a leadership role may not be right for you

If you can’t find a few extra hours to mentor and develop your direct reports, a leadership role may not be right for you. Time spent in team meetings is not the same. One-on-one meetings are a significant way for leaders to demonstrate they care. These interactions deepen relationships, build partnerships, and create loyalty.

When a servant leader takes the time to connect with a direct report, it lets that person know their work is important and they are a valued member of the team. One-on-one conversations are the foundation for strong, productive relationships that align people with each other and with the organization in a satisfying, meaningful way.

Ken Blanchard

"The Best Leaders Serve Their People One at a Time". Berrett-Koehler Publishers.  February 13, 2018. 

talk to your people

Hearing the phrase “you need to talk to your people” can invoke a feeling of dread in any manager. But when managers have frequent one-on-one conversations with their direct reports, it improves not only leadership skills but also job satisfaction. Our company’s research shows that employees want to have more time with their leaders. One survey found gaps of 10 to 16 percent between how often people want to meet with their managers and how often they actually meet.

Several years ago when my wife, Margie, was working with a fast food chain, she found out its turnover rate was much lower than average. She asked a manager what he did to keep the rate so low. The manager said he made sure to take at least ten minutes every week to talk to each employee. These conversations weren’t necessarily about job performance; they were simply an opportunity for the manager to check in with each person to see how things were going in their life.

After learning this, Margie talked to the staff and asked why they stayed. They all mentioned their manager and said they liked working for someone who cared about them. A few individuals said they knew they could go to another place and make a few more cents an hour, but they wanted to continue working for this manager. He made time for them, which in turn made them feel like a respected part of the team.

Margie was so enthusiastic about this concept that she shared it with our leadership team and went on to develop a process for one-on-one meetings. This process requires managers to meet with each of their direct reports for 15 to 30 minutes at least every two weeks. These meetings are not for discussing performance—they are meant to enhance the relationship between manager and employee.

The leader schedules the meeting but the employee sets the agenda. It’s a chance for the direct report to talk about their goals, share personal information, learn more about the company, or ask for help to solve a problem. These kinds of conversations allow managers and employees to get to know each other as human beings. When people are not just allowed but encouraged to talk with their managers about their everyday lives, relationships flourish because a new level of trust is created. And trusted working relationships improve performance on all sides.

Ken Blanchard

"The Best Leaders Serve Their People One at a Time". Berrett-Koehler Publishers.  February 13, 2018. 

from success to significance

Many people, as they go through life, focus mainly on success. To them, success is represented by wealth, recognition, and power and status. Now there’s nothing wrong with wanting those things, as long as you don’t think that’s who you are. But I’d like you to focus on the opposite of each of those things as you strive to move from success to significance.

What’s the opposite of accumulating wealth? It’s generosity—of your time, talent, treasure, and touch (reaching out to support others). What’s the opposite of recognition? It’s service. And what’s the opposite of power and status? It’s loving relationships.

If you focus only on success—wealth, recognition, and power and status—you will never reach significance. That’s the problem with self-serving leaders; they have a hard time getting out of their own way. But if you focus on significance—generosity, service, and loving relationships—you’ll be amazed at how much success will come your way. Take Mother Teresa, for example. She couldn’t care less about wealth, recognition, or status. Her whole life was focused on significance. And what happened? Success came her way. Her ministry received tremendous financial backing, she was recognized all over the world, and she was given the highest status wherever she went. Mother Teresa was the ultimate servant leader. If you focus on significance first, your emphasis will be on serving others—and success and results will follow.

Life is all about the choices we make as we interact with others. We can choose to be serving or self-serving. Life constantly presents us with opportunities to choose to love and serve one another.

Someone once said to my wife, Margie, “You’ve lived with Ken for more than 50 years. What do you think leadership is all about?”

Margie said, “Leadership isn’t about love—it is love. It’s loving your mission, loving your customers, loving your people, and loving yourself enough to get out of the way so that other people can be magnificent.”

That’s what servant leadership is all about.

Ken Blanchard

"Moving from Success to Significance". KenBlanchardBooks.com.  January 24, 2018.