I was impacted by Jgarland’s post about Dr. Ken Blanchard. Jgarland briefly summarizes Blanchard’s main points on how leaders build trust amongst followers. Blanchard’s work is a reminder that simple actions such as listening, praising others, and being punctual, all have an impact on trust. These are behaviours that we engage in every day but, collectively, have enormous influence on our ability to lead. After reading this, I thought of trust as a bank account whereby there are debits and credit; trust can either increase or decrease with every action.
The second point that Jgarland expands on is the power of kindness. Blanchard states that leaders should lead by grace; grace trumps results. Sometimes, as leaders, we lose perspective of the larger picture because we become fixated on an intended result (i.e. profit maximization). When this occurs, people get hurt in the process as they feel as though they are being used as a means to an end. Blanchard drives home that both leaders and followers are greater than their performance.
I was very challenged by this post and by this leader. I will integrate Blanchard’s principles into my professional as well as my personal life. Furthermore, I plan to read other work by Blanchard because his philosophies resonate with my beliefs. Thank you Jgarland for introducing us to this extraordinary leader!