Product Description

The Secret answers the question, "What do I need to do to be a great leader?" Books on leadership abound, and most of them emphasize one or another of the ideas explored here. But only The Secret pulls all of the five essential concepts together into a coherent plan for achieving leadership success. The core idea, based on the authors' years of experience and drawn from examples of the best leaders, is that leadership comes from service. The five ways in which leaders can succeed through service are seeing and shaping the future; engaging and developing others; reinventing continuously; valuing results and relationships; and embodying the values. Each strategy is explained in detail, with exercises and tips for integrating them into the leadership matrix. The Secret is not dry dogma; the authors show their ideas at work by following the example of a struggling leader who enrolls in a mentoring program at her company. It traces her progress in understanding and applying these concepts, and her subsequent transformation into a respected and effective leader.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #109734 in Books
• Published on: 2004-01-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 124 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Debbie, the heroine of this insipid business novella, is an archetypal customer relations executive who fails to wring improved performance from her micro-managed and dispirited subordinates. CEO Jeff takes her under his wing to impart the wisdom of "servant leadership" as exemplified by such figures as Jimmy Carter, Spartacus and, most of all, Jesus of Nazareth. Under his mentor, Debbie realizes that a leader’s role is to inspire and empower underlings both in the workplace and in their personal lives. She learns to delegate so that she can focus on "vision" and "values." She commits herself to a project of "Reinventing Continuously" and she comes to understand that, since people are essences, not constructs, it’s better to leverage employees’ strengths rather than trying to fix their shortcomings; hiring decisions are therefore all-important and should involve no less than four exhaustive interviews. Armed with these principles, Debbie makes a spectacular new hire, gets her team to come up with the slogan "From Worst to First" and enlists them in continuous improvement of the work process. Soon performance skyrockets (exactly how remains somewhat mysterious), garnering Debbie a standing ovation and promotion to head of Leadership Development. Blanchard, co-author of The One Minute Manager, and Miller, an executive at the Chick-fil-A fast food chain, construct a rickety fictional matrix to support their high-minded but rather familiar leadership nostrums. Written in stilted business-school lingo ("‘Hi Deb! Looks like you’re managing by walking around today!’"), the narrative and dialogue elements come off as awkward filler that only accentuates the staleness of the truisms on offer.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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
Ken Blanchard: Few people have impacted the day-to-day management of people and companies more than Ken Blanchard. A prominent author, speaker, and business consultant, Ken is characterized by friends, colleagues, and clients as one of the most insightful, powerful, and compassionate men in business today. When Ken speaks, he speaks from the heart with warmth and humor. He is a polished storyteller with a knack for making the seemingly complex easy to understand.

Ken’s impact as a writer is far reaching. His phenomenal bestselling book, The One Minute Manager, coauthored with Spencer Johnson, has sold more than ten million copies worldwide and is still on bestseller lists. The One Minute Manager has been translated into more than 25 languages and is regarded as one of the most successful business books of all time.

Ken has received several awards and honors for his contributions in the field of management, leadership, and speaking. In 1991 the National Speakers association awarded him its highest honor, the "Council of Peers Award of Excellence." In 1992 Ken was inducted into the HRD Hall of Fame by Training Magazine and Lakewood Conferences and received the 1992 Golden Gavel Award for Toastmasters International. In 1996 Ken received the Distinguished Contribution to Human Resource Development Award from ASTD.

Ken is chief spiritual officer of The Ken Blanchard Companies, formerly Blanchard Training and Development, Inc., which he and his wife, Dr. Marjorie Blanchard, founded in 1979 in San Diego, California. The Ken Blanchard Companies provides expertise in organizational change management through training programs and processes, seminars, and consulting. Ken is also a visiting lecturer at his alma mater, Cornell University, where he is a trustee emeritus of the Board of Trustees.

Mark Miller
Mark Miller began his Chick-fil-A career working as an hourly team member at the company’s Southlake Mall location in 1977. In 1978, Mark joined the corporate staff working in the warehouse and mailroom. Since that time, Mark has held several leadership positions. He has served in Corporate Communications, Field Operations, and Quality & Customer Satisfaction. Today, he is the Vice President, Training & Development. He is also a member of the Operations Council, and the Strategic Planning Team for Chick-fil-A, Inc.

When not working to sell more chicken, Mark is active in supporting his local church and building the church around the world. He has taught on numerous occasions in Asia, Africa, India, Europe, the former Soviet Union, Central America, and all across North America. Mark is a frequent teacher for the Willow Creek Association. He has also taught for the International Mission Board, and the International Bible Society. Mark is currently partnering with John Maxwell and EQUIP to train one million Christian leaders in the international community. Mark teaches on a wide array of topics including: Leadership, Creativity, Team Building, and Evangelism.

Customer Reviews

Leadership Lessons
This is the story of Debbie, a struggling and a failing leader, who learns the lessons of management from her Boss. Miserable with her poor performance, the character of Ken's Book, joins the Mentor Program offered by her company and incidentally, Jeff, the president of the company happens to be the trainer. She thoroughly undergoes the training sessions where she realise her mistakes. She is taught to be a 'Serving Leader' rathar than a 'self-serving Leader'. She learns the secrets of success with the five steps :
* Seeing and shaping the future
* Engaging and developing others
* Continuously Reinvent
* Value results and relationships
* Embody the values
Debbie learns whatever is needed to be a good leader, analyze her progress with examples, excercises and tips. In process with Debbie's example, Ken Blanchard has made successful attempt to teach the Leadership Lessons to all successful as well as troubled and failed Leaders. The Book provides a guide to solve problems that seem complex and make it easier with the concepts clear - A choice to Serve. Not always I guess, because while Serving too without being self-served, the Leader becomes a struggler if the Company policies and the Boss Attitude and vision is not focused. Sometimes wavelengths do not meet. However, based on the author's experience and drawn from examples of best leaders, this book gives an insight to improve upon one's own abilities and in serving others, tackle the situations with ease without struggling lamely. Ken Blanchard's experience speaks in volumes. A good Pick.

A book of uncommon wisdom
I must admit that I don't usually purchase or enjoy very many "leadership" books, but this one is truly different. This book is written in a quick-read style and is very easy to understand. The principles are easy to remember and hard to apply, but have had a transformational impact on my life. I believe readers will find that if they have the guts and discipline to consistently think about ways to apply these principles, they will see a major shift in how people respond to them in their family life, business life, or church life. I have already shared my copy of the book with others, and they have each pointed out specific aspects of the book that they say completely changed their way of looking at the world.

I think this book makes great gifts for people you work with or family members. Don't be surprised if some folks don't "get it"...it's the people that do "get it" that are going to find amazing ways to apply these principles and impact the lives of others!

Great, user friendly book on leadership
This is a simple, easy to use book on learning to be a leader. Although a little simplistic in it's storyline, the SERVE model is easy to understand and put into practice. I have met Mark Miller and can say he practices what he writes about in the book. And if you look at the success of Chik-fil-A®, you would want to know their secret!