The 4th Secret of the One Minute Manager: A Powerful Way to Make Things Better [Bargain Price] [Hardcover]

Ken Blanchard (Author), Margret Mcbride (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2008

With The One Minute Manager Ken Blanchard and coauthor Spencer Johnson forever changed the way we approach management by introducing their Three Secrets: One Minute Goals, One Minute Praisings and One Minute Reprimands. The book became an international bestseller and remains a timeless classic. Blanchard, along with coauthor Margret McBride, presents the 4th Secret, a concept that, when implemented properly, is one of the most powerful actions for improving company and employee morale. This is a book that can extend well beyond the business realm and repair relationships that we thought were broken forever.

Using Blanchard's signature breezy style, The 4th Secret of the One Minute Manager tells the story of a bright young man, Matt Hawkins, who wants to help his mentor, the company president, face and deal with some crucial mistakes. For advice, Matt turns to family friend Jack Peterson, known by everyone as the One Minute Manager. What begins as a beautiful country weekend turns into an enlightening few days when Matt discovers how to take action effectively when we have done something wrong. Through this engaging parable, Blanchard and McBride teach readers step-by-step how to accept responsibility for their errors and deal with the cause of the damage while maintaining a genuine sense of integrity.

Destined to join Ken Blanchard's other groundbreaking classics, The 4th Secret of the One Minute Manager offers businesspeople—and just about anyone else—a cogent and clearheaded way of approaching one of life's most perplexing dilemmas: how to accept that we have made a wrong decision and how to correct it by making a meaningful apology. The techniques described in this simple but profound story will have significant results at work and at home.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A shark-proof strategy for making everyone's life better." (Harvey Mackey, author of Swim with the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive )

"Read The One Minute Apology and discover a secret power that will makes things better for you." (Deepak Chopra )

"This delightful story highlights the wisdom and power that is contained in an honest admission of being wrong." (Stephen C. Lundin, Ph.D., Harry Paul, and John Christensen, authors of Fish!, Fish! Tales and Fish! Sticks )

"An invaluable resource for anyone who needs to say they're sorry." (Robert J. Nugent, Chariman and CEO, Jack in the Box, Inc. )

"A testimony to the powers of repentance and forgiveness and how they improve relationships, your business and your home." (Cal Thomas, Syndicated Columnist )

About the Author

Ken Blanchard is an international bestselling author and motivational speaker whose books, including The One Minute Manager^®, The One Minute Entrepreneur^™, and Leading at a Higher Level, have sold more than eighteen million copies in thirty languages. He lives in San Diego, California.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow (April 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061470317
• ASIN: B002QGSWKG
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,320,160 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Few people have influenced the day-to-day management of people and companies more than Ken Blanchard. A prominent, sought-after author, speaker, and business consultant, Dr. Blanchard is universally characterized by his friends, colleagues, and clients as one of the most insightful, powerful, and compassionate individuals in business today. Ken is one of the most influential leadership experts in the world and is respected for his years of groundbreaking work in the fields of leadership and management.

Dr. Ken Blanchard is the cofounder and Chief Spiritual Officer of The Ken Blanchard Companies, an international management training and consulting firm that he and his wife, Margie Blanchard, began in 1979 in San Diego, California. In addition to being a renowned speaker and consultant, Ken also spends time as a visiting lecturer at his alma mater, Cornell University, where he is a trustee emeritus of the Board of Trustees.

Ken has received many awards and honors for his contributions in the fields of management, leadership, and speaking. The National Speakers Association awarded him its highest honor, the "Council of Peers Award of Excellence." He was inducted into the HRD Hall of Fame by Training magazine and Lakewood Conferences, and he received the Golden Gavel Award from Toastmasters International. Ken also received The Thought Leadership Award for continued support of work-related learning and performance by ISA--The Association of Learning Providers. Ken has been inducted into Amazon's Hall of Fame as one of the top 25 best-selling authors of all time. The business school at Grand Canyon University bears his name. In addition, Ken teaches students in the Master of Science in Executive Leadership Program at the University of San Diego.

Born in New Jersey and raised in New York, Ken received a master's degree from Colgate University, and a bachelor's and PhD from Cornell University. An avid golfer, Ken belongs to the Loch Lomond Golf Club in Scotland.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Repositioning of The One Minute Apology, April 15, 2008

By 

Donald Mitchell "Jesus Loves You!" (Thanks for Providing My Reviews over 109,000 Helpful Votes Globally) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The 4th Secret of the One Minute Manager: A Powerful Way to Make Things Better (Hardcover)

This book was previously published as The One Minute Apology. I didn't read it under that title. I guess it didn't appeal to me to make apologies fast.

But with this new title, I immediately picked up the book. After all, the three lessons of the One Minute Manager have been very helpful to a generation of managers (one minute goals, one minute praisings, one minute reprimands).

If you as a manager never make mistakes, those three tools will be enough. But of course, we all make lots of mistakes. Too many people assume that forgiveness is automatically granted to those with power.

But all that's happening in many cases is that people are saying "yes" to your face and shaking their heads behind your back. If this goes on long enough, you have a problem. You won't know what's going on, and you'll make bigger and bigger mistakes. Pretty soon, your credibility will be so bad that only firing you can resolve the problem.

What's the alternative? Apologize in a way that re-creates trust. This book is an excellent primer on how to do that.

Why should we need such a primer? Well, I don't remember ever having a boss who ever apologized about anything. So we don't have many role models. And it's not enough just to say you are sorry. You also have to correct the causes of the mistake and re-establish trust.

I thought that the book was pretty good on the need to look at all three elements. The parable does seem a little Pollyannaish.

But when I was a mere lad, the CEO of my company got into trouble because of bad company performance and had his job on the line. He asked me to spend Christmas writing him a note on what he could do differently as preparation for a key board meeting (as occurs in this fable). I gave him lots of business ideas, but I didn't know enough to address these ideas on re-establishing trust. I wish I had. This is essential information that most managers never learn. That's too bad.

Read and apply this book. You need it more than you realize.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The 4th Secret is TRUE Leadership, February 13, 2009

By 

Kristine Barr "Barr Corporate Success" (Cincinnati, Ohio) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The 4th Secret of the One Minute Manager: A Powerful Way to Make Things Better (Hardcover)

This book couldn't have come at a better time. I had a client who was stuck in defensiveness. She blamed everyone. She didn't take responsibility. She didn't see where she was part (a big part) of the problem. And she didn't know how close the company's owner & CEO were to letting her go because of her behaviors. While technically competent at her job, she alienated people because she always had to win. She was able to see herself through this book...and she's on the road to rebuilding trust with her team. We all know people like that. And we may have a bit of that in ourselves. I know I applied some of the lessons to myself. A short read that packs a powerful message!

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Deja Vu--One Minute Apology Again, September 15, 2009

By 

K. H. Wilson "Skip Wilson" (Magee, MS United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The 4th Secret of the One Minute Manager: A Powerful Way to Make Things Better (Hardcover)

This is a retitle of Blanchard's "The One-Minute Apology". Great stuff! I dropped it a star because it was NOT obvious enough to me that it was the same book under a different title. Shame on me for not noticing, but shame on Ken for repackaging previously published stuff.