'LEADERSHIP BY THE BOOK': CAPE GIRARDEAU BUSINESSMAN ATTENDS SPCIAL SESSION FOR BUSINESS EXECS

The concept of "servant-leadership" makes sense, says John Tlapek, a Cape Girardeau businessman who is chairman of the board and majority owner of three Southeast Missouri businesses.

Tlapek was one of 15 business executives invited to a special leadership conference presented by Ken Blanchard of The Ken Blanchard Cos.

Blanchard, co-author of a number of leadership books, including the latest, "Leadership by the Book," discussed management techniques outlined in his latest book.

"We had an opportunity to hear one of the nation's great business consultants," said Tlapek, "and we had a chance to interact one-on-one."

Tlapek owns Cape Electrical Supply and Auto Tire and Parts in Cape Girardeau and Schaefer Power Panel Manufacturing Co. in Advance. He is also a member of the Southeast Missouri State University Board of Regents.

Tlapek's three businesses have stores at 40 sites and employ more than 350 people. Auto Tire and Parts has 27 stores and Cape Electrical, which observed its 95th anniversary last year, has 13 stores.

The focus of the three-day, Chicago conference was the "creation of a vision, purpose, image and values of the big picture for a corporation."

The "servant- leadership," said Blanchard, is based on the employer's becoming responsive to the employees, who are responsible to the customers. The author offers some unexpected and exceptional answers to tough leadership issues, such as:

How to best serve our customers by serving our people?

How to unify my personal beliefs and my role as a leader in a way that feels good "deep down" and still produces desired results?

How to attain the bottom line effect of profit, raving fan customers, gung-ho employees, and financial well-being by leading with integrity.

"Profit is the applause we get when we are serving the needs of the customers," said Tlapek.

Blanchard, whose 11 books have combined sales of more than 12 million copies, in 25 languages, lives in San Diego.

One of his best known books is "The One Minute Manager." published in 1982. It has sold more than 9 million copies and has been translated into more than 25 languages.

In his latest publications, he teamed with Bill Hybels, the senior pastor of Willow Creek Community Church in Chicago, and Phil Hodges, managing director of the Center for Faith Walk Leadership, for "Leadership by the Books."

Blanchard is chairman of Blanchard Training and Development Inc., a full-service management consulting and training company co-founded in 1979. He has been a guest on a number of national television programs, including "Good Morning America" and the "Today" show, and has been featured in Time, People, U.S. News & World Report and a host of other magazine publications.