Kenneth Blanchard, Mark Miller and John Maxwell, The Secret: What Great Leaders Know -and Do. Berrett-Koehler, 2004.
Referenced in: Servant Leadership
LifeandLeadership.com Summary
This is a parable about a manager who learns from her mentor about how to inspire and develop others through “servant leadership.” The story illustrates the empowering, servant leader model. The essential principles are similar to those developed in Blanchard’s more substantive volumes, Leadership by the Book and Lead Like Jesus.
From the Publisher
In The Secret, Debbie, a struggling leader, finds herself about to lose her job due to poor performance. In a desperate attempt to save her career, she enrolls in a new mentoring program offered by her company. Much to her surprise, Debbie finds her mentor is the president of the company (Jeff Brown). Debbie decides that all she needs is the answer to one question, “What is the secret of great leaders?” She is convinced that if Jeff will tell her, she can apply the secret in her leadership.
Over the next 18 months Jeff explains to Debbie that the secret is rooted in an attitude. He tells her that she must be willing to become a serving leader rather than a self-serving leader. The secret is that all great leaders serve.
After Debbie learns the secret she still doesn’t know what to do next. Jeff explains that great leaders serve in at least five ways. They…
- See and shape the future
- Engage and develop others
- Reinvent continuously
- Value results and relationships
- Embody the values
The story unfolds as Debbie learns and applies each of these imperatives with her team. As a result, Debbie’s team goes from worst to first. They become the highest performing team within the company.
In the end, Debbie understood that all the changes and improvements were the result of the choices she made as a leader. She realized that to SERVE is a choice. Debbie decided once and for all, she would no longer be a self-serving leader, she would be a serving leader!
About the Author
Few people have influenced the day-to-day management of people and companies more than Ken Blanchard. A prominent, sought-after author, speaker, and business consultant, Dr. Blanchard is universally characterized by his friends, colleagues, and clients as one of the most insightful, powerful, and compassionate individuals in business today. Ken is one of the most influential leadership experts in the world and is respected for his years of groundbreaking work in the fields of leadership and management.
Dr. Ken Blanchard is the cofounder and Chief Spiritual Officer of The Ken Blanchard Companies, an international management training and consulting firm that he and his wife, Margie Blanchard, began in 1979 in San Diego, California. In addition to being a renowned speaker and consultant, Ken also spends time as a visiting lecturer at his alma mater, Cornell University, where he is a trustee emeritus of the Board of Trustees.
Ken has received many awards and honors for his contributions in the fields of management, leadership, and speaking. The National Speakers Association awarded him its highest honor, the “Council of Peers Award of Excellence.” He was inducted into the HRD Hall of Fame by Training magazine and Lakewood Conferences, and he received the Golden Gavel Award from Toastmasters International. Ken also received The Thought Leadership Award for continued support of work-related learning and performance by ISA—The Association of Learning Providers. Ken has been inducted into Amazon’s Hall of Fame as one of the top 25 best-selling authors of all time. The business school at Grand Canyon University bears his name. In addition, Ken teaches students in the Master of Science in Executive Leadership Program at the University of San Diego.
Born in New Jersey and raised in New York, Ken received a master’s degree from Colgate University, and a bachelor’s and PhD from Cornell University. An avid golfer, Ken belongs to the Loch Lomond Golf Club in Scotland.
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