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Servant Leadership: Martha on Ken Blanchard's Lessons, Kindness, and Recognition · Authentic Living

• 0:01
  Welcome to Authentic Living with Roxanne, a place where we have conscious conversations
• 0:08
  about things that really matter in our lives.
• 0:12
  And now here's your host, Roxanne Durhaj.
• 0:40
  Hi, everyone.
• 0:41
  It's Roxanne Dorhodge.
• 0:42
  Thanks for tuning in again this week to Authentic Living with Roxanne.
• 0:46
  Today, we have an amazing guest that brings such wisdom to us about the world of writing
• 0:53
  and leadership.
• 0:54
  It's Martha Lawrence.
• 0:55
  Martha, welcome.
• 0:57
  Welcome to the podcast.
• 0:58
  Thank you so much for having me, Roxanne.
• 1:01
  I'm really honored to be with you.
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  Let me tell you a little bit about her, and we're gonna jump right into why she's here
• 1:07
  today with her new amazing book.
• 1:09
  Martha is a veteran book editor and executive director at Blanchard, where she worked side by
• 1:15
  side with Ken Blanchard for about two decades or so.
• 1:19
  She's edited hundreds of books and including Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway, and co authored
• 1:26
  Trust Works with Mr.
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  Blanchard.
• 1:29
  She's the author of the award nominated series and a passionate advocate for leading the
• 1:35
  kindness and purpose.
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  And Martha just released on the twenty first.
• 1:41
  This is the exciting part and partly why she's here.
• 1:45
  Catching People Doing Things Right.
• 1:47
  How Ken Badger Change the Way the World Leads?
• 1:51
  So much to dive into today.
• 1:54
  Martha, why tell me, how did you end up as an editor?
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  Did you always do the traditional kind of route and go into literature and decide to go into
• 2:06
  editing?
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  Or how did you end up becoming, I'm gonna say, and working for some of the biggest editors in
• 2:12
  the world?
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  Tell us a little bit about your path.
• 2:14
  Sure.
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  I was always a writer.
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  I had my first article published when I was seven.
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  And I just I was one of those one of those kids who was always recognized of she's the talented
• 2:24
  writer.
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  So that and everyone always thought I'd be a writer.
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  But then, of course, I got to college, and it's like writers starve to death.
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  Right?
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  So I was prelaw in college because I wanted to make a living.
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  And I met a man who was also prelaw, and we decided that wouldn't do work too well having
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  two lawyers in the family.
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  So I supported him through law school.
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  The deal was then you're gonna support me in my publishing career.
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  So when he went back to New York to get his master's in tax law, I got into book
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  publishing, and my first job was working as the assistant to the managing editor at Simon and
• 3:02
  Schuster in Rockefeller Center.
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  So that that was just like the dream job.
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  I had taken a pay cut to get that job because I'd been a technical writer when my ex husband
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  was in law school, but I was I happily took a $10,000 pay cut to get that job.
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  It was amazing.
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  From there, I became an acquisitions editor.
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  And at some point, I said to my editor colleagues, I really wanna be a writer.
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  And they said I said, you wanna write books.
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  Right?
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  And they're like, oh god.
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  No.
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  I'd never wanna be an author.
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  Oh, no.
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  And so I felt like an impostor because I I knew I was a writer, but I love both.
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  I love both editing and writing, and I've been so blessed to be able to edit, bring bring
• 3:42
  bring into the world hundreds of voices.
• 3:45
  You mentioned feel the fear and do it anyway by doctor Susan Jeffers.
• 3:49
  Her book saved my life.
• 3:51
  It came across my desk at a time when I was really pretty broken.
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  I'd been raped by a serial rapist, and I hadn't gotten any therapy yet.
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  And that book, that manuscript spoke to me and gave me the courage to go on.
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  I'd like to think that the books that I've helped bring into the world have really made a
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  difference in people's lives.
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  Wow.
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  And right off the hop, being able to get into an environment like You must have felt like a
• 4:18
  kid in a candy store just being able to be surrounded by such a such amazing space.
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  Oh, such an amazing space.
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  I was working with Alice Mayhew, who she worked with presidents, and she actually was the
• 4:31
  editor on All the President's Men.
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  Worked with I worked with all these super star editors, Herman Golub, just Morgan Entrekin,
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  just amazing people.
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  So I learned a lot.
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  Yeah.
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  Fantastic.
• 4:44
  Let's jump into Ken.
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  And you've worked with him for more than twenty years.
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  When did you know it was time to tell his story?
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  When what was that niggling that said, it's gotta be told, and I would be honored to write
• 5:01
  that story?
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  Yes.
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  For your listeners who may not know who Ken Blanchard is, they probably Ken Blanchard, you
• 5:09
  probably know him as the co author of a book, a little book that came out in 1982 called The
• 5:15
  One Minute Manager.
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  And before that book came along, business books were dry and boring, and they really didn't
• 5:25
  they didn't have a place in popular literature.
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  Not really.
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  The power of positive thinking maybe, think and grow rich, and that kind of thing.
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  But business books really weren't a thing.
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  And then along comes Ken Blanchard, who writes a skinny little book about a young man who's
• 5:39
  looking for an effective manager, and it was told as a story.
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  And that book I was an editor in New York when that book came out, and it just took the world
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  by storm.
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  It was on the New York Times bestseller list for three years.
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  Everybody had it.
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  It was one of those pass along books, and in fact, it's still available, the new as the new
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  one minute manager.
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  So Ken Blanchard is known for that, but he's actually he's a brilliant organizational
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  theorist, and he really truly has changed the way the world leads.
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  Before Ken came, Ken and a few of his cohort came along, Management was really thought about
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  as that autocratic top down command and control.
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  And Ken Blanchard came along and a few other of his, as I said, his colleagues and cohorts.
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  They're saying there's a different way to lead.
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  People first.
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  It's about people.
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  So he was told in college that he couldn't write, and he goes on to write one of the most
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  famous books in the world.
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  He was told also in graduate, he really wanted to go into being a university dean and working
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  in the university field.
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  He was really very much of an academic, but he had some bad recommendations in his file when
• 6:53
  he went to get a a job as a dean.
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  In those days, there wasn't the Freedom of Information Act, and so you couldn't see what
• 7:00
  was in your file.
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  He called this guy who had interviewed him at Dartmouth and said, I thought we had a really
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  good connection.
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  What I never heard back from you.
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  What's going on?
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  And he said, Ken, we love you.
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  We think you're fantastic, but you have these terrible recommendations in your file.
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  He said, what do they say?
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  And it said, Ken Blanchard is a nice guy.
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  He's great with the students, but don't let him anywhere near the faculty because he has no
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  academic interest.
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  Another one said he's he's a great guy, but not particularly intelligent.
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  And I tell this to your listeners because if you've ever been put down, this is a story of
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  someone who got that kind of feedback and went on to cofound one of the most successful
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  organizational leadership development firms in the world.
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  It's a global firm.
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  So don't believe you're bad press.
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  By his own admission, he couldn't even balance his own checkbook, and yet look where he is.
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  He's quite he's really well known for putting people first.
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  He was that guy that said management doesn't have to be a dreary autocratic thing.
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  So he is described as saying that leadership is nonthreatening, nonconformist.
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  And why is that so powerful?
• 8:12
  I realized I didn't quite answer your last question.
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  So let me go back to that, Roxanne.
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  Inspired me to write the book is there are a lot of biographies and stories out there about
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  really incredible people.
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  I'm thinking about people like Steve Jobs or Elon Musk or Jack Welch with GE.
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  Really incredible business people, but they're not necessarily great leadership role models.
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  And Ken Blanchard introduced the idea that it's not about me.
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  It's about you.
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  Leadership is something you do with people, not to people.
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  It's an influence process.
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  It's about inspiring people, not having control over them.
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  So that is why I wanted to write the book.
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  Just are you still there, Martha?
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  Yeah.
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  You froze up on me a little bit.
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  I know.
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  I they're saying it's a little bit unstable, so I'm not sure why.
• 9:09
  It happens.
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  Yeah.
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  Yep.
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  So just just pick up where you left off where
• 9:13
  you Okay.
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  And then
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  both my team will fix it accordingly.
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  Yeah.
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  So the question you had uh-oh.
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  You're frozen again.
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  Here we go.
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  I guess just did it again.
• 9:31
  Yeah.
• 9:32
  Do you want to repeat that last question you did?
• 9:35
  Okay.
• 9:36
  So I was saying that Ken has been described as non threatening, nonconformist.
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  And why is that concept so powerful in the world of Ken so well?
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  One of the things that made Ken Blanchard so effective is that he didn't just go along with
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  the program, and this went back as early as his days as a college professor.
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  He wasn't a conformist in college when he was teaching leadership courses at University of
• 10:06
  Massachusetts, Amherst.
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  The deal was you teach students and you grade them according to a distribution curve.
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  Some people get A's, some people get B's, most people get C's, right?
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  Ken had this habit of passing out the final exam on the first day of class, and his
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  colleagues would say, Ken, what are you doing?
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  And he said, I thought I was supposed to be teaching the students, and they said, are, but
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  you can't pass out the final exam on the first day of class.
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  And he said, not only am I gonna pass out the final exam on the first day of class, what do
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  you think I'm gonna do the whole semester?
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  I'm gonna teach them the answers because life is about getting a's, not some stupid
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  distribution curve.
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  Nonconforming.
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  He didn't he was not afraid.
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  If he saw a rule that didn't make sense for people, he wasn't afraid to bend that rule.
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  Same way with writing a business book.
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  He had very intellectual colleagues who told him, this is an embarrassment, Ken.
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  You can't write a 100 page parable.
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  You're losing your credibility.
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  And he said, I want people to read it.
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  My goal is to teach people and lift them up, not to impress them with my brains.
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  So I think that's one of
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  the reasons he's so successful and why he has such an ardent fan base for his books because
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  they're so easy to read.
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  Absolutely.
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  The traditional MBAs and teaching about leadership in the past and even when I was in
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  corporate, it was very autocratic top down.
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  And myself with my psychological background as an executive, you know, I would relate to
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  people.
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  Like, I would treat, you know, everybody within the system the same.
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  And I would oftentimes, Martha, get knocked back into place, quote, unquote, to say that
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  you should be treating people a certain way based on their level.
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  And I would be like, well, if these people are my supports and this is what who I have to deal
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  with my customers, does it not make sense that I have ultimately great relationships with
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  them?
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  And I would get told, well, no.
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  No.
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  It's a need to know basis, and it never felt comfortable.
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  It's interesting.
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  Right?
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  So obviously, what Ken was teaching is something that myself as a psychotherapist, I
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  often say, why not be kind to people?
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  Because ultimately, if we get that reflective lens in the mirror, I wanna work that much
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  harder for you if I feel like I have a sense of who you are.
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  Spot on.
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  This is why you were so ahead of your time.
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  You were so right on, and your your result return on relationships, the ROI.
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  Actually, the Blanchard organization did some research about that, Roxanne, because the
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  argument is if you're too nice to people, the results will get soft.
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  Right?
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  We're in business here.
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  We have to make money.
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  Well, in fact, if you take care of those relationships, that drives results.
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  As Ken used to put it, you take care of your people who take care of your customers, who
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  take care of your bottom line, and it goes to ching, to ching, to ching.
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  But that's been documented.
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  And so this old idea that you have to keep people at arm's length and keep them in the
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  dark and not relate to them like they're human beings.
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  Okay.
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  Fine.
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  But you're not gonna get their loyalty.
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  You're not gonna get their extra.
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  You're not gonna you're not gonna get their brilliance.
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  And that thing about keeping them in the dark, you know, what people were telling you.
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  I've got a little story about that.
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  This speaks to profit and organizational health.
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  After nineeleven, the Blanchard organization, like so many organizations, but particularly
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  those that were dependent on plane travel for their profits because Blanchard would send
• 13:48
  trainers to cities all over the world to train executives and leaders and teams.
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  Everybody was grounded, and they started to lose yeah.
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  They were just bleeding money.
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  And they had an emergency leadership meeting and said, for the first time in the company's
• 14:05
  history, I think we're gonna have to do layoffs.
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  And I spoke with someone who was in that meeting, and she said, I will never forget it.
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  Ken pounded the table, and he looked up, and he had tears running down his face.
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  And he said, I'm not gonna do it.
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  I'm not gonna put my friends out on the street at a time like this.
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  It's just not gonna happen.
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  And, you know, the other leaders, they're not mean people.
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  They're all wonderful people, wonderful, intelligent people.
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  And they're like, Ken, we feel the same, but what are we gonna do?
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  We're gonna be out of business.
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  And he said, we always talk about transparency.
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  Let's just open up the books to everybody, show them exactly where we are, and brainstorm
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  together.
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  And that is exactly what they did.
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  People voluntarily took pay cuts.
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  They found savings.
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  They scrimped.
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  They scraped.
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  Everybody gave it their everything.
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  And Ken said, when we get through this, we're gonna take the whole company to Hawaii.
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  By gosh.
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  That's exactly what they did.
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  We all went to Hawaii.
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  We all went to Maui in 2005.
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  So it were it doesn't you can't always do that.
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  COVID, there were we did have to have layoffs, unfortunately, but you don't have to do it in a
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  way that holds people at arm's length.
• 15:21
  Everybody knew what was coming.
• 15:23
  It was we had the CEO on a Zoom meeting with tears running down his face and saying, we're
• 15:30
  we're gonna work as hard as we can to get the people back.
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  You don't have to do business the old way.
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  And I think when you think about the concept of servant leadership, right, and I guess he
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  helped popularize that whole concept.
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  And I often say when I was my book was written over COVID, kind of when traders and speakers
• 15:49
  were kind of our businesses were shut down.
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  And so I joined a writing group.
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  And I interviewed CEOs that were going through kind of what they were doing.
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  I was oftentimes you hear the not so nice stories.
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  But when you hear stories like what you tell me about Ken, and I remember a CEO talking about
• 16:15
  appointments with every employee.
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  So, of course, what do people they're petrified.
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  They're thinking, why is the CEO wanting to talk to me?
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  And what he inadvertently did was he had a five minutes conversation with every single person
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  doing not unlike what Ken did, saying, this is where we're at.
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  We don't wanna lay off.
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  We need your kind of brainpower to help us format a plan, and they formulated a plan which
• 16:41
  was able to get them through the entire COVID season.
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  So there's so many amazing examples of that that exist.
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  But, unfortunately, what gets played sometimes on the media is the ones that are kinda not so
• 16:55
  good to people, and it's really refreshing.
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  And when I think of servant leadership, I think of mister Blanchard, but I want you to talk a
• 17:02
  little bit more about that.
• 17:03
  So clearly, he's a living example.
• 17:05
  Sometimes you get into companies, and when I was a health and wellness executive, I would go
• 17:09
  into different companies, and they wouldn't live their value.
• 17:13
  Mhmm.
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  They would kind of put up the the vision, the mission, the strategic plan, blah blah blah
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  blah blah.
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  And then I would get involved with the company, and I would be realized, like, my goodness.
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  You're incongruent with what you say you are about.
• 17:27
  But with servant leadership, let's talk a little bit more about that, and then let's just
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  jump into the book because I wanna make sure that everybody knows what's what what good
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  things we're gonna get from reading the book.
• 17:38
  So in reference to servant leadership, tell me about the Sure.
• 17:41
  The time that he popularized it, What was going around?
• 17:45
  Well, you know, there was such a there was such a misunderstanding about servant leadership
• 17:49
  because it sounds like an oxymoron.
• 17:52
  How can you be a leader and a servant at the same time?
• 17:55
  Those things seem to be opposite.
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  And Ken said, people need to understand there's two parts of leadership.
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  There's the visioning part where the leader sets the vision and, you know, the values, and
• 18:07
  then there's the servant part.
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  There's think of it like a hierarchical triangle.
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  The when you set the vision, you're at the top.
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  But when once that vision is set and the values are set, you turn that pyramid upside down, and
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  now you as a leader are serving the people, giving them whatever they need to implement
• 18:26
  that vision.
• 18:27
  You're their cheerleader.
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  You're their servant.
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  He truly he says, if you are a leader, you're here to serve, not to be served.
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  And it you know, a lot of people get uncomfortable.
• 18:37
  They think it sounds a little too woo woo or religious, but it actually works.
• 18:42
  If you look at some of the most effective leaders we've ever had, they're servant
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  leaders.
• 18:47
  Absolutely.
• 18:48
  And I call it shoulder to shoulder as well because if you're in a leadership capacity and
• 18:53
  you can demonstrate for the people around call it the 10 foot radius of the impact of you
• 18:59
  leading in my book.
• 19:01
  And I go, You're a reflective lens ultimately of your team around you, and then that trickles
• 19:07
  all the way down to the front line.
• 19:09
  So if you're missing something, you have to kinda look within yourself and say, as a
• 19:14
  leader, what do I need to enhance so that the vision becomes clearer around me?
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  Because I'm in this position because I have the ability to impact so many people and to take
• 19:25
  responsibility for my mental well-being and what I put out there.
• 19:29
  So let's jump right into the book.
• 19:31
  Tell me about, was this fun to write?
• 19:34
  Were you like, oh my goodness, am I gonna do a good job?
• 19:38
  All those things.
• 19:39
  I'm sure you did a fantastic job and I know I have my copy to read.
• 19:43
  I haven't read it as of yet.
• 19:45
  But tell us a little bit about the path of writing in the book and what the book's all
• 19:48
  about.
• 19:48
  So the path to write the book, no one particularly wanted me to write this book.
• 19:52
  Ken doesn't have much of an ego.
• 19:54
  He really doesn't.
• 19:56
  And I said, I knew early on when I came to know him and saw that he was walking the talk and
• 20:03
  actually living the principles that he was teaching and then some people just this is a
• 20:09
  man who, like, gives tens of thousands of dollars away to people who are in need and just
• 20:14
  did it just his kindness is his MO.
• 20:18
  And I was so inspired to write this story and saw what an incredible life he led.
• 20:24
  It's a story that if you're a business person, it'll inspire you.
• 20:28
  If you're an employee, it'll inspire you.
• 20:30
  If you're a manager, it'll inspire you.
• 20:32
  Author, speaker.
• 20:33
  He's worn so many hats, and he's overcome so many setbacks.
• 20:38
  And so it's just an American success story with a twist because it's about somebody who
• 20:43
  attained all this success by being a nice guy, not by pushing and shoving and being an
• 20:48
  egomaniac.
• 20:49
  So I started collecting papers in 2005.
• 20:52
  I started collecting.
• 20:53
  So I've been working on it for about twenty not actually, I didn't start writing until 2020
• 20:59
  when COVID came, but but I've been collecting papers.
• 21:02
  And it's it was really interesting to me to see how far back Ken was studying leadership.
• 21:08
  He was interested in leadership as a kid.
• 21:12
  He was one of those kids who was, like, the president of his seventh grade class, and his
• 21:17
  dad retired as a rear admiral in the navy and taught him some of his dad and mom taught him
• 21:22
  some of his early leadership lessons.
• 21:24
  And one of them was when he won the president of the seventh grade, he went running home.
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  Mom, dad, I'm the president.
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  And his dad said, oh, that's great, Ken.
• 21:33
  But now that you've got that title, don't ever use it.
• 21:37
  People follow leaders not because they have a fancy title, but because they trust and respect
• 21:42
  them.
• 21:42
  So remember that.
• 21:43
  And so there's all those little gems all throughout the book.
• 21:46
  And just how you go your life path, as long as you have a guiding light and purpose, you'll
• 21:54
  find a way.
• 21:55
  You'll find a way.
• 21:56
  So I hope it inspires a lot of young leaders.
• 21:58
  I really want it to inspire.
• 22:00
  And I love the title Catch People Doing Things Right.
• 22:05
  And oftentimes when we're leading, yes, you have to get tactical things done.
• 22:09
  But I love the fact that it's about highlighting the things that people are doing
• 22:13
  right when they least expect it probably to as well.
• 22:16
  Yes.
• 22:16
  Somebody once asked Ken, if you could only take away one say one thing of all the things you've
• 22:23
  taught over the years, what would it be?
• 22:25
  And he said, it would be catch people doing things right.
• 22:28
  And he used to talk about how don't be a seagull manager.
• 22:31
  The seagull manager is the one who they're not around until some somebody makes a mistake,
• 22:36
  then they fly in, dump on everybody make a lot of noise and fly out right
• 22:41
  yeah
• 22:41
  and it the idea of catching someone doing something right it actually releases good
• 22:47
  neurotransmitters in the brain but it releases dopamine When somebody praises you, it actually
• 22:52
  helps people perform as long as it's not hollow, shallow praise.
• 22:56
  You want to look at someone and you want to say: When you did XYZ, here's how it impacted
• 23:02
  me.
• 23:03
  Here's how it made my life better.
• 23:05
  Here's how it made me feel.
• 23:07
  Thank A really solid acknowledgment.
• 23:09
  Yeah.
• 23:10
  And such an important gift because I when I talk about a recognition, I think it's also
• 23:15
  understanding your staff or or your employees enough to recognize what they need.
• 23:20
  And not everybody wants the big accolades.
• 23:22
  And it may be the person that wants a little a little text that says, I saw a blah.
• 23:27
  They don't wanna be front and center.
• 23:28
  And it's also, again, that whole elements that you're taking the time, right, to as a leader,
• 23:34
  that you're actually taking the time to say, well, what's Martha been going through?
• 23:38
  So it doesn't become, like you said, like a spray kinda like a whole element that I'm gonna
• 23:42
  be so nice to everybody.
• 23:44
  And then everyone says, when's the been air gonna drop?
• 23:47
  And then everybody's gonna see things for what they are.
• 23:49
  So I think I love that concept.
• 23:51
  And I also think of when I was leading, I I came from a little island, Trinidad And Tobago.
• 23:57
  Oh, cool.
• 23:59
  And I grew up there and then came to University of Toronto to go to school.
• 24:02
  I remember my dad who was also a CEO, he would say, It's about the little things and you treat
• 24:08
  the person that's opening the door for you the same as the people that sit next to you at the
• 24:14
  leadership table.
• 24:15
  And it was such a valuable lesson.
• 24:17
  It was something part of culture, part of probably his leadership, but it was it's always
• 24:22
  about trying to be kind.
• 24:24
  And that's where within me, Martha, I always said, how can I make a difference?
• 24:29
  And that's why I went into psychology Cause I wanted to really think if I met someone and
• 24:35
  they were in despair or whatever, not knowing as a young child, how can I make what could I
• 24:40
  do to make things better?
• 24:42
  And if you think about leadership, it's really that you're trying to touch people in a way
• 24:48
  that they can say Martha cares or Ken cares or Roxanne cares and I want to do the best because
• 24:55
  I like them.
• 24:57
  I love that story Roxanne and it just it first of all, like Ken, you had a great leadership
• 25:03
  role model in your dad.
• 25:04
  I mean, and that that emphasizes the point that you don't need a title to lead.
• 25:10
  Leadership is an influence process.
• 25:12
  So anytime you're looking to influence the behavior of another, whether it's your
• 25:16
  children, whether it's your friends, whether you are engaging in leadership.
• 25:21
  Yeah.
• 25:22
  See how powerful that was.
• 25:24
  He set the stage for you.
• 25:25
  No wonder you became such an awesome advocate of people.
• 25:29
  You know, and in today's day and age, I think it's even that much more the need for the
• 25:36
  simple kindness.
• 25:37
  Like, I want to talk a little bit about the world that we're in now and kind of from your
• 25:42
  perspective and what you've written.
• 25:44
  What words of wisdom do you have for leaders that might be listening?
• 25:47
  And they're saying, you know, we're on till.
• 25:49
  Nothing's certain.
• 25:51
  We've gone through one thing, and another thing's coming.
• 25:53
  It's kinda like the waves at the beach.
• 25:55
  Right?
• 25:56
  What kind of guidance would you have for leaders that may be listening to us and saying,
• 26:00
  oh, this is all well and good, ladies.
• 26:02
  However
• 26:02
  Yes.
• 26:03
  Yes.
• 26:03
  Well, let me begin by saying, I am not the leadership expert.
• 26:07
  I am the biographer of a leadership expert, but I think what Ken would say first of all, I
• 26:11
  wanna acknowledge that it's a very tough time.
• 26:14
  We are living in a tough time.
• 26:16
  And just to remember that it's not about you.
• 26:20
  It's really about the people you're serving.
• 26:22
  And I think a lot of people get wrapped up in how am I performing?
• 26:28
  How am I performing?
• 26:30
  And it's Ken always says none of us is as smart as all of us and really leaning on others,
• 26:36
  really doing that crowdsourcing.
• 26:39
  And if the numbers are tough, know that everything is a cycle.
• 26:44
  Right, Roxanne?
• 26:46
  Everything's a cycle.
• 26:47
  This too shall pass.
• 26:49
  So to just stick to your principles that have worked and to try to remember that you're in
• 26:55
  that leadership position, it's because you have the opportunity to serve and just bring that
• 27:01
  heart every day.
• 27:04
  So in the book, what nuggets would we get that you haven't you shared so much about Ken today.
• 27:10
  And, of course, I just was remiss in saying who he was at the beginning because I was assuming
• 27:14
  that everybody would know who he is.
• 27:16
  What kind of nuggets would people get out of reading the book, and why should they go out
• 27:21
  and get a copy?
• 27:22
  And we'll talk about where they can get a copy.
• 27:24
  I'm thinking about your audience, and I'm I'm gathering from what I know of the pod that
• 27:28
  there are a lot of people in HR and CEOs, and there's a lot of business audience.
• 27:34
  And so one thing you'll get out of the book is watching how Ken went from that university
• 27:39
  professor who was such a compelling, charismatic speaker that he was basically
• 27:44
  forced to start a company.
• 27:45
  There were people that approached him after one of his speeches saying, you've gotta start your
• 27:50
  own company.
• 27:50
  We'll help you.
• 27:51
  But it's a it's a good it shows how somebody went from being just a very small
• 27:56
  entrepreneurial organization and growing and all the growing pains.
• 28:00
  And that's one of the things that Ken and Margie Margie Blanchard, his wife, brilliant.
• 28:05
  He always says, I'm married above himself, and he is not exaggerating.
• 28:09
  She is just phenomenal.
• 28:13
  But they Marji said, I think it's important that we have an organization because as
• 28:19
  consultants, we will have all the same pains and struggles that our clients will have.
• 28:25
  So I think there's a lot of lessons in there.
• 28:28
  There's also a discussion guide at the back of the book that sort of summarizes and looks back
• 28:33
  at everything that Ken went through and the lessons from the book and pulls out and asks
• 28:38
  really important questions that will help you think about where you are in your leadership
• 28:43
  journey.
• 28:44
  Again, you may not think of yourself.
• 28:47
  The biggest misconception about leadership is that you have to have a title to lead.
• 28:52
  And I guarantee you, everyone who's listening right now, you are a leader.
• 28:56
  And this book is going to help you hone your leadership and really define what you are here
• 29:02
  doing.
• 29:02
  You have a purpose now.
• 29:04
  There's a reason you're on the planet.
• 29:06
  Right, Roxanne?
• 29:07
  Absolutely.
• 29:08
  Absolutely.
• 29:08
  And I think it's so true because you never know where your your next teacher is gonna appear.
• 29:13
  Yes.
• 29:13
  So in some arena, whether I think of my son and the lessons that he's taught me or, like you
• 29:19
  said, culture or family or friends, you're always out there and you're gaining.
• 29:24
  So by just by osmosis, you are leading in some way and people are learning from you and you're
• 29:31
  learning from them.
• 29:32
  Now the book just released on the twenty first, and it's doing phenomenally.
• 29:36
  But, Martha, for anybody that wants to reach out or wants to buy the book, why don't you
• 29:41
  tell them where they can get ahold of the book?
• 29:43
  Of course, it's always available on Amazon or wherever you like to buy books.
• 29:48
  I have a website, marthalawrence.com.
• 29:52
  I also recommend that you check out Ken authored 70 books, in and he has a website
• 29:58
  called kenblanchardbooks.com, where you can look into all this.
• 30:04
  There's just so much wisdom in all those books, every topic you can think of.
• 30:09
  And then the organization, blanchard.com, whether you're an individual contributor or a
• 30:15
  leadership person who's looking to train a giant organization, there's something for
• 30:20
  everybody at blanchard.com.
• 30:22
  I would turn you there.
• 30:23
  Yeah.
• 30:23
  Fantastic.
• 30:24
  This has been amazing.
• 30:25
  Well, thank you so much.
• 30:26
  So what am I walking away with?
• 30:29
  Catch People Doing Things Right?
• 30:31
  The title says it all because I often say when I was a leader or when I was being led, I
• 30:37
  remember those moments.
• 30:38
  And I remember those leaders that really took the time when I was barely kind of figuring it
• 30:43
  out.
• 30:44
  And whatever little pebble they gave me, I took and I grew from that.
• 30:48
  And I needed the guidance, obviously, when I was young into leadership.
• 30:51
  So I want you to think as leaders, how are you noticing things?
• 30:58
  And it's not always the person that's out front and center that needs recognition, but to
• 31:03
  remember to look and to scan and see the people that are really working the hardest to achieve
• 31:09
  goals that may not come naturally to them, and they're demonstrating that on a consistent
• 31:14
  basis.
• 31:15
  You know, notice them, recognize them, and recognize the power that you have in your role
• 31:20
  as a leader.
• 31:21
  And then for everyone, what have I been up to?
• 31:23
  I'm launching the book course on the ROR with a live coaching.
• 31:27
  So if you're interested in more information on that, reach out to me at Roxanne at Roxanne
• 31:32
  Durhodge dot com.
• 31:34
  Again, Martha, thank you so much.
• 31:36
  And, mister Blanchard, one day, hopefully, my our paths will also cross.
• 31:40
  Thank you so much, everybody, again, and take care, and we'll talk to you next week.
• 31:44
  Bye bye.
• 31:51
  Thanks for tuning in to Authentic Living with Roxanne, creating the space for positive,
• 31:57
  healthy change.
• 31:58
  Roxanne is a keynote speaker, psychotherapist, and coach.
• 32:02
  To work with Roxanne, visit roxannederhaj.com/blueprint.
• 32:08
  We'll see you next time on Authentic Living with Roxanne.