Self Leadership and The One Minute Manager; Increasing Effectiveness Through Situational Self Leadership is a little book with a big message. If you are interested in becoming an empowered leader and a more effective problem solver, this is a book you should be reading with pen and paper in hand.
This is a well-written parable by bestselling author Ken Blanchard who is probably best known for his “One Minute Manager” series. In 2005 Blanchard teamed with Susan Fowler and Laurence Hawkins to publish a how-to guide aimed at helping people in business “discover the magic of no excuses.” As defined by the authors: Self leadership means being a proactive problem solver within your own life. In today’s business world, self leadership can often make the difference between having a victim mindset and becoming an empowered leader.
I first read Self Leadership and The One Minute Manager; Increasing Effectiveness Through Situational Self Leadership in 2005 and I am glad I decided to read it again. I found myself making notes and thinking of practical ways to apply these principles to not only my business, but also my day-to-day life. A sign of a good book is one that as you’re reading, you’re trying to figure out how you can start using this information right away.
Here is the book’s story in a nutshell: A disillusioned and discouraged young man blames everyone for his poor job performance. One day he goes into a coffee shop and meets a magician who befriends him. She teaches him “the magic of no excuses” which she calls self leadership. He becomes eager to learn and apply these principles to his disorganized business life. As he begins applying the self leadership principles, his life starts to change for the positive. In fact, as he becomes more proficient with self leadership not only does his life change for the positive, but the lives of the people around him begin to change also.
Your initial read of this book can be a quick one but, I’d recommend you plan to go back and read it one more time with pen and paper. The authors give you various learning tools containing charts and examples. There are charts illustrating: Points of Power, The Development Continuum and The Needs Model. You’ll want to work with these charts as you go through the examples in the book. I found myself needing to understand more clearly the different styles of self leadership. I wanted a clear vision of how we go through the different steps during the self leadership growth process and found myself going back several times with pen and paper to reread certain sections.
I’d suggest you make blocks of quiet time to read and study the materials so you can decide how to begin applying these leadership principles not only to your business, but your life too.
I recommend For Self Leadership and The One Minute Manager; Increasing Effectiveness Through Situational Self Leadership by Ken Blanchard, Susan Fowler and Laurence Hawkins. I’ll say it again, it’s a small book with a big message.
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Sharon Recommends
Here is a direct link to Amazon.com where you can read more about this book and purchase the hardcover edition online: Self Leadership and the One Minute Manager: Increasing Effectiveness Through Situational Self Leadership
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