A highlight of the ASTD Conference (American Society for Training & Development), held in Chicago, May 16-19, 2010, was an informal talk at the Ken Blanchard Companies® exhibit booth by Ken Blanchard, Chief Spiritual Officer. Ken is one of the most influential leadership experts in the world, respected for his years of groundbreaking work in the fields of leadership and management.

Ken spoke about companies who belong on the “Fortunate 500” list. These companies, which are about more than profit, share the following four elements:

1. Having the right target/clear vision
2. Treating your customers right
3. Treating your people right
4. Having the right leadership – “Servant Leadership”

Ken Blanchard and Cynthia Olmstead, Founder and President of TrustWorks Group jointly announced at the conference that TrustWorks Group has been acquired by The Ken Blanchard Companies. TrustWorks Group’s products and programs (Leader as Trust Builder™, Myself as Trust Builder™, and Great Teams™) will continue to be available through www.trustworksgroup.com and become a part of Blanchard’s leadership solutions.

” … now we have a way of teaching people how to assess and understand their trust behaviors,” said Ken Blanchard. “Leadership is all about relationships, and trust is a big part of that.”

Cynthia Olmstead, a former employee of Blanchard who taught Situational Leadership® II for a decade before establishing her independent consulting practice, also spoke engagingly to an attentive audience. “Trust, the basis for all relationships, means different things to different people,” said Cynthia. “Trust is based on behaviors and perceptions … my perceptions of your behavior and your perceptions of my behavior.

Cynthia further explained that the TrustWorks! ABCD model (Able – Believable – Connected – Dependable) offers a common language for us to talk about trust.

Ken Blanchard followed up on Cynthia’s comments by talking about the importance of leaders having “trust conversations” at three levels: self-leadership, one-on-one, and within teams, compatible with the three TrustWorks! programs: Leader as Trust Builder™, Myself as Trust Builder™, and Great Teams™.

“Leading is about serving and being served. This is ‘heart’ work, which is not ‘soft’ leadership,” Ken added.

Ken Blanchard’s new book is titled: Bringing Love to Leadership. The Ken Blanchard Companies®, a global leader in workplace leadership and corporate development, is recognized as one of the world’s leading training and development experts. For more information, visit: www.kenblanchard.com