The Secret

The following is taken from the book, The Secret, written by Ken Blanchard and Mark Miller. I gratuated from high school with Mark. The book is a great book. Many principals are Biblically based.

…take some time every month to step back and Assess what had happen, Affirm what was working, and make Adjustments as needed. p. 2

In our company, we often refer to problems as opportunities. p. 5

I believe that developing leaders is our highest strategic priority as an organization. p. 17

…true leadership has nothing to do with one’s level in the organization. p. 25

Leadership is more about what others don’t see than what they do see. p. 25

…leadership has two components-Being and Doing. p. 26

Character – or lack of it – is still the nemesis of most leaders in our world today. Skills are critical to effective leadership, but character is also. p. 27

The secret is, great leaders SERVE. p. 27

Leaders – regardless of their skill level – must continuously ask themselves, “Why am I leading?” p. 27

A key question you must continuously ask yourself is “Am I a serving leader or a self-serving leader?” p. 28

They become great leaders one day at a time throughout their lifetimes. p.29

Leadership is about taking people from one place to another. One of a leader’s top priorties must be to assure that the team knows where you are headed. p. 36

Our values are the beliefs that drive our behavior. p. 39

You must have the right people, in the right roles, fully engaged if you are going to accomplish the things you identified under See the Future. p. 49

The leader’s objective is to leverage the strengths of people and make their weaknesses become irrelevant. p. 67

Don’t forget to always challenge yourself with the question. Am I a serving leader or a self-serving leader? p. 71

Reinvent Continuously. I’ve heard other phrases used: creative dissatisfaction, a healthy disrespect for the status quo, continuous improvement, and so on. First, great leaders Reinvent Continuously on a personal level. The very best leaders are learners. Great leaders find their own approach to learning – some read, some listen to tapes, and some spend time with mentors. If you stop learning, you stop leading. P. 72
Several reasons learning is so critical to the leader: (1) the leader must model the behavior he or she wants people to emulate; (2) to keep up with our competitors and the rate of change in our world; (3) many of the answers that worked in the past are not working today; (4) we have a stewardship responsibility to maximize our God-given talents. P. 73
Great leaders are always seeking answers to questions like these: How can we do the work better? How can we do it with fewer errors? How can we do it faster? How can we do it for less? pp. 73-74

All genuine leadership is built on trust. There are many ways to build trust. One way is to live consistently with the values you profess. p. 95
The secret to leadership is:

See the Future
Engage and Develop Others
Reinvent Continuously
Value Results and Relationships
Embody the Values

… people who want to be great leaders must embrace an attitude of service to others. p. 107

If we lose our credibility as leaders, our leadership potential will be greatly limited. p.109

The best teachers are always those who know they haven’t got it all figured out. p. 110

To order this book click here! Sorry I could only find the CD of the book online.