With more than thirteen million copies sold worldwide and translated into 37 languages, "The One Minute Manager" has been the go-to business book to help guide new managers through what can be one of the most exciting - yet challenging - transitions in one’s career. The long-awaited programme extends the best-selling book’s secrets into essential skills and conversations that prepare high-performing individuals to transition into the role of manager for the first time.

New managers are usually chosen from highly proficient individual contributors and often promoted without the skills to be successful in the new role. According to Corporate Executive Board, sixty percent of new managers underperform during their first two years, which causes performance gaps and employee turnover.

A Great Start Makes All the Difference

"Blanchard® has developed a programme that will provide the most critical skills to get first-time managers off to a great start," said Ken Blanchard, co-author of The New One Minute Manager and chief spiritual officer at The Ken Blanchard Companies. "First-time Manager will help new managers and their people reach their full potential sooner."

Four Essential Skills based on Blanchard’s coaching model have been built into the new programme: Listen to Learn, Inquire for Insight, Tell Your Truth, and Express Confidence. Co-authors Scott Blanchard, principal of The Ken Blanchard Companies, and Linda Miller, global liaison for coaching, believe these skills will equip new managers to have productive conversations with direct reports.

One of the most critical skills a new manager can develop is the ability to hold meaningful performance-related conversations to help them balance relationships and results. First-time Manager teaches Four Core Conversations. "We realised that the One Minute Manager skills needed to be taught as conversations," said Scott Blanchard. "New managers’ ability to hold these conversations is vital to their success and becomes a foundation for their career as a leader."

First-time Manager lays out these essential skills and conversations in a six-hour workshop design with engaging activities, entertaining videos, and skill practice, as well as access to a learner portal that provides key assets for practice and reinforcement back on the job.

As managers become ready to take their management skills to the next level, they can progress into other Blanchard leadership programmes, such as the widely taught leadership model Situational Leadership® II.