About the Leading at a Higher Level Series

In winter 2009, my colleagues and I from The Ken Blanchard Companies published a revised and expanded edition of our 2007 book Leading at a Higher Level.²⁶ It pulled together the best thinking from more than thirty years of working together. It truly is Blanchard on Leadership. Our hope is that someday, everywhere, everyone will know someone who leads at a higher level.

In short, the well-being and personal growth of the people you are leading are as important—if not more so—as the goals you seek to achieve.

The feedback on Leading at a Higher Level has been tremendous. Now that people know our curriculum, the only additions they ever request are in-depth examples of how leaders and their organizations have taken aspects of Leading at a Higher Level and put them into practice while maintaining a dual focus on performance and people. We decided to introduce the Leading at a Higher Level Series to do just that.

The first book in that series I wrote with Garry Ridge, the President and CEO of WD-40 Company, titled Helping People Win at Work. The performance review system called “Don’t Mark My Paper, Help Me Get an A” that Garry and his colleagues initiated at WD-40 has elevated Partnering for Performance—a major aspect of Leading at a Higher Level—to whole new heights. This process has helped WD-40 Company become a darling on Wall Street. I am thrilled that the second book in this series is with Colleen Barrett, President Emeritus of Southwest Airlines—another darling on Wall Street.

Why am I celebrating these successes? I got some insight into the importance of celebrating successes when I had a chance to do some writing with Norman Vincent Peale. Because Norman was the author of The Power of Positive Thinking,¹⁹ his response didn’t surprise me when I asked him one day why the press didn’t report more good news. He said, “I’m so glad they don’t! If good news were news, there wouldn’t be much of it going on. The only reason bad news is news is because there’s not much of it happening.”

What a wonderful perspective. When I watch the news, I hear mostly tragic stories, but then I realize that millions of people got home safely that night, took care of their families, and did good things. It’s just that few of these “good news” cases are ever reported.

The same is true with organizations. In general—and in business in particular—you don’t hear much good news, especially during the tough economic times we’ve been experiencing. Most of what’s reported about business is negative. As a result, the public gets the impression that all businesses are bad and that they are run by self-serving, egotistical leaders who are only concerned about themselves. And yet that’s more the exception than the rule, from my experience. I am blown away every day by the leaders of not only large companies but of entrepreneurial ventures who are leading at a higher level and attempting to make a difference, not only for their financial shareholders, but for the people who work with them and the customers and communities they serve. Thanks, Garry and Colleen, for letting me share your wonderful, positive stories.