Leading at a Higher Level Blanchard on Leadership and Creating High Performing Organizations

40 Years of Breakthrough Leadership Insights in One Extraordinary Book!

From The One Minute Manager® to Raving Fans, Ken Blanchard’s books have helped millions of people unleash their power and the potential of everyone around them. For 40 years, The Ken Blanchard Companies® has helped thousands of organizations become more people oriented, customer centered, performance driven, and socially responsible.

Now, in this fully updated third edition of Leading at a Higher Level, Blanchard and his colleagues bring together all they’ve learned about world-class leadership, including brand new chapters on building a high-trust workplace, collaborating for high performance, driving success through mentoring, and leading at the organizational level. You’ll discover how to create targets and visions based on the “quadruple bottom line” and make sure people know who you are, where you’re going, and the values that will guide your journey.

Leading at a Higher Level presents the definitive discussion about using SLII®–the most widely used leadership model in the world–to lead yourself, individuals, teams, and entire organizations. More important, you’ll learn how to dig deep within, discover the personal “leadership point of view” all great leaders possess, and apply it throughout your entire life. This book will guide you, inspire you, provoke you, and be your touchstone. Discover how to…

• Go beyond the short term and zero in on the right target and vision
• Eliminate the gap between your company’s stated values and actual behavior
• Deliver legendary, maniacal customer service and earn raving fans
• Truly empower your people and unleash their incredible potential
• Create a coaching culture that boosts performance at every level
• Ground your leadership in humility and focus on the greater good

Leading at a Higher Level is for everyone who wants to become a better leader in any company, any organization, any area of life.

“Leading at a Higher Level makes clear that respect and integrity aren’t pleasant-sounding options; they are essential criteria for an organization’s survival. As inspiring as it is instructive, this book belongs in every leader’s core curriculum.”
–WARREN BENNIS, bestselling author of Leaders and On Becoming a Leader
“If you want to have a great company, you don’t have a choice but to lead at a higher level. When you do that, you excite your people, they take care of your customers, and your cash register goes ca-ching.”
–HORST SCHULZE, Vice President and CEO, The West Paces Hotel Group, LLC; Founding and former President & COO, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, LLC

Ken Blanchard has had an extraordinary impact on the day-to-day management of millions of people and companies. He is the coauthor of the iconic New York Times bestseller The One Minute Manager ®–revised and released as The New One Minute Manager ®–as well as 65 other books whose sales total over 22 million copies in 47 languages. Blanchard’s other business bestsellers include Raving Fans, High Five!, and The Secret: What Great Leaders Know and Do. Blanchard is Chief Spiritual Officer of The Ken Blanchard Companies, a global leader in creating the world’s best managers, training more than 150,000 people each year.

This book contains indispensable contributions from The Ken Blanchard Companies’ founding associates and consulting partners, including Marjorie Blanchard, Madeleine Homan Blanchard, Scott Blanchard, Don Carew, Eunice Parisi-Carew, Randy Conley, Kathy Cuff, Garry Demarest, Claire Díaz-Ortiz, Chris Edmonds, Fred Finch, Susan Fowler, Bob Glaser, Lael Good, Vicki Halsey, Laurie Hawkins, Judd Hoekstra, Fay Kandarian, Linda Miller, Alan Randolph, Jane Ripley, Jesse Stoner, Drea Zigarmi, and Pat Zigarmi.

 

Introduction     xxii
Leading at a Higher Level     xxiii
Why Did We Write This Book?     xxiv
How This Book Is Organized    xxvi

SECTION I:  SET YOUR SIGHTS ON THE RIGHT TARGET AND VISION     1
Chapter 1  Is Your Organization High Performing?     3
Don Carew, Fay Kandarian, Eunice Parisi-Carew, Jesse Stoner, and Ken Blanchard
The Right Target: The Quadruple Bottom Line     4
A High Performing Organization Scores Every Time     9
The HPO SCORES® Model     10
Leadership Is the Engine     12
The HPO SCORES® Quiz: How Does Your Organization Score?     13
HPO SCORES® Quiz     13
Chapter 2  The Power of Vision     17
Jesse Stoner, Ken Blanchard, and Drea Zigarmi
The Importance of Vision     17
Effective Versus Ineffective Vision Statements     18
Creating a Vision That Really Works     19
A Compelling Vision Creates a Culture of Greatness     24
Vision Is the Place to Start     24
Vision Can Exist Anywhere in an Organization     26
Make Your Vision a Reality     27
Vision and Leadership     29

SECTION II:  TREAT YOUR PEOPLE RIGHT     33
Chapter 3  Empowerment Is the Key     35
Alan Randolph and Ken Blanchard
What Is Empowerment?     36
The Power of Empowerment     37
How History Blocks Change to Empowerment     37
Tapping People’s Power and Potential: A Real-World Example     39
Learning the Language of Empowerment     40
The Three Keys to Empowerment     41
Chapter 4  SLII®: The Integrating Concept     53
The Founding Associates
The Three Skills of an SLII® Leader     54
    Goal Setting: The First Skill     54
    Diagnosis: The Second Skill     54
    Matching: The Third Skill     55
Enthusiastic Beginners Need a Directing Style     58
Disillusioned Learners Need a Coaching Style     59
Capable But Cautious Performers Need a Supporting Style     60
Self-Reliant Achievers Need a Delegating Style     60
Development Level Varies from Goal to Goal and Task to Task     61
Meeting People Where They Are     62
The Importance of Partnering with People     66
Effective Leadership Is a Transformational Journey     67
Chapter 5  Self Leadership: The Power Behind Empowerment     69
Susan Fowler, Ken Blanchard, and Laurence Hawkins
Creating an Empowered Workforce     70
Creating Self Leaders Through Individual Learning     71
The Three Skills of a Self Leader     72
Chapter 6  One-on-One Leadership     81
Fred Finch and Ken Blanchard
Establishing an Effective Performance Management System     81
One-on-One Leadership and the Performance Management System     85
Partnering as an Informal Performance Management System     100
One-on-Ones: An Insurance Policy for Making One-on-One Leadership Work     101
Chapter 7  Essential Skills for One-on-One Leadership     103
Ken Blanchard and Fred Finch
One Minute Goal Setting     103
Areas of Accountability     104
Performance Standards     105
One Minute Praisings     110
One Minute Re-Directs     113
The Fourth Secret of the One Minute Manager     116
Chapter 8  Building Trust     119
Ken Blanchard, Cynthia Olmstead, and Randy Conley
The High Cost of Low Trust     119
The Benefits of Trust     120
The Four Elements of Trust     120
Creating a High Trust Environment     121
The Transparency Challenge     124
Repairing Broken Trust     126
The Ripple Effect     128
Chapter 9  Coaching: A Key Competency for Leadership Development     131
Madeleine Homan Blanchard and Linda Miller
Definition of Coaching     131
Five Applications of Coaching     132
    Application One: Performance Coaching     133
    Application Two: Development Coaching     135
    Application Three: Career Coaching     137
    Application Four: Coaching to Support Learning     140
    Application Five: Creating an Internal Coaching Culture     142
Chapter 10  Mentoring: The Key to Life Planning     145
Ken Blanchard and Claire Díaz-Ortiz
Obstacles to Beginning a Mentoring Relationship     146
Choosing a Mentoring Partner     147
Essence Versus Form     147
The MENTOR Model: Elements of a Successful Mentoring Partnership     148
Creating a Mentoring Program in Your Organization     151
Tailoring Mentoring to Career Stages     152
Chapter 11  Team Leadership     155
Don Carew, Eunice Parisi-Carew, Lael Good, and Ken Blanchard
Why Teams?     156
Obstacles to High Performance     158
An Effective Team Leadership Approach     159
Providing Leadership Behaviors That Match the Team’s Needs     168
Strategies for Higher Team Performance     173
The Power of Teams     176
Chapter 12  Collaboration: Fuel for High Performance     179
Jane Ripley, Eunice Parisi-Carew, and Ken Blanchard
Collaboration Is Not Coordination, Cooperation, or Teamwork     179
Creating a Collaborative Framework     181
Collaboration Versus Competition     183
What It Takes to Be Collaborative     184
Collaboration: Fuel for High Performance     189
Chapter 13  Organizational Leadership     191
Ken Blanchard, Jesse Stoner, Don Carew, Eunice Parisi-Carew, and Fay Kandarian
Real Life Examples of HPO SCORES®     191
Determining the Appropriate Leadership Style for Your Organization     198
Diagnosing Your Organization’s Development Level     198
Results and Relationships: The Determinants of a High Performing Organization     198
Matching Leadership Style to Your Organization’s Development Stage     201
Applying the Appropriate Leadership Style at Each Development Level     203
The Importance of Diagnosis and Matching     206
A History-Making Organizational Turnaround     207
Chapter 14  Organizational Change: Why People Resist It     209
Pat Zigarmi, Judd Hoekstra, and Ken Blanchard
The Importance of Leading Change     209
Why Is Organizational Change So Complicated?     210
When Is Change Necessary?     211
Why Change Gets Derailed or Fails     212
Focus on Leading the Journey     214
Surfacing and Addressing People’s Concerns     215
Different People Are at Different Stages of Concern     223
The Importance of Involving Those Who Are Being Asked to Change     223
Chapter 15  Leading People Through Change     225
Pat Zigarmi and Judd Hoekstra
Five Change Leadership Strategies     225
The Importance of Reinforcing the Change     247
Chapter 16  Managing a Successful Cultural Transformation     249
Garry Demarest, Chris Edmonds, and Bob Glaser
Gung Ho!: A Starting Point     250
Managing a Successful Cultural Transformation     255
Critical Success Factors for Cultural Transformation     261

SECTION III:  TREAT YOUR CUSTOMERS RIGHT     263
Chapter 17  Serving Customers at a Higher Level     265
Ken Blanchard, Kathy Cuff, Vicki Halsey, and Jesse Stoner
Getting Legendary SCORES from Your Customers     265
Creating Legendary Service     267
Serving Customers at a Higher Level     272
Permitting People to Soar     281
Wallowing in a Duck Pond     282
Giving Your People Wings     282

SECTION IV:  HAVE THE RIGHT KIND OF LEADERSHIP     285
Chapter 18  Servant Leadership     287
Ken Blanchard, Scott Blanchard, and Drea Zigarmi
What Is Servant Leadership?     287
Applying Servant Leadership     290
Great Leaders Encourage People to Bring Their Brains to Work     293
What Kind of Leadership Impacts Performance the Most?     294
Being a Servant Leader Is a Question of the Heart     298
Driven Versus Called Leaders     299
The Plight of the Ego     300
Ego Antidotes     302
What Servant Leaders Do     304
Servant Leadership: A Mandate or a Choice     307
Chapter 19  Determining Your Leadership Point of View     313
Margie Blanchard, Pat Zigarmi, and Ken Blanchard
Elements of a Leadership Point of View     314
Developing Your Own Leadership Point of View     323
Become a Higher Level Leader     332
Endnotes     333
Acknowledgments     347
About the Authors     349
Services Available     371
Index     375