Abstract
The One-Minute Manager, when it was released, presented the world with a hypothetical blueprint for engaging employees appropriately and effectively. Not all effective managers have to behave in the way that the hypothetical effective manager from the text does; however, the authors do note that most effective managers display many of these key features in their day-to-day experience with their employees. There have been scores of texts written about what makes an effective manager, and not all these texts agree; however, this particular book has been wildly successful since it was written; it closely examines the features of a successful manager. A number of key lessons are learned, but the authors claim that there are three main secrets that are associated with an effective manager. The authors suggest that the three secrets are one-minute goal setting, one-minute praisings, and one-minute reprimands. Good and effective leadership, the authors say, is borne from these three areas.
Introduction
The One-Minute Manager is a text that is quite different from many other business-centered texts. While other texts might be rife with jargon and business language, this particular text changed the way that many people thought about business leadership and management topics. First and foremost, perhaps, the authors choose to stay away from the traditional business text approach; instead, the authors focus on conveying the message to the reader through the use of an allegory (Johnson & Blanchard, 1981). The allegory, rather than being kitschy and unreadable, actually makes the text much more relatable for the reader; the reader is able to contextualize the information give much more adequately when the authors present it in the form of an allegory (Johnson & Blanchard, 1981).
The purpose of this discussion, then, will be to unpack and synthesize the information provided in the One Minute Manager text. The situation and hypotheticals that are presented by the authors are complex, and contain a number of different situations that must be analyzed for use by individuals in leadership positions. This text exposes a number of important problems that are facing the business world today; addressing these problems can and should be one of the primary concerns for managers in modern leadership positions, especially as the business environment becomes faster-paced and more fluid.
This text examines one man’s search for an effective and conscientious manager. A number of key lessons are learned, but the authors claim that there are three main secrets that are associated with an effective manager. The authors suggest that the three secrets are one-minute goal setting, one-minute praisings, and one-minute reprimands. Good and effective leadership, the authors say, is borne from these three areas.
Elements of the One-Minute Manager
The organizational atmosphere of any organization—whether it is a for-profit business or other organization—is predicated on the ways that an individual in a leadership position interacts with his or her employees (Zimmerer, Scarborough, & Wilson, 2002). The One-Minute Manager suggests that there are a few key ways that an individual in a position of leadership can be more effective in his or her position—and the changes that must be made are simple and quick changes in behavior (Johnson & Blanchard, 1981). The information contained in the text is split into three categories: goal setting, praisings, and reprimands. Each of these different facets of organizational environment is the responsibility of an effective leader (Johnson & Blanchard, 1981; Yang, Zhang, & Tsui, 2010).
Goal Setting
Goal-setting is the first issue that is addressed by authors Johnson and Blanchard (1981). The authors suggest that eighty percent of the most important results for the organization as a whole will come from only twenty percent of the goals that are set (Johnson & Blanchard, 1981). This is an important ratio to remember: it allows leadership and employees alike to understand the expectations associated with each goal-setting exercise (Johnson & Blanchard, 1981). The authors suggest that goal-setting should be a communal process, and that the employees and the leaders in the organization should take part in this goal-setting activity.
Once goals are set, individuals should look at the goals to see what good behavior looks like. Each goal should be written down in less than a page of text; employees should also be encouraged to read and re-read their goals over the course of a day or a project (Johnston & Blanchard, 1981). The authors also encourage individuals to determine whether their behavior is conducive to meeting the goals that were set during the goal-setting process. If the behavior of the employee is not conducive to meeting various goals, then the employee should adjust his or her behavior to be more effective and efficient in the workplace (Johnston & Blanchard, 1981). Goal-setting is increasingly an important part of the business world, as business philosophy becomes a much more nuanced field of study; employees with achievable goals tend to be more effective than employees who do not have specific and achievable goals.
Praisings
Johnston and Blanchard (1981) suggest that being able to appropriately praise an employee is the second secret to effective management. The authors suggest, “people who feel good about themselves [are the ones who] produce good results” (Johnston & Blanchard, 1981). While it may seem clear that the third secret—reprimanding employees—might be difficult for some, it seems that praising people can also be difficult for managers. Culture plays an important role in how employees and managers handle praise as well; clear communication, then, becomes the cornerstone for good management praise (Johnston & Blanchard, 1981). Without effective communication techniques, praising an employee is largely useless.
The first step for the leader is to communicate directly with the employee that they are going to be evaluated on their performance, and then praise them immediately for that performance. Praise should also involve specific statements regarding what an employee has done correctly and why—the more specific the praise is, the better the employee can understand what they did well to repeat their performance later (Johnston & Blanchard, 1981). When an employee understands what leadership expects, it becomes much easier for that employee to behave according to the standards that have been set for the organizational environment.
Reprimands
Reprimands are different than praising an employee, but they can be equally difficult—if for different reasons. However, despite the fact that they are different, they follow the same general pattern insofar as implementation is concerned. First, a manager must be willing to be open and communicative about the problem or problems that they are experiencing (Johnston & Blanchard, 1981). Like with a piece of praise, a reprimand should come with a warning so that the employee can mentally prepare him or herself for whatever the manager is about to say. This will greatly reduce the likelihood of closed communication between the two parties (Johnston & Blanchard, 1981). In addition, the reprimand should be given quickly—as quickly as possible, without causing undue embarrassment to the employee and making the employee feel personally attacked (Johnston & Blanchard, 1981).
Like with the implementation of praise, the reprimand should be specific and clear regarding the behavior that was problematic. The leader should be willing and able to communicate clearly about how the wrongdoing made them feel, and allow the employee to really connect with that feeling (Johnston & Blanchard, 1981). After the reprimand is complete, the leader should shake hands or offer some kind of friendly touch that reaffirms the connection; the manager should also let the employee know that he or she is valued in the organization. Finally, the employee should be reminded that while their behavior in this situation left the leader wanting, personal feelings were not changed (Johnston & Blanchard, 1981). Finally, once a reprimand is complete, the leader should let the employee be: it does not need to be brought up again and again (Johnston & Blanchard, 1981).
Current-Day Applications
There has certainly been a movement, in recent years, that focuses more heavily on the employee and the worth of the employee—especially in western working environments. Johnston and Blanchard (1981) state over and over again the importance of finding value in employees; this is a relatively new concept that has just come into vogue in the past few decades. Understanding that training employees will help keep costs down in the long term is another relatively recent implementation into business structures (Johnston & Blanchard, 1981). However, it is only with the advent of companies like Google with truly revolutionary organizational structures and employee benefits that the world is really starting to implement these values.
The corporate world is infamous for being cold and uncaring, and this is portrayed in the text as well: it demonstrates that there are difficulties finding managers that behave in ethical and effective ways when working with employees (Johnston & Blanchard, 1981). In today’s business world, this should not be the case: more employers and managers should recognize good business strategy and implement simple but powerful management tools like the ones discussed in this text (Johnston & Blanchard, 1981). The business world is constantly in flux, and human resources trends have changed significantly since Johnston and Blanchard wrote their text (Johnston & Blanchard, 1981). The One-Minute Manager seems to be almost prophetic in its treatment of human resources and leadership.
Discussion and Conclusions
The One-Minute Manager, when it was released, presented the world with a hypothetical blueprint for engaging employees appropriately and effectively. Not all effective managers have to behave in the way that the hypothetical effective manager from the text does; however, the authors do note that most effective managers display many of these key features in their day-to-day experience with their employees. There have been scores of texts written about what makes an effective manager, and not all these texts agree; however, this particular book has been wildly successful since it was written (Blanchard, 2016). In fact, it has been translated into more than thirty languages, and it has been in print for more than two decades (Blanchard, 2016).
The information contained in the text is complex, because it examines a number of things that good leaders take for granted as truth—but there are also important pieces of information hidden in the text that will make good leaders great. The reprimand section is particularly interesting, because many individuals in leadership positions feel uncomfortable giving reprimands. Reprimands can, of course, be stressful for both the individual giving the reprimand and the person receiving it—but they do not necessarily have to be as problematic as they sometimes seem to be (Johnston & Blanchard, 1981).
References
Blanchard, K . (2016). Situational Leadership II. Kenblanchard.com. Retrieved 6 April 2016, from http://www.kenblanchard.com/Solutions/Situational-Leadership-Development/Situational-Leadership-II
Johnson, S., & Blanchard, K. H. (1981). The one minute manager. JA KUBU.
Yang, J., Zhang, Z. X., & Tsui, A. S. (2010). Middle manager leadership and frontline employee performance: Bypass, cascading, and moderating effects.Journal of Management Studies, 47(4), 654-678.
Zimmerer, T., Scarborough, N. M., & Wilson, D. (2002). Essentials of entrepreneurship and small business management (pp. 1-3). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
