Book Review: The Apology in a Minute by Ken Blanchard and Margret McBride
I love this book. It is a must read for anyone who wants to live a better life and have peace of mind and personal integrity in all areas of their lives. I had an epiphany reading this book. It helped me in both my personal and business life. I go back to it on a regular basis.
I know the apology is in the title, but it’s not just about saying you’re sorry. When my oldest son was growing up, he had a habit of coming home later than expected. He would apologize profusely, but he kept coming later than he expected! Finally, I told him, I’m not looking for “sorry.” I need you to change your behavior and take responsibility for your actions. It took him a while to get it.
The bottom line is that it’s about doing the right thing and living with integrity. It’s about going the extra mile to make things right with someone else. The author references a story by Carl Sandberg about Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln showed true humility and went to great lengths to make things right with one of his officers during the civil war. He knew that he hadn’t done the right thing with this man. No one would have blamed him if Lincoln hadn’t done anything. It was during the war after all. He didn’t even have to go himself; He could have sent someone else, but he didn’t. He himself went and made it a personal mission to make amends.
“A one-minute apology is incomplete without a sincere attempt to make things right” (p. 47 The One-Minute Apology)
And many of the good things are in the details. One of the characters is “Nana”. On pages 80-82, there is a storm and they are going to pick Nana up so she doesn’t have to drive in the rain. “When the car stopped in Nana’s driveway, the rain was pouring down hard. The young man jumped out of the car and ran towards Nana… he opened his umbrella and carefully walked Nana to the car.” I know a lot of this can sound corny to people and not everyone wants to live their life like this. But I believe in the inherent goodness in most people, and I know that they want to do the right thing. This simple little booklet gives more details on how they might do it.