Self Leadership and the One Minute Manager: Gain the mindset and skillset for getting what you need to succeed. Ken Blanchard
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early meetings confirmed their good first impression of me or the agency—and it went downhill from there.
“There was no budget, no goals, and no strategy. I didn’t know how to direct my creative team without an agreed-upon advertising strategy. The client drove me crazy—no one could agree on anything!”
Cayla nodded thoughtfully as she listened to Steve pour out his side of the failed client relationship. “What about your creative team? Did they help?” she asked.
“Oh, they’re another story. Creative people are worse than spoiled children. I tried to give them direction, but it was like herding cats. When they asked for more specifics, I tried to explain that the client couldn’t agree on a strategy. But it all fell on deaf ears. They just told me that it was my job to figure out what the client wants, even if the client isn’t sure! How am I supposed to do that? Finally, I demanded they come up with something—anything—that I could show the client. So they did.”
“I’m afraid to ask …” Cayla’s statement trailed into silence.
“That’s why I’m here. It was a fiasco. The client hated it. Heck, I hated it. I knew it was no good, but it was all I had.” Steve was holding his head in his hands as though the burden was too much to contemplate. “I’m sick to death of the whole creative process. I’m not creative, so I have to depend on my team, and they’re totally undependable! It puts me in a no-win situation. How am I supposed to manage the creative process when I’m not creative?”
Cayla pressed on. “So what do you do now?”
“I’m writing my resignation letter,” Steve said matter-of-factly.
“Hmm,” Cayla said thoughtfully, “Quitting?”
“Yeah, before I get fired,” Steve responded.
“Why don’t you go to your boss for help?” Cayla asked.
“It’s too late. What can Rhonda do now? We’re probably going to lose the client—and she’ll blame me, even though it’s not my fault.”
“Whose fault is it?” Cayla asked.
Steve shook his head, feeling even more betrayed by Rhonda. “Isn’t it obvious? When Rhonda abandoned me, it all fell apart. Now I’ve even lost confidence in the things I used to do well, like budgets, media, and production. I didn’t realize advertising is such a dog-eat-dog world. It’s not like I thought it would be,” Steve lamented.
“Just like the magic,” Cayla interjected. “You loved magic when you were naïve and could suspend your disbelief. But now you are disillusioned by it, because you realize there’s a trick behind the magic.”
“I’m not sure there’s any trick behind succeeding in this business. If there is, no one has bothered to show me,” Steve said defiantly.
“If you don’t mind me saying so, it sounds as though you’re full of excuses—a poor victim of circumstance.”
Cayla’s comment struck Steve as harsh and he replied defensively. “What do you mean, ‘a victim of circumstance’?”
“I mean a person who refuses to accept responsibility for the situation he’s in. It’s easier to blame everyone else around you, rather than accepting responsibility for yourself,” Cayla replied without apology.
“Hold on. You can’t blame me for what’s happened. Rhonda’s expectations were unfair. I didn’t get the support I needed from her or from the creative team—I could go on and on,” Steve asserted.
“So,” continued Cayla, “Rhonda should have known better than to delegate the account to you and give you the freedom to do your job, right?”
Steve was a little annoyed—and surprised—at the turn the conversation had taken. Yet in his heart he knew she had a point.
Cayla’s eyes filled with empathy and in a soothing voice she said, “Right now you’re feeling confused and unsure. You sense there’s some truth in what I’m saying, but buying into it would mean that you must be the responsible one—not Rhonda, your client, or your temperamental creative team. Somehow that doesn’t feel fair. You’re even feeling a little scared.”
Steve stared at Cayla, wondering how this woman could know all that. It was as though she could read his mind.
“Let me explain,” Cayla offered before Steve could ask. “I can’t read your mind. As a magician, I’m a master of observation, although right now you’re not all that hard to read.”
Cayla looked straight into his eyes. “Steve, years ago I was in a boat very similar to the one you’re sinking in. Fortunately for me, I met a wonderful guy known as the One Minute Manager. What he taught me created such a miraculous change in my life that I call it magic. I’d like to pass that magic on to you.”
“Magic?” Steve asked incredulously. “I think I need more than smoke and mirrors to deal with this mess!”
“It isn’t in smoke and mirrors,” Cayla said flatly. “The magic comes from self leadership.”
Steve was quick to reply. “Leadership might work for the One Minute Manager, but I’m not a manager—let alone a famous one. I’m a lowly account executive with a manager who doesn’t support me—not when it counts.”
Cayla lifted an eyebrow. “That’s how it looks from where you’re sitting now—which is on the pity pot.” She smiled as she said it, and Steve couldn’t suppress a chuckle. “You have to turn the problem upside-down,” Cayla continued, “so that you’re the one on top. It’s time to stop looking for excuses and start proactively leading yourself.”
“Thanks for the pep talk, but I don’t believe in pop psychology or magic bullets,” Steve said glumly.
“I need you to suspend your disbelief, as you did when you were a child watching magic and believing. I need you to believe in the magic of self leadership,” Cayla said.
Steve half-grinned as he asked, “All right, what’s the trick?”
“Actually, there are three tricks. I’ll share them with you when you are ready.”
“How do I know when I’m ready?”
“You are ready for self leadership when you accept responsibility for your own success.”
“You mean I have to stop blaming Rhonda, my creative team, and the client and look in the mirror at what I did or didn’t do to succeed?”
“Yes,” she replied. “You need to stop thinking of empowerment as a four-letter word and realize that it is a grand opportunity. You need to start taking the lead to get what you need.”
There was a long pause as Steve pondered Cayla’s challenge. Finally, he said in a soft voice, “I think I get it. Rhonda empowered me to do a job, and I failed to take the initiative and responsibility for succeeding in it. I played the role of a victim. The problem with being empowered is that when things go wrong, you have no excuses. There’s no one to blame but yourself.”
“Here’s the truth of it: There’s only power in empowerment if you are a self leader.” Cayla waited for Steve’s eye contact. “Remember:
“Empowerment is something someone gives you.
Self leadership is what you do to make it work.”
“I obviously failed the self leadership test. But I can’t afford for my résumé to reflect that I was fired—even if I deserve it. I’ve got my resignation letter almost finished. I need to get it to Rhonda before she gets back from her trip,” Steve declared.
“Whoa!” Cayla held up her hand. “There you go again with the pity party! What happened to self leadership?”
“That’s what I’m doing,” Steve argued.