Ken Blanchard Quotes & Sayings

Congratulations offer more potential than cash. The amount of available cash is limited, but managers have an unlimited supply of congratulations. It's important to pay people fairly, but managers also should heap on congratulations and feed people's souls. — Ken Blanchard

As a manager the important thing is not what happens when you are there, but what happens when you are not there — Ken Blanchard

Nice guys may appear to finish last, but usually they are running a different race. — Ken Blanchard

Vision is a lot more than putting a plaque on the wall. A real vision is lived, not framed. — Ken Blanchard

Catch someone doing something right. — Ken Blanchard

One of the deepest principles of life and leadership: it's not about you. — Ken Blanchard

The key to successful leadership today is influence, not authority. — Ken Blanchard

When you touch - don't take. Touch people only when you are giving something - reassurance, support, encouragement, whatever — Ken Blanchard

It's really hard to be a servant leader because we come into this world as a baby in a self-survival mode. Life is a journey toward service. — Ken Blanchard

I grew up in New England. I think I was brought up with the Puritan ethic: that if you worked really hard in life, then good would come to you. The harder you work, the luckier you get. I've come to believe that it's the smarter you work, the better. — Ken Blanchard

To ensure that your work is also a play, I recommend that you develop a personal mission statement. This will help you find what it is to enjoy so much that you lose track of time when you're doing it. — Ken Blanchard

Beware of putting all your focus into results. While results are important, your people should be your number one area of focus. — Ken Blanchard

The most important habit is solitude, quiet time. People who enter their day by taking 45 minutes or an hour for themselves - meditation, prayer, inspirational reading, taking a walk - before they go for it in the real world do best. — Ken Blanchard

If you want your people to be responsible, be responsive to their needs. — Ken Blanchard

If we want people on the front lines of companies to be responsible for making good business decisions, they must have the same information that managers use to make good business decisions. — Ken Blanchard

Present thinking people kill the future. — Ken Blanchard

Most companies spend all their time looking for another management concept and very little time following up the one they have just taught their managers. — Ken Blanchard

Don't quack like a duck, soar like an eagle. — Ken Blanchard

Your mind and a computer have one thing in common: neither of them know the difference between the truth ... and what you tell it. — Ken Blanchard

I absolutely believe in the power of tithing and giving back. My own experience about all the blessings I've had in my life is that the more I give away, the more that comes back. That is the way life works, and that is the way energy works. — Ken Blanchard

[Marriage is] like signing a 356-page contract without knowing what's in it. — Ken Blanchard

Do your best to succeed and push the limits without violating them. — Ken Blanchard

Take yourself seriously but take yourself lightly. — Ken Blanchard

When you stop learning you stop growing. — Ken Blanchard

People with humility don't think less of themselves, they just think of themselves less. — Ken Blanchard

Good thoughts not delivered mean squat. — Ken Blanchard

I never use notes, they interfere with me. — Ken Blanchard

If you don't seek perfection, you can never reach excellence. — Ken Blanchard

Everyday do something in relation to everything that's important to you. — Ken Blanchard

You have the power to help people become winners. — Ken Blanchard

All leaders are permanent learners. — Ken Blanchard

Customer service is not a department, it's everyone's job. — Ken Blanchard

We are not just our behavior. We are the person managing our behavior. — Ken Blanchard

Anything worth doing does not have to be done perfectly - at first. — Ken Blanchard

Honesty is telling the truth to ourselves and others. Integrity is living that truth. — Ken Blanchard

Purpose can never be about achievement; it is much bigger. — Ken Blanchard

Have I done what is really important today? — Ken Blanchard

Consistency isn't behaving the same way all the time. — Ken Blanchard

How many of you would put in front of your house a sign that says gun-free zone? — Ken Blanchard

Trying is just a noisy way of not doing something. — Ken Blanchard

If becoming a high performing organization is the destination, leadership is the engine. — Ken Blanchard

In fact, .. Jesus is mentioned 75 times in the Koran. — Ken Blanchard

Effective team leaders adjust their style to provide what the group can't provide for itself. — Ken Blanchard

As a leader you provide for people only what they can't provide for themselves. — Ken Blanchard

It never hurts to toot your own horn once in a while. — Ken Blanchard

Life is special when you reach out beyond yourself to be a true servant leader for others. — Ken Blanchard

Your game is only as good as your practice. — Ken Blanchard

Purpose has to do with one's calling - deciding what business you are in as a person. — Ken Blanchard

A river without banks is a large puddle. — Ken Blanchard

Servant-leader ship is all about making the goals clear and then rolling your sleeves up and doing whatever it takes to help people win. In that situation, they don't work for you, you work for them. — Ken Blanchard

Vision comes alive when everyone sees where his or her contribution makes a difference. — Ken Blanchard

The productivity of a work group seems to depend on how the group members see their own goals in relation to the goals of the organization. — Ken Blanchard

Real communication happens when people feel safe. — Ken Blanchard

Things not worth doing are not worth doing well. — Ken Blanchard

Learning is defined as a change in behavior. You haven't learned a thing until you take action and use it. — Ken Blanchard

Leadership is anytime you seek to influence the thinking, behavior, or development of others. — Ken Blanchard

Asking for other's guidance helps you see what you may not be able to see. It's always important to check your ego and ask for help. — Ken Blanchard

Your customers are only satisfied because their expectations are so low and because no one else is doing better. Just having satisfied customers isn't good enough anymore. If you really want a booming business, you have to create Raving Fans. — Ken Blanchard

Catch people in the act of doing something right. — Ken Blanchard

Humility does not mean you think less of yourself. It means you think of yourself less. — Ken Blanchard

Connect the dots between individual roles and the goals of the organization. When people see that connection, they get a lot of energy out of work. They feel the importance, dignity, and meaning in their job. — Ken Blanchard

As a servant leader the way you serve the vision is by developing people so that they can work on that vision even when you're not around. The ultimate sin of an effective servant leader is what happens when you are not there. That was the power of Jesus' leadership-the leaders He trained went on to change the world when He was no longer with them in bodily form. — Ken Blanchard

Perpetual prosperity comes to those who help others. — Ken Blanchard

Many people measure their success by wealth, recognition, power and status. There's nothing wrong with those, but if that's all you're focused on, you're missing the boat ... if you focus on significance -using your time and talent to serve others -that's when truly meaningful success can come your way. — Ken Blanchard

People who produce good results feel good about themselves. — Ken Blanchard

Before something can become a habit it must first be practiced as a discipline. — Ken Blanchard

If God had wanted us to talk more than listen, he would have given us two mouths rather than two ears. — Ken Blanchard

What we give our attention to, grows. — Ken Blanchard

I cannot say Who Art in Heaven-If all my interests and pursuits are in earthly things. — Ken Blanchard

Take what you do seriously, but yourself lightly — Ken Blanchard

Empowering means helping teams develop their skills and knowledge and supporting them to use their talents. — Ken Blanchard

As a leader, the most important earthly relationship you can cultivate is your relationship with yourself. — Ken Blanchard

We can't control everything in life, that's for sure, but we can reach out to the people we love to tell them we love and care about them. — Ken Blanchard

In the past a leader was a boss. Today's leaders must be partners with their people ... they no longer can lead solely based on positional power. — Ken Blanchard

The only job security you have today os your commitment to continuous personal improvement. — Ken Blanchard

Too many leaders act as if the sheep ... their people ... are there for the benefit of the shepherd, not that the shepherd has responsibility for the sheep. — Ken Blanchard

People don't mind being challenged to do better if they
know the request is coming from a caring heart — Ken Blanchard

The greatest leaders mobilize others by coalescing people around a shared vision. — Ken Blanchard

If you want to know why your people are not performing well, step up to the mirror and take a peek. — Ken Blanchard

Knowing where you are going is the first step to getting there. — Ken Blanchard

Customer service should not be a department, customer service is everyone's job. — Ken Blanchard

The Hoffman Process brings forth spiritual leadership in a person. It made my spirituality come alive. Through the Hoffman Process I actually brought my faith into my daily actions. — Ken Blanchard

Whether you like it or not, you will leave a leadership legacy. — Ken Blanchard

A little flattery makes people feel good about themselves. When you notice someone looking great, give them a compliment. — Ken Blanchard

Leadership is about going somewhere. If you and your people don't know where you are going, your leadership doesn't matter. — Ken Blanchard

Your business should be defined, not in terms of the product or service you offer, but in terms of what customer need your product or service fulfills. While products come and go, basic needs and customer groups stay around, i.e., the need for communication, the need for transportation, etc. What market need do you supply? — Ken Blanchard

Don't wait until people do things exactly right before you praise them. — Ken Blanchard

The cure for too much to do is solitude and silence. — Ken Blanchard

Business is like tennis. Those who serve well win. — Ken Blanchard

No one can make you serve customers well. That's because great service is a choice. — Ken Blanchard

Start your day with good intentions and set yourself up for a good attitude. It's not what happens to you that matters but how you respond. — Ken Blanchard

For a manager to be perceived as a positive manager, they need a four to one positive to negative contact ratio. — Ken Blanchard

Leadership is not something you do to people. It's something you do with people. — Ken Blanchard

Empowerment is all about letting go so that others can get going. — Ken Blanchard

The best way to develop responsibility in people is to give them responsibility. — Ken Blanchard

Vision is knowing who you are, where you're going, and what will guide your journey. — Ken Blanchard

Successful organizations have one common central focus: Customers. — Ken Blanchard

Spouses often point out each other's deficiencies. Instead, we should be each other's motivator. My husband touches my spirit, and I try my best to motivate him, too. — Ken Blanchard