Copyright

Thorsons

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www.harpercollins.co.uk

First published by Thorsons 2018

FIRST EDITION

© Polvera Publishing, Susan Fowler and Laurie Hawkins 2005, 2018

Cover design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2018

Grateful acknowledgement is made to Bristol Park Books for permission to reprint “The Business Card Trick” from The Mammoth Book of Fun and Games by Richard B. Manchester © 1976 by Hart Publishing Company, Inc.

A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library

Polvera Publishing, Susan Fowler and Laurie Hawkins assert the moral right to be identified as the authors of this work

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Source ISBN: 9780008263669

Ebook Edition © February 2018 ISBN: 9780008263676

Version: 2017-11-27

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Introduction by Ken Blanchard

Do You Believe in Magic?

People Are Not Mind Readers

Elephant Thinking

Cycles of Power

Diagnose Yourself

Getting What You Need

Running Together

No Excuses

One Minute Magic

Appendix: The Business Card Trick

Acknowledgments

About the Authors

Services Available

About the Publisher

To my mother, Dorothy Blanchard, who taught me how to take control of my own life before someone else did.

—KEN BLANCHARD

To my wonderful parents, Phyllis and Dick, who helped me realize the magic of self leadership by encouraging my curiosity, independence, and love of learning.

—SUSAN FOWLER

To my three daughters, Genevieve, Ashley, and Juliet, with the fondest hope that they may be beneficiaries of these self leadership concepts and tools and immerse themselves in the good life.

—LAURENCE HAWKINS

Introduction

Today it’s imperative that people become self leaders—individuals capable of setting priorities, taking initiative, and solving problems independently.

In the old days, command-and-control managers often made all the decisions and told people what, when, and how to do things. We now know that this management style can erode a healthy sense of autonomy and dampen people’s initiative, creativity, and sense of well-being.

The nature of 21st-century work requires a more collaborative working environment. Advances in technology are decentralizing the workplace. For example, more people are working virtually and using cloud-based tools to move projects forward. Things are changing so rapidly that direct reports often know more about their work than their managers do.

In today’s collaborative, decentralized workplace, it’s essential that individuals become proactive contributors rather than reactive order-takers. For things like sales campaigns and customer service initiatives to succeed, they must be supported by people skilled in proactive self leadership.

First published in 2005, Self Leadership and the One Minute Manager introduced a proven path to empowerment in the guise of a fun-to-read parable. In the increasingly fast-paced world of work, this updated edition is more relevant than ever.

If you are an individual contributor, this book will show you how to be proactive about getting the help you need in order to succeed. If you are a manager or executive, this book will teach you the fundamentals about developing self leaders.

Our research shows that when individual contributors and managers align around self leadership, both become more engaged and produce better results. As a result, customers are happier and organizations become more profitable. In fact, a culture of self leadership is the hallmark of great organizations. In these companies, leadership is happening everywhere, not just in the C suite.

So enjoy this story. As you’ll soon discover, self leadership is not a rare ability reserved only for the supermotivated and highly gifted people of the world. It is a mindset and skillset that can be learned—and taught.