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

by Blanchard, Ken

• ISBN13: 9780132347723
• ISBN10: 0132347725
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-01-01
• Publisher: Ft Pr

Summary

"Leading at a Higher Level translates decades of research and 25 years of global experience into simple, practical, and powerful strategies to equip leaders at every level to build organizations that produce bottom-line results. At Nissan, we have made these principles a core part of our leadership philosophy, better equipping our managers to bring out the great energies and talents of our employees." Jim Irvine, Vice President of Human Resources, Nissan North America "At Southwest Airlines, we have always strived to lead at a higher level. We truly believe that profit is the applause you get for taking care of your internal and external customers. We have always insisted upon a happy, carefree, team-spirited-yes, even fun-working environment, which we think results in motivated employees who will do the right thing for their internal and external customers. Reading this book will make a positive difference in your organization." Colleen C. Barrett, President, Southwest Airlines "If you want to have a great company, you donrs"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, President and CEO, The West Paces Hotel Group, LLC; Founding and former President & COO, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, LLC "Leading at a higher level is a must today if leaders are to rebuild trust and credibility, as we are doing at Tyco. This book will teach you how." Eric Pillmore, Senior Vice President of Corporate Governance, Tyco International The definitive "Blanchard on Leadership" 25 years of breakthrough leadership insights in one extraordinary book! From The One Minute Managerreg; to Raving Fans, Ken Blanchardrs"s books have helped millions of people unleash their power and the potential of everyone around them. The Ken Blanchard Companies has helped thousands of organizations become more people-oriented, customer-centered, and performance-driven. In Leading at a Higher Level, Blanchard and his colleagues have brought together all they've learned about world-class leadership. You'll discover how to create targets and visions based on the "triple bottom line"...and make sure people know who you are, where yours"re going, and the values that will guide your journey. Blanchard extends his breakthrough work on delivering legendary customer service and creating "raving fans." Yours"ll find the definitive discussion of the renowned Situational Leadershipreg; II techniques for leading yourself, individuals, teams, and entire organizations. Most importantly, Leading at a Higher Level will help you dig deep within, discover the personal "leadership point of view" all great leaders possess-and apply it throughout your entire life. For everyone who wants to become a better leader... ...in any company, any organization, any area of life Set the right targets, follow the right vision Focus on the "bottom lines" that really matter Serve your customers at a higher level Deliver your i

Table of Contents

Introduction: Leading at a Higher Level	p. xvii
Set Your Sights on the Right Target and Vision
Is Your Organization High Performing?	p. 3
The Power of Vision	p. 21
Treat Your Customers Right
Serving Customers at a Higher Level	p. 39
Treat Your People Right
Empowerment Is the Key	p. 67
Situational Leadership½ II: The Integrating Concept	p. 87
Self Leadership: The Power Behind Empowerment	p. 103
Partnering for Performance	p. 117
Essential Skills for Partnering for Performance: The One Minute Manager	p. 145
Situational Team Leadership	p. 167
Organizational Leadership	p. 195
Strategies for Managing a Change	p. 219
Have the Right Kind of Leadership
Servant Leadership	p. 249
Determining Your Leadership Point of View	p. 277
Endnotes	p. 297
Organizational Change Readiness Assessment	p. 309
Acknowledgments and Praisings	p. 313
About the Authors	p. 317
Services Available	p. 333
Index	p. 335
Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.

Excerpts

Introduction Introduction Leading at a Higher Level Ken Blanchard This past year, my wife, Margie, and I went on a safari in South Africa with some family and friends. Margie and I have been on a number of safaris over the past 20 years. This time I saw some things I'd seen before but never quite as vividly. What I observed is how vicious, competitive, and territorial the jungle is. If you've ever heard a lion roar, it brings chills up your back. When our long-time guide, Gary Clarke from Topeka, Kansas, imitates the roar, he shouts, "It's mine, mine, mine, mine!" That's because when the lion roars, what he's really saying is, "This is my territory. Don't mess with me." In fact, lions will kill their sons if they challenge their control over the father's territory. The reason I saw this more vividly than ever before is that I had decided on this trip that I was going to find out as much as I possibly could about Nelson Mandela. We had been at a dinner party where people around the table were asked to share what person--of anyone in the world--they would love to have dinner with. It was a quick decision for me. I said, "Nelson Mandela. I would love to have dinner with a man who was in prison for 28 years and treated cruelly, yet came out of that experience full of love, compassion, and reconciliation." On the trip, I began to read Mandela's bookLong Walk to Freedom. When I compared what I saw in the jungle with how Mandela had reacted to his treatment, I realized that in many ways we as human beings are just intelligent animals. And being intelligent animals, we can choose between being self-serving and serving. The animals in the jungle can't make that choice. A rhino can't get up in the morning and say, "I'm going to make friends with the lion today." It's just not in their temperament. And yet, just as Mandela did, we can make choices to live and lead at a higher level. But when you look at the leaders around the world--whether they're running countries, businesses, churches, educational institutions, or what have you--too many people are choosing to be self-serving rather than serving. Why is that? Because they don't have a different leadership role model. When I contemplated this dilemma, my thinking took me back to my days in graduate school, when I studied Paulo Freire, a revolutionary from Brazil. He wrote a fascinating book calledThe Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Freire argued that the problem with oppression is that once the oppressed throw off the oppressor, the only leadership role models they have are the very people who oppressed them. Thus, the oppressed become the new oppressors. The ramifications of this are disheartening--not only for countries, but for every enterprise imaginable. This phenomenon creates a new breed of self-serving leaders overseeing a system where all the money, power, and recognition move up the hier-archy and away from the people the organization was established to serve. I think the only answer to this recurring cycle is a different leadership role model. That's what this book is all about--helping individuals and organizations lead at a higher level. Leading at a Higher Level What is leadership? For years we defined leadership as aninfluence process.We believed that anytime you tried to influence the thoughts and actions of others toward goal accomplishment in either your personal or professional life, you were engaging in leadership.In recent years, we have changed our definition of leadership tothe capacity to influence others by unleashing their power and potential to impact the greater good. We made this change for an importan