Ken Blanchard - Great Leaders Grow: Becoming a Leader for Life

Great Leaders
GROW

Also by Ken Blanchard and Mark Miller
The Secret: What Great Leaders Know and Do

Becoming a Leader for Life

Ken Blanchard
& Mark Miller

Great Leaders Grow

Copyright 2012 by Polvera Publishing and Mark Miller

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First Edition

Hardcover print edition ISBN 978-1-60994-303-5

PDF e-book ISBN 978-1-60509-695-7

IDPF e-book ISBN 978-1-60509-696-4

2011-1

Production Management: Michael Bass Associates

Cover Design: Irene Morris

We dedicate this book to the men and women
who inspired us to grow and helped us along the way.

Have you ever felt like you could lead at a higher level but you werent quite sure how to get there? Have you ever wondered how to strengthen your influence and increase your impact? Have you ever considered what enables some leaders to soar above all others? Weve asked these questions and more just like them. Were convinced, after more than seventy years of combined leadership, that the path to increased influence, impact, and leadership effectiveness is paved with personal growth. Theres certainly more to leadership than growth, but growth is at the heart of what creates and sustains great leaders. Growth is the leaders fountain of youth.

Growing for a leader is like oxygen to a deep sea diver: without it you die. Unlike the diver, you may not physically diebut if you stop growing, your influence will erode; and over time, you can even lose the opportunity to lead at all.

Tragically, you see these losses in organizations large and small, for profit and not for profitleaders who attain a position of leadership and fail to keep up. Or some get a promotion based on their potential, but that potential never materializes. Or perhaps you see it in young emerging leaders who never get their shot. Their untapped potential remains untapped. What do all these situations have in common? Personal growthor the lack of it. The failure to grow sabotages the career of more leaders than anything else.

Our capacity to grow determines our capacity to lead. Its really that simple. However, simple doesnt mean easy. Like most of lifes powerful principles, the power is in the application. Thats what this book is all about.

In the pages that follow, youll go along for the ride of a lifetime with Blake, an energetic yet reluctant emerging leader. Dont get hung up on his age or lack of experience. Theres some of Blake in all of us, particularly when were faced with the challenge of growing as a leader.

Debbie Brewster plays the part of trusted mentor to Blake and shares with him four big ideas that, if applied consistently, will enable him to be a leader for life.

The idea of leading for the rest of our lives is appealing to us. We may not choose to lead in our current context or circumstances indefinitely, but name a leader you know who wants to become stagnant or, worse, irrelevant. We dont know any. If you decide that you want to lead well your entire lifewhether in the marketplace, a nonprofit, or even in your familyyou must continue to grow.

We pray that the ideas in this book will fuel your passion to grow, convince you that you can grow, show you how to grow, and empower you to grow for the rest of your life. Have fun as you GROW!

Ken Blanchard and Mark Miller

You can be a leader. The words had ricocheted through Blakes mind countless times since his father had said them. In part, because he had long had doubts about his ability to lead; also because they were the last words his father ever said to him. The next day, Jeff Brown died of a heart attack.

It had all been so unexpected, as heart attacks usually are, but in this case even more so. His dad had been in great physical shape. Hed eaten the right foods, gotten plenty of rest, and exercised three to four times per week. He and Blake had just returned from the ski trip of a lifetime. No one, especially Blake, had been prepared for Jeffs death.

A month after his fathers funeral, Blake was sitting in the university library, struggling not only with his fathers death but also with the idea that he could be a leader. Had his father been blinded by his love for his only son? Was this just another example of his dads eternal optimism? Or perhapsthe scariest possibility of allcould it be true? Maybe Blake could be a leader. There were so many questions Blake wanted to ask his dad. And now, he couldnt.

You can be a leader. Blake could still see and hear his father saying these words. When he replayed them, his responses varied from No way to Really? Blake wondered how these words would play out in the years to come. Would they be a blessing or a curse? At this point, they felt like a very heavy burden.

Jeff had been a great leader. Hed been well respected, loved by most, and very successful. Hed served his organization with high levels of integrity and skill. He had also served several nonprofit organizations in various capacities. Hed been devoted to his family and led them well. This great legacy placed a lot of pressure on Blake. Even if he could lead, he was convinced he could never lead as well as his father.

Now, Blake didnt know what to do next. He was about to graduate from college and needed a job. He was confused and scared and didnt have his father to give him advicesomething he had undervalued while his father was alive. Only now did he realize how valuable that advice had been.

Hundreds of people had gathered at his fathers funeral. After the service, Blake met many of Jeffs friends and coworkers. One of them was a middle-aged woman his dad had mentored for several years. Her name was Debbie Brewster; and when she introduced herself, she was fighting back tears.