Literature review #4

Leadership and the One Minute Manager: Increasing effectiveness through situational leadership by Ken Blanchard, Patricia Zigarmi and Drea Zigarmi. New and updated edition 2015.

Contents

Introduction

A visit from an entrepreneur

Being Successful

Thinking differently about leadership

Different strokes for different folks

Leadership style: Perceptions of others

Three skills of a situational leader

Managing the performance of others

Goal Setting

Diagnosing development level

Leadership style flexibility

The four basic leadership styles

Matching leadership style to development level

Think before you act

Different strokes for the same folks

Developing competence and commitment

Turning around performance problems

Sharing what you're doing

Understanding the six conversations

Positive assumptions about people

Becoming a situational leader

Acknowledgements

About the authors

Services available

Looking at the contents page for this book, you may think that it is very long and difficult to read, however it was quite the opposite. The authors have written the book in a story like fashion. An entrepreneur is our main character who meets several people that work for the 'one minute manager', each person describes how they are led by their manager and then the entrepreneur discusses each style with the one minute manager. 

Essentially in any team that you work for within the company Parkdean, you will be working with different people from different backgrounds with different skills therfore it is very important to cater for each persons specific needs. 

"Everyone has peak performance potential -you just need to know where they are coming from and meet them there" pg 52 The One Minute Manager.

The book talks about how everyone is at a different level in their career, however everyone can be developed if they are dealt with in the correct way, some people need more guidance than others. This piece of literature includes a development levels scale;

D1: Low competence with high commitment

D2: Low to some competence with Low commitment

D3: Moderate to high competence with variable commitment

D4:High competence with High commitment

From my understanding the development levels represent when someone first comes into a job, they would be considered at D1 as they are excited to start but dont have all the tools to succeed on their own just yet. As you develop into a D2 you become frustrated because you have learnt so much but you know you still have more to learn '"Sometimes as people's skills grow, their confidence and motivation drop", continued Kathy. "They begin to realize how much more they've got to learn to be able to do a really good job. It's like the old saying: 'The more I know, The more I realize I don't Know.' This part of the literature really stuck out to me as this year I have two new people to the company and they both experienced this developmental stage a couple of months into the season and I had to reassure them that they were doing well and they were fully capable of the work ahead. As a person moves into the D3 developmental stage they are more capable of their job however they lack confidence in some tasks so need more reassurance at this stage. Finally D4's are described as 'self reliant achievers', you are confident in your job and you are committed to doing it to the best of your ability. D4's need to be appreciated in their job roles and given tasks to help them grow and develop in their area. 

This piece of literature has been so helpful for me when I am dealing with my team. I always set achievable goals with them now and discuss where they are at in their journey with the company. It has also helped me to understand their frustrations depending on where they are at developmentally.