems to think I’m doing a good job.”

“How can you tell?” I asked.

“Well, she hasn’t yelled at me lately,” she said. Sadly, I wasn’t surprised to hear her response.

Poor Leaders Catch People Doing Things Wrong

In the past I’ve said to groups of people, “How many of you are sick and tired of all the praisings you get at work?” I would always get the same response—laughter. It’s sad how much time managers spend pointing out what’s wrong with people’s performance instead of catching them doing things right.

When I began studying leadership in the 1960s, very few people saw their manager as a friend or colleague. Bosses were widely regarded as people whose job it was to catch their workers doing things wrong. A leader would evaluate someone’s performance, reprimand them, demand they improve, and disappear until it happened again. When people heard the boss had a meeting scheduled, they knew they must be getting in trouble because that’s the only time the boss would ever show up.

To me, this sounded like the opposite of a motivational environment. I couldn’t help but think: What if things were reversed? What if the boss noticed people doing things right, praised their progress, and cheered them on?

Great Leaders Catch People Doing Things Right

Great leaders who want to encourage and motivate their people set up a positive cycle:

  1. A great leader catches someone doing something right and praises them.
  2. The leader’s praise helps the person feel good about themselves.
  3. People who feel good about themselves produce good results.
  4. A great leader notices when people produce good results.   
  5. See #1.

Think about a time when you were proud of something you did but nobody seemed to notice. How did 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?

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.

How to Give a One Minute Praising

One Minute Praisings—the Second Secret of The One Minute Manager—are a key component of catching people doing things right. An effective One Minute Praising reinforces the behaviors that move people closer to their goals. And it only takes one minute, if you follow these six steps:

  1. Praise someone as soon as you see or hear about praiseworthy behavior or work. Don’t store up compliments for later; unspoken praise is meaningless.
  2. In very clear terms, tell the person what they did right and be specific.
  3. Say how good you feel about what they did and how it helps others and/or the organization. Relate their good behavior to the broader picture.
  4. Once you’ve given the praising, pause to let the message sink in and to give the person a chance to feel good about what they did.
  5. Let the person know you would like to see more of the same behavior.
  6. Make it clear you have confidence in them and you support their success.

As an example, an effective manager could say, “George, 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!” This praising clearly states the manager’s appreciation, which boosts George’s morale and helps him realize he is an important member of the team.

Extra Hints to Remember

The concept of catching people doing things right can work in many scenarios.

  • When was the last time you caught your boss doing something right? Just because someone is at a higher level doesn’t mean they can’t use some encouragement.
  • Express your appreciation to family and friends often. Acknowledging how much you care helps keep these important relationships close, healthy, and moving in a positive direction.
  • Want a self-esteem boost? Reflect on your own achievements and celebrate your wins! It will motivate you to set new goals for yourself.

Also, don’t wait until someone does something exactly right to praise them. Remember that exactly right behavior is made up of a series of approximately right behaviors. Praising someone’s progress encourages them and lets them know they’re going in the right direction. People shouldn’t have to be perfect to earn a little praise.

I believe most leaders genuinely want to manage people well, but many fall short of this goal. Leaders who catch people doing things right create a work environment where people are engaged and committed to doing a good job. Don’t forget that it only takes a minute to praise someone for a job well done. It could be the most important minute of their day—and yours.

Look Forward to Looking Back at Your Goal Success in 2025

/ Ken Blanchard

It’s time again to think about New Year’s resolutions. I like to picture myself sitting here a year from now, looking back on 2025, and patting myself on the back because I’ve accomplished three or four goals that I set for the year.

What do you dream of achieving, professionally or personally, in the next twelve months? You may want to set a work goal such as improving your time management or organizational skills, or going for a certificate or degree you need to qualify for a promotion. Or perhaps you have a personal goal regarding healthy eating or exercise habits. Do you have a desire to learn a new language? Have you been wanting to start a writing project like an article, book, or blog? Travel more? Learn to paint? Picture yourself a year from now, looking back at having accomplished one or more goals that you may have had in the back of your mind for months or years.

Personally, I’ve found the best way to write effective resolutions is to make them SMART: Specific, Motivating, Attainable, Relevant, and Trackable.

  • Specific: Be explicit about what your goal is so that it’s observable and measurable.

Example: “Eat more fish” is too indistinct to be a goal. “Eat seafood twice a week” is something I can mark on the calendar.

  • Motivating: Make sure your goal is something that excites you; something you really want to do.

Example: Even though I’ve coauthored more than 70 books, I’ve never been a big reader. I wish I were, but I’m not. I know if I made a resolution to start reading more books, I wouldn’t keep it. However, I do have a lot of old friends that I love talking with on the phone. “Call a different friend every week this year” is a resolution I would really enjoy and could easily keep. I feel satisfied and relaxed after one of those conversations.

  • Attainable: Don’t set an unrealistic goal that there’s no chance you’ll accomplish. If a resolution is too fantastic, you are just setting yourself up to fail.

Example: Even though I love going to the course and playing NATO (Not Attached To Outcome) golf with friends on a nice day, if I made a resolution to golf five days a week, I might get all tired out. Once a week is perfect for me. It still feels special and I have plenty of energy to play a decent game.

  • Relevant: Is achieving this goal important to you? Will it enhance your life?

Example: Some time ago when our company began teaching the ABCDs of Trust (Able, Believable, Connected, and Dependable), I took a Trust assessment and was surprised to learn that I wasn’t very dependable. Apparently my desire to please everyone had led to frequent overpromising, which resulted in people being disappointed because I couldn’t meet their expectations. My team helped me set this goal: When someone approached me with an opportunity, instead of saying “yes” without thinking, I would give the person my executive assistant’s business card and she would make sure I had the time and resources to follow through. My dependability score soared! I didn’t let people down anymore—and working with my team got easier, too.

  • Trackable: Chart your success over time to catch yourself doing things right, making progress, acknowledging your wins, and celebrating every step of the way!

Example: For me, sharing my resolutions with my family, friends, and colleagues makes everything more fun because I have cheerleaders and supporters that help me track my progress and celebrate even the smallest victory. An accountability group is never a bad idea if you really want to set yourself up for success.

For best results, limit the number of your goals/resolutions to between three and five. Write them down and look at them every day. Place them where you can easily see them, either on your computer’s home screen, printed out and on the wall above your desk, or in another obvious place. If you think you’ll never forget your goals or resolutions, you are wrong. There’s also a good possibility changes may happen that would require you to rewrite a goal.

In the next few days, I’ll narrow down my list of resolutions to my top five. How about you? What resolutions for 2025 do you want to be looking back on with the pride of accomplishment a year from now? Too often New Year’s resolutions are just announcements. Don’t just announce it—really make it happen! And best wishes for a wonderful 2025!

Never, Never, Never Stop Learning

/ Ken Blanchard

Leading in today’s world can be a risky business. No matter how long someone has been at their organization or how secure they feel in their role, complacency can bring disaster. Leaders who aren’t continuously pursuing new learning will find their effectiveness in the workplace—and their personal satisfaction—diminishing. Why? Because, now more than ever, leaders who aren’t learning aren’t growing.

My favorite quote on this topic comes from the late, great Norman Vincent Peale: “Once you stop learning, you might as well lie down and let them throw dirt on you, because you’re already dead.”

Merely knowing how to do your job today doesn’t ensure you will be successful tomorrow. Keeping up with the rapidly changing global work environment is critical for leaders who want to help their organization, their team, and themselves remain successful. When a leader shows a lack of interest in advancements within their industry or signals they are content with the status quo, their influence quickly fades. There is a very real risk that leader will be replaced by someone with fresh ideas.

In Great Leaders GROW, a book I wrote with Mark Miller, we showed how the best leaders make a conscious decision to grow throughout their careers and their lives. We focused on four key practices:

  • Gain knowledge about yourself, your colleagues, your industry, and leadership in general. This can be done through self-help or business books, websites, blogs, networking with industry partners or friendly meetups with co-workers.
  • Reach out to others and share your learnings. Use your expertise to become someone’s mentor—a rewarding experience for both mentor and mentee. Lead a seminar or speak at a conference on a topic you know inside and out.
  • Open your world. Think outside the box. Find a mentor of a different generation and learn from each other. Volunteer in your community. Attend a training event on a topic you’d like to know more about. Learn a foreign language.
  • Walk toward wisdom. The pursuit of wisdom never ends, regardless of age. Ask family, friends, and colleagues for feedback on how you are doing in various areas of your life and work. Learn from others’ experiences as you move forward in your learning.

Whether for professional or personal development, learning keeps mind and skills sharp. Opportunities for learning are endless and all around. Make time to read books and articles, watch videos, and listen to podcasts. Talk with peers or work with a mentor outside your normal work circle. Sign up for an online course or a workshop at your company. Or join an association or a special interest group.

In fact, a great way for you to learn more about leadership best practices and innovations is to join me at the Blanchard Leadership Summit, coming up on October 8-10, 2024 in Dana Point, California. It’s an annual two-day event where our clients make presentations about how their companies are making a difference in the world. There will be 24 learning sessions divided into three different tracks: Strategy, Design, and Delivery. You’ll be able to network with other leaders and the learning opportunities will be fabulous. Click here for more information. Hope to see you there!

I love this quote by author Brian Herbert: “The capacity to learn is a gift; the ability to learn is a skill; the willingness to learn is a choice.” So never, never, never stop learning and growing. Great leaders make lifelong learning a conscious choice and a continuous journey. Make learning a habit, and you’ll enjoy the benefits of becoming a leader for life!

Connecting with the Training Community at ATD

/ Ken Blanchard

One of the joys of being in the leadership training business is belonging to a wonderful community of people and organizations dedicated to helping others achieve their full potential by improving their knowledge, skills, and abilities at work. A great place to network with this community is at the annual conference of the Association for Talent Development (ATD).

If you are interested in learning more about ATD, think about joining a local chapter, and be sure to attend the conference in 2025. We’ll see you there!

When I first began attending the conference it was a much smaller affair, with maybe a few dozen participants who were all from the United States. Back in those days it was called the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD). They had to change the name as the organization grew and gained international members. Today the conference attracts exhibitors from more than 120 countries around the world and features celebrity keynoters, like this year’s Matthew McConaughey and Venus Williams.

The conference welcomes talent development managers, trainers, instructional designers, performance consultants, frontline managers, and workplace learning professionals from organizations of all sizes and industry sectors—and it’s a blast!

This year about 30 of my Blanchard colleagues and I attended the ATD conference in the fun city of New Orleans, Louisiana. My son, Scott, and I gave a talk based on content for our forthcoming book, It’s Always the Leader. As part of the presentation, Scott dug up forty-year-old videos of me from the 1980s, when I first began talking about timeless principles like Catching People Doing Things Right and Praising Progress, Not Perfection. The audience got a big kick out those vintage videos from the days when I had hair! We were deeply touched when everyone gave us a standing ovation.   

Another fun aspect of the conference was sitting with my coauthor, Randy Conley, and signing copies of The Simple Truths of Leadership and The Simple Truths of Leadership Playbook. We autographed about 150 copies each day, and were delighted to talk briefly with each person who bought a book.                                                

The people we talked with shared our enthusiasm for the conference. We all agreed that ATD is a fantastic place to meet new friends, reconnect with old collegues, and stay abreast of changes in our industry. Whether you’re listening to a keynoter, attending an informative panel discussion, or simply walking around the conference floor to see all the innovations and resources that are available to learning professionals, attending the conference is time well spent.

The Power of Connection

Being at the conference reminded me about the importance of connection and community. No matter what field you are in, you will benefit by tapping into the wider community of practitioners in your profession.

If you’re not already a member, think about joining a membership organization in your industry. Membership organizations are terrific places to meet potential clients, partners, mentors, and industry peers. These connections often lead to new business opportunities and collaborations.

Also consider attending a business conference in your field, like ATD. This is where you can spot trends and keep up-to-date with the latest developments in your profession. Seeing the products, services, and technologies showcased by vendors and exhibitors can help you brainstorm new ideas and solutions for your own business. If you have the budget for it, consider becoming an exhibitor. It’s a great way to increase your company’s visibility.

I always come home from ATD filled with renewed energy and enthusiasm for our work. It’s inspiring to know that we belong to a community that is contributing to the greater good by developing people’s potential.

Is Style 1 the Same as Micromanaging?

/ Ken Blanchard

We all know that when someone describes their boss as a micromanager, it’s not a compliment. The word conjures up a vision of a person feverishly working at their desk with a scowling supervisor standing over them, breathing down their neck.

Even though I just painted an unappealing picture of micromanagement, there are times when learners really do need both clear direction and close supervision on a task or goal. As part of our company’s SLII® training, we teach that people who are new to a task or goal need specific direction from their leader.

Think about a time when you wanted to learn how to do something new, like ride a bike or drive a car. You had never done it before, so you needed to learn everything. Someone had to show you and tell you what to do, how to do it, and when and where to do it. They also needed to observe your progress and give necessary feedback to develop your confidence and competence.

When someone has just begun to learn a task, in SLII® language we say they are at Development Level 1 (D1)—a stage we call Enthusiastic Beginner. They are excited about learning but they are completely inexperienced—they don’t know what they don’t know. An effective SLII® leader provides a matching Directing Leadership Style 1 (S1)—clear, specific direction. They tell the learner what the specific goal is and show them what a good job looks like by laying out a step-by-step plan on how the task is to be accomplished. The leader makes most of the decisions and the person they are leading is responsible for following their direction or plan. The leader provides close supervision and constructive feedback throughout this early stage of development. It’s easy to see how an Enthusiastic Beginner can really benefit from a “micromanager” on this task.

Do you know who doesn’t need to be micromanaged? A person working on a task they have done successfully before. A Directing leadership style would be a complete mismatch. Depending on their development level with that task, the person could benefit from a style that is more supportive or collaborative, or even a Delegating leadership style. An SLII® leader would work with the person to diagnose their development level on the task and then use a matching leadership style for the best results.

In the book Leadership and the One Minute Manager, which I wrote with Pat Zigarmi and Drea Zigarmi, we go into detail about the four development levels (D1-D4) and the four leadership styles (S1-S4) of SLII®. We highlight several directive and supportive behaviors leaders should use in different combinations to develop people’s competence and commitment and help them become self-directed achievers on each of their goals.

Keep in mind that we all are at different levels of development regarding each specific task we are working on. Because people’s development levels vary on different tasks, the best leaders know they must use “different strokes for different folks” depending on their competence and commitment on a task. They also use different strokes for the same folks on different tasks.

Leaders must learn how to flex their style to fit every situation. Too much direction is just as bad as too little direction, as these examples demonstrate:

  • An experienced and competent accountant is not happy with her Style 1 (Directing) boss, who squanders time trying to teach her how to create a spreadsheet the “right way.” Providing too much direction on tasks where a person is already competent feels like micromanagement.
  • An administrative assistant who has never spoken in front of a group is asked to give a presentation to the leadership team by his Style 4 (Delegating) boss, who then leaves him alone to figure out what to do. Providing too little direction on tasks where questions or problems may come up feels like abandonment or being set up to fail.

A leader who over-supervises or under-supervises by giving too much or too little direction can have a detrimental effect on their people’s development. That’s why it is so important for leaders to match their leadership style to each person’s development level on a task.

The best leaders know how to continually adjust their leadership style to fit each situation, helping to develop individuals who will ultimately achieve each goal and perform well on each task with little direction or support. Lao-tzu said it well:

“When the best leader’s work is done, the people say ‘We did it ourselves!’”