The Leadership Pill
This entertaining story about two leaders tells how to apply right techniques for results, writes Rajashekar Chandola

In 1979 Ken Blanchard wrote his first book. ‘The Family Game: A Situational Approach to Effective parenting’. He found his niche with his second book ‘The One Minute Manager’ (TOMM) which came out in 1982 and went on to achieve cult status.

Subsequently, he encashed its success with several books that used the TOMM phrase in its title like Putting the One Minute Manager to Work, Leadership and the One Minute Manager, The One Minute Manager Gets Fit, The One Minute Manager Meets the Monkey, The One Minute Manager Builds High Performing Teams etc.

Blanchard has written two dozen books, most of them best-sellers that have been translated into several languages. He is today the Chairman of the Board of Ken Blanchard Group of Companies, a worldwide training and development firm. His books enjoy the blessings of brevity and what he says is usually so commonsensical that no one can find fault with what he says. The Leadership Pill follows the pattern.

The Leadership Pill is entertaining story about the competition between two leaders with totally different management styles, a story that reveals the ingredients of ‘truly effective leadership’. The story is a bouncy parable about a contest between a company that uses a manufactured leadership pill to instill a pumped up results-only approach and a company that uses value-driven leadership based on integrity, partnership and affirmation.

The story begins with the launch of a new pill that has the capability to stimulate the natural powers of the mind and body to provide leadership. A public challenge is posted with the selection of two teams, one led by a leader taking the leadership pill, and the other led by an Effective Leader who upholds that there can be no shortcuts to successful leadership.

The build up to the challenge is a bit overdone, and seems rather grandiose. The ending proves that even though the pill is effective in the short term and it does heighten the leader’s powers, but its ingredients stimulate him in an obsessive and shortsighted direction with disastrous results.

The Effective Leader, working without a pill, shows that “only through sustainability can our teams remain motivated and successful.” An inspiring and supportive leader, he supplies the right ingredients, earning his team’s respect and trust with a blend of integrity, partnership, and affirmation. The hard-won result is a highly motivated team producing consistent top performance and genuine success. Ultimately it is recognised that “leadership for a lifetime” is much easier to digest than a pill for leaders looking for a quick fix.

The Leadership Pill shows business managers at any level how to apply the right techniques for getting both results and the commitment of their people, even when the pressure to perform is high.

Highly recommended for those needing a quick refresher in leadership skills. Warning, be prepared for a short book with large fonts and several pages with only one sentence.