Ken Blanchard, PhD, is one of the most influential leadership experts in the world. He has co-authored 60 books, including Raving Fans and Gung Ho! (with Sheldon Bowles). His groundbreaking works have been translated into over 40 languages and their combined sales total more than 21 million copies.

In 2005 he was inducted into Amazon’s Hall of Fame as one of the top 25 bestselling authors of all time. The recipient of numerous leadership awards and honors, he is cofounder with his wife, Margie, of The Ken Blanchard Companies®, a leading international training and consulting firm.

Favorite Success Quote

“Don’t ever use your position, great leaders and great because people love them and trust them, not because they have power” ~

Key Points

1. Leadership is About Trust Not Power

If you want to be an effective leader, then operate based off of trust, not off of your power.

If you want people to follow you, don’t demand that they follow you, get them to follow you because they trust you.

Leadership is based off of trust, and not off of power. You have to build your community of individuals who trust in you and trust your abilities before you will ever be an effective leader.

2. Don’t Let Age Define You

Whether you are young or old, you have something to offer the world.

Never let your age determine your ambitions.

If you are young, then use that youth and energy to invest into growing yourself and your dream, if you are older, then use your wisdom to grow your dreams while paying it forward and helping someone else.

There is no time in life whenever you do not have a purpose, never let your age define you.

3. You Need to Keep Yourself Excited

No matter where you are in life, you need to keep yourself excited and stimulate, spiritually, physically, and mentally.

If you are not constantly pushing the envelope on your life and growing yourself in all areas you will live a more rich and fulfilling life.

4. Service is Essential to Fulfillment 

You cannot truly live a full life unless you are serving others. Life is empty when it is lived for you.

You have to have some aspect of your life with an element of service. Whether this is starting a non profit, volunteering at your church or with a charity, or just giving 10% of your money to a good cause.

You need to remember that life is bigger than you and act like it.

5. If You Want Something to Go Well Get it Structured 

If you want a marriage, business, or even your health to go well, it needs to be well structured.

You have to put systems into place that help you to operate from strengths, eliminate weaknesses, and get perspective on your blind spots. Only with the right systems in place will anything truly be successful.