Life
Kenneth Hartley Blanchard was born in 1939. He earned a doctorate at Cornell University. He taught at universities including the University of Massachusetts Amherst. In 1979 he and his wife Margie founded the training company The Ken Blanchard Companies.
Works
- Situational leadership - together with Paul Hersey he created the model in 1969, later developing it as SLII; see situational leadership.
- The One Minute Manager (1982, with Spencer Johnson) - a short parable about three practices: one-minute goals, praisings and re-directs; one of the most popular management books.
- Leadership and the One Minute Manager (1985) - a popular presentation of situational leadership.
- Lead Like Jesus (2005, with Phil Hodges) - servant leadership based on the example of Jesus, developed by the Lead Like Jesus organisation.
Significance
Blanchard became one of the best-known popularisers of practical leadership. His path from management models to servant leadership modelled on the Gospel shows the convergence of these perspectives. See servant leadership, feedback, delegation.
Sources
P. Hersey, K. H. Blanchard, Life cycle theory of leadership, Training and Development Journal 23 (1969) K. Blanchard, S. Johnson, The One Minute Manager, William Morrow 1982 K. Blanchard, P. Hodges, Lead Like Jesus, Thomas Nelson 2005 The Ken Blanchard Companies, kenblanchard.com