I recently read an excellent article by renowned author and leadership expert Ken Blanchard. In the article Blanchard directly addressed the question, “How does a servant leader effectively give feedback when a direct report’s performance is less than ideal?”
Blanchard pulls a few tips from his best-selling book, The One Minute Manager, sharing three secrets to success: One Minute Goal Setting, One Minute Praisings, and One Minute Re-Directs.
- First, start with clear goals. Make sure your direct report understands what he or she should be working toward.
- Second, spend a minute focusing on something positive, recognizing progress toward achieving those goals.
- Lastly, turn your attention to the One Minute Re-Direct.
Blanchard explains how he used to suggest a One Minute Reprimand. But his book was originally written and published in the early eighties, when leadership usually followed a “command and control” style—now understood to be less effective and desirable than the more people-centered approach of servant leadership.
When he revised his book in the early 2000s, Blanchard realized reprimands were no longer an appropriate approach to poor performance, and instead promoted the One Minute Re-Direct. He explains, “As a servant leader, you must be able to redirect behavior to keep people on the right track while also respecting their dignity.” He goes on to say,
“Remember—when you share feedback, it’s never about the person; it’s about the behavior. A servant leader’s job is to constantly help people be the best they can be.”
Here’s Blanchard’s simple two-part process for giving a One Minute Re-Direct:
- Start by focusing on the performance: “Make the issue clear: talk about what went wrong and share your feelings about it.”
- Then focus on the person’s behavior: “The goal is not to tear people down but to build them up so that they will return to top performance and stay motivated to learn.”
Bottom line: instead of simply reprimanding a poorly-performing direct report, redirect that individual to achieve his or her potential as the high-performing team member you’re seeking!
