The Leadership Pill

The Missing Ingredient in Motivating People Today

Kenneth Blanchard, Marc Muchnick

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
• Year: 2012
• Print ISBN: 9780743483872
• eBook ISBN: 9781471108556
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business General
• Index: Business

How can you become a more successful manager, a stronger team leader and a motivator who gets the best results from a group? Ken Blanchard's inspiring new book provides the answer. In a beguiling, sometimes humorous fashion, THE LEADERSHIP PILL conjures up a tantalizing possibility: What if there was a pill that could stimulate the natural powers of the mind and body to provide leadership? In the story, an amazing new pill heightens one leader's powers, but contains the wrong ingredients, stimulating him in a short-sighted direction. He is coercive, obsessed with immediate results and drives his team relentlessly until, after a brief spike in performance, they suffer early burnout. In contrast, the 'Effective Leader', working without a pill, inspires and supports his team. He supplies the right ingredients, earning the respect and trust of his team with a blend of integrity, partnership and affirmation. Ultimately it is recognised that there is more to effective leadership than a wonder 'pill'. Destined to be a transforming experience for thousands of readers, THE LEADERSHIP PILL shows how to apply the right techniques, no matter how pressured a business situation.

The Partnership Imperative

The results for the first quarter of the Pill-Free Challenge were published in a press release issued by the independent panel of evaluators. While the Effective Leader’s team had made steady progress in building integrity, their Triple Bottom Line was not improving as quickly as that of the comparison group.

“We have a healthy foundation for growth,” the Effective Leader told reporters. “It would be unrealistic to think that we could go from being a dysfunctional team to a high-performing one in only ninety days. Don’t give up on us yet.”

The Pill-Free Challenge comparison group, on the other hand, showed significant gains in all three performance areas of the Triple Bottom Line. The leader of this team, who was on a steady regiment of Leadership Pills as planned, was hailed for being decisive, forceful, and confident.

“Let the world bear witness to the strength of the Leadership Pill,” boasted LPI’s CEO in a televised interview. “Customer service, morale, and productivity are getting better day by day. Profitability is improving too. This is one potent pill!”

LPI’s stock climbed on the favorable news. The front page of every major paper heralded the success of the Leadership Pill in the headlines. Popular print journals featured cover stories on the Leadership Pill with sexy captions such as “Pill of the Century,” “A Leader’s Little Helper,” and “The Safest Drug in America.”

The Effective Leader was not intimidated by the comparison group’s commanding lead, nor that they had raced out of the starting gate and stayed in front. His first action at the outset of the second quarter of the Pill-Free Challenge was to pay a late-night visit to his team’s production facility.

“What brings you to the graveyard shift?” asked the shop steward. “Did somebody forget to clock in?”

“Don’t worry, I don’t bite,” promised the Effective Leader.

“Then why the unexpected visit?” demanded the shop steward.

“I wanted to see if I could lend a hand this evening. I haven’t had a chance to meet you all yet and I thought this would be a great way to introduce myself,” replied the Effective Leader.

“You must be a glutton for punishment,” insisted the shop steward.

“You may be right,” said the Effective Leader. “But I am used to rolling up my sleeves.”

They bantered a while and then the Effective Leader got busy. At the end of the shift, the shop steward pulled him aside and remarked, “This is a big step toward forging a better partnership between labor and management. Tonight you’ve shown all of us that you value what we do.”

The Effective Leader stuck around for coffee and Krispy Kreme doughnuts with the crew. After what seemed like an endless series of high fives, he said goodbye and drove home at dawn for a well-deserved rest.

Later that day, the Effective Leader returned for a staff meeting. He wrote the following message on the whiteboard:

The Key to

Effective Leadership

Is the Relationship You Build

with Your Team.

“Why did he switch the meeting time to noon?” asked Li Young Kitoko as she entered the room.

“It looks like he had a tough night,” whispered Ryan Fletcher, chuckling. “Maybe he’s hung over.”

“Midday greetings, everyone,” announced the Effective Leader, ignoring the comments. “Thanks for accommodating the last-minute schedule change. I had a fruitful visit last night with the graveyard shift.”

“You did?” Ryan gasped in surprise. “No manager has ever gone to see them.”

“You should try it yourself some time. I am sure they would appreciate it,” said the Effective Leader. “Sometimes it’s easy to forget that we are all in this together.”

“So what’s the game plan for today?” asked Larry Jensen. “I’m getting hungry.”

“Don’t worry, we will eat,” replied the Effective Leader.

“Great,” said Larry. “Are you taking us out somewhere nice?”

“Sorry, Larry, not this time,” said the Effective Leader with a smile. “I’m having food brought in.”

“Sounds like a working lunch,” groaned Mary Weisman.

“I would prefer to call it a lunch-and-learn session. There is some interesting stuff I want to go over with you today.”

For the next half hour, the Effective Leader discussed the big picture of where the organization was headed. He gave the team a preview of the revised budget and revenue forecast, then handed them a copy of the last quarterly report.

“Wow!” exclaimed Daniel Noonan as he and his team members thumbed through the numbers. “I’ve never seen any of this before.”

“Now I understand why we are so backed up in accounts receivable,” said Sarah Hawkins. “Just look at all of these overdue accounts.”

“Think about how much uncollected money we have sitting out there,” remarked Mo Zellinger. “No wonder our profit is so far under goal.”

“Most managers never expose their staffs to this level of company reporting,” observed the Effective Leader. “They act like it is top-secret information. Essentially, it is the opposite of working in partnership. People run around in the dark shooting for targets they can’t even see.”

“I know the feeling,” said Javier Robles. “I’m responsible for filling open jobs, but I don’t learn how many people have left the company until thirty days after they are already out the door.”

“Our last boss thought we were too dumb to understand the numbers,” added Denzel Frederick.

“If you can balance your checkbook, you can read a management report,” replied the Effective Leader. “Our second Secret Blend value is rooted in sharing this kind of information. Essentially, partnership epitomizes the two-way street: both you and I feel the gain and the pain. After all, I don’t want to be the only one losing sleep at night!”

As lunch arrived, the Effective Leader wrote this note on the whiteboard:

Sharing the Big Picture

Puts Everyone

on the Same Page.

The group continued to discuss these ideas over lunch and then finally cleared their plates.

“Let me ask one other thing of you before we close our lunch meeting,” said the Effective Leader. “As you know, I have set aside Mondays for the sole purpose of spending quality, constructive time with you. What I would like to do is set up weekly one-on-one sessions in increments of fifteen to thirty minutes.”

“I don’t get it. Why are you doing this?” asked Mary Weisman.

“Scheduling one-on-ones ensures that I am free to meet with each of you on a regular basis,” replied the Effective Leader. “In other words, I want to talk to you about your concerns and how I can help. I want to discuss your agendas. It’s your time to be heard by me. Ultimately, I want you to know that I’m not just here to evaluate your performance. I want to work in partnership with you to help you win. And when you win, I win.”

“Sounds like a winning proposition to me.” Melissa Eckert smiled.

The lunch-and-learn sessions flourished over the next three months. Larry Jensen and Sarah Hawkins took it upon themselves to hold their own variations on the theme for coworkers who wanted to learn more about marketing and financial accounting. To their delight, the events were well attended.

As the weeks passed, the Effective Leader continued to test negative for Leadership Pill usage. Throughout the second quarter of the Pill-Free Challenge, he developed additional ways to build partnership through shared learning. First, he piloted a peer-mentoring project where senior members of the staff helped acclimate new hires to the company as they came on board. Then he b...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Contents
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Introduction
• The Discovery
• The Press Conference
• The Surge
• The Challenge
• The Preparation
• The Secret Blend
• The Search for Integrity
• The Partnership Imperative
• The Art of Affirmation
• Perfecting the Blend
• The End and a Beginning
• Acknowledgments
• About the Authors
• Services Available