The Hands-Off Manager: How to Mentor People and Allow Them to Be Successful
Steve Chandler
DEDICATION
To George Addair
So much of what we call management consists of
making it difficult for people to work.
—Peter Drucker
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
From Steve Chandler
I acknowledge Byron Katie for putting me through school and opening up the kindness of the universe that Einstein was puzzling over. Katie’s nine-day school was the most transformative experience of my adult life, and I recommend that anyone wondering how to live in peace and harmony check it out at www.thework.com.
I acknowledge Duane Black for providing in himself the ultimate role model for successful hands-off management and the full philosophy contained in this book. I also acknowledge him for applying this system so successfully at SunCor and getting the results year after year that verify every concept in this book.
I also acknowledge my wife and hands-on manager, Kathy, for professional and personal rescuing beyond one’s wildest expectations. I want to thank Fred Knipe, Steve Hardison, Terry Hill, Lindsay Brady, Michael Bassoff, Ken Wilber, Leonard Cohen, George Martin, Jessica Chandler, Stephanie Chandler, Mar Chandler, and Bobby Chandler, too.
From Duane Black
I have been fortunate to have many people in my life who have made a contribution, but George Addair has likely been the biggest influence on me of anyone I have ever known.
I would also like to acknowledge my friend and coworker Jim Adair, who has been an incredible friend and sounding board for ideas for nearly 30 years. We have worked together for so long that we have become like brothers. Another great friend and discussion partner of many years has been Bill Woodward. Then there are my favorite authors—Jim Carey, Neale Donald Walsch, David Hawkins, and Steve Chandler.
I must also acknowledge my wife and family. They are the ones who love you unconditionally and know you best. They can most easily push the buttons that help show you what judgments remain inside that you still have the opportunity to forgive, release, and let go of.
Duane Black acknowledges that the philosophies, opinions, and management techniques described in this book are his own, and do not necessarily reflect those of SunCor Development Company, its subsidiary or parent corporations, or its leadership team.
PREFACE
The secret of happiness lies in the ancient saying: “Become what you are.”
—Alan Watts
In my many years as a corporate trainer and personal success coach I have never met a leader as quietly powerful and effective as Duane Black.
The company he works for, SunCor Development, was always extremely successful in creating beautiful, aesthetically stunning housing communities throughout the southwestern United States, and the more I got to know Duane, the more I saw why.
Duane had a way of managing people that was both gentle and impactful. He had a way of inspiring and nurturing success in a totally hands-off, nonjudgmental way. It was amazing to see. Even though he almost never micromanaged anyone, success flourished all around him.
Whenever he would invite me to come in and conduct a workshop for his key leaders, or go to a remote development to work with a sales and administrative team, I would be the one who came away having learned something. I always learned more than I taught.
Duane’s practice of enlightened, hands-off management was so fascinating that I would jump at the chance to spend extra time with him. Once he flew me in his Beechcraft Bonanza, a single-engine airplane, to one of his developments in southern Utah. We were talking all the way about his theories of “allowing success” and seeing the greatness in his people.