Ken Blanchard believes corporate America is in desperate need of a different leadership role model. And I couldn't agree more.

Ken is a walking management encyclopedia: He's written 50 books with more than 90 contributing authors. His blockbuster book, "The One Minute Manager," has sold 13 million copies around the world. He has a practical, no-nonsense style that I love.

Ken has been a good friend for years. In fact, I owe a lot of my book-writing success to Ken because he's the one who asked me to write a book with him before I decided to author "Swim With the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive" back in 1988.

While most leaders think that leadership is in your head, Ken thinks effective leadership starts in the heart. Your heart controls your motivation, your intent and your leadership character.

I invited Ken to speak to my Roundtable group of 30 CEOs. His memorable message was that the No. 1 leadership style around the world today is "seagull management." He explained: "Managers might set goals and then disappear until you screw up. Then they fly in, make a lot of noise, dump on everybody and fly out. They think that's great leadership."

He compared what he calls self-serving leaders to servant leaders and mentioned three main differences.

The first difference is feedback. If you've ever tried to give negative feedback up the hierarchy of a self-serving leadership team, you know the difference. You get destroyed.

Self-serving leaders thrive in critical environments, whereas servant leaders prefer supportive environments.

Ken said: "I travel around the world, and I'll say to people, 'How do you know whether you're doing a good job?' The No. 1 response I still get is, 'Nobody's yelled at me lately.'"

He went on to say that if he could teach only one thing, it would be to develop great relationships. He advised that to develop great organizations, you have to wander around and catch people doing the right things and then praise them in front of everyone.

The second major difference is that self-serving leaders don't want anyone else to look really good, while servant leaders want to build leadership in their group. They have no problem with someone rising up. They don't mind sharing leadership.

My philosophy is you'd be amazed at how much you can accomplish if you don't care who gets the credit. I also believe that three opinions are better than two and five are better than four.

The third difference is ego. "Self-serving leaders are caught in the trap that they think their self-worth is a function of their performance plus the opinion of others," Ken said. "They have this scorekeeping system. The only way they can keep going is they've got to get more. Their scorekeeping centers around three things: accumulation of wealth, recognition/power and status."

Ken advises that there is nothing wrong with accumulating money, getting recognized or having some power and status. "What's wrong is if that's who you think you are, because then your self-worth is tied up there, and you're going to have to keep on performing," he said. "That's why people have to keep on accumulating more and more and take huge bonuses when that money could be spent in other ways."

Servant leaders define self-worth differently. They are comfortable in their skin. Ken cautions that this doesn't mean they don't have some weaknesses. They know that their positions are not a given. Their job and possessions are on loan and can be taken away at a moment's notice.

Our egos can interfere in two ways, Ken cautions. One is false pride, when you think more of yourself than you should and your main job is to promote yourself. The other is self-doubt or fear, when you think less of yourself than you should.

The antidote for fear and self-doubt is self-pride and self-esteem, whereas the antidote for false pride is humility, which Ken believes is another important characteristic of a leader.

"A lot of people have this image that people who are humble are weak," Ken said. "People with humility don't think less of themselves, they just think about themselves less. That's really a powerful thing."

Mackay's Moral: None of us is as smart as all of us.

I hate to lose.

That said, I am proud to admit that competition has made me a better businessman, a better golfer and a better person. And when there isn't another company or business to compete with, I try to outdo myself. If that sounds simple, well, it is. I always want to be at my best and show my best side.

People can exceed expectations when motivated properly. This story, told by Andrew S. Grove, former CEO of the Intel Corp., the California manufacturer of semiconductors, is a perfect illustration.

For years the performance of the Intel facilities maintenance group, which is responsible for keeping the buildings clean and in good shape, was substandard. No amount of pressure or inducement seemed to do any good.

Then Intel initiated a program in which each building's upkeep was periodically given a score by a resident senior manager. The score was then compared with those given the other buildings. Result: The condition of all of the buildings improved dramatically -- almost immediately. Nothing else had been done. People did not get more money or other rewards. What they did get was the stimulus of competition.

Competition drives performance. It drives people to work harder and dig deeper to deliver more than they ever thought they could.

Among the many benefits of increased market competition, according to the tutor2u website:

-- Lower prices for consumers.

-- A greater discipline on producers/suppliers to keep their costs down.

-- Improvements in technology with positive effects on production methods and costs.

-- A greater variety of products from which to choose.

-- A faster pace of invention and innovation.

-- Improvements to the quality of service for consumers.

-- Better information for consumers, allowing people to make more informed choices.

There's nothing like a little competition to boost productivity. Look at industry studies and you will consistently see that competition helped improve results.

I am and have always been very competitive. I understand that some people don't like competition, but you have to accept that competition is unavoidable in life. That's the way our society works. It's my belief that our society improves with competition.

Some parents don't want to engage their young children in competition. I understand their reluctance in situations where unrealistic expectations are set, but friendly competition is good. It is critical to prepare children and teenagers to compete in the real world. As they grow older, they will face competition in schools, in the workforce, even in the housing market.

A University of Florida study found that participating in sports is a healthy way to teach kids about the positive aspects of competition. Playing sports helps kids understand how competition works in a friendly environment and that if you try your hardest, you have a better chance at succeeding, not to mention improving your health and self-esteem.

When I was in London at the Olympics, I heard an interviewer ask an athlete to predict the outcome of his race.

The athlete said, "I'll come in fifth."

Sure enough, that's exactly where he finished, even though he could easily have placed third, or even second, since two other major competitors fared poorly.

Contrast this with Manteo Mitchell, who broke his leg midway through the 4-x-400 meter relay but kept running to allow the U.S. team to reach the final.

I cannot emphasize enough that all my business life I have faced competition, and I believe it has made both my company and me better. When competitors improve their products, we improve ours more. When a sales prospect mentions service, I ask what the other company promised them and then exceed it. We know our customers better here at MackayMitchell Envelope Co. It's our real leg up on the competition. We hate to lose a customer. We take tremendous pride in beating the competition, because that means we are serving our customers better.

There is an old saying in Africa that goes like this: Every morning a gazelle gets up and knows that it must outrun the fastest lion or it will get eaten. And every morning, a lion gets up and knows that it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death.

So, whether you are a gazelle or a lion, every morning when you get up, you'd better be running.

Mackay's Moral: If you go the extra mile, you will almost always beat the competition.

Last week, I told you about the remarkable athletic performances I witnessed at the London Olympic Games. My wife tells me that it's a good thing the Summer Olympics are held only every four years, or I would have to quit my day job to keep up with the events!

These athletes possess an inner drive that is foreign to most of us. Their natural talents are just a starting point. But they have a secret weapon: their coaches.

There is something much scarcer, something finer, something rarer than ability: It's the ability to recognize ability. Jerry Colangelo, head of USA basketball, is a genius for appointing Mike Krzyzewski, better known as Coach K, to lead the USA men's basketball team.

There are many outstanding college and professional coaches who could have coached this crew of individual stars, but I sincerely doubt that many of them could have gotten the final results Coach K delivered. Eight years ago, Argentina beat the USA for the gold medal despite the incredible array of talent from our NBA teams. This was not the result that Coach K wanted to repeat.

For 40 years, I have been watching USA Olympic basketball, with terrific memories from Michael Jordan to LeBron James. The Americans have dominated the sport for decades, but the world has closed the gap in the men's game. Fortunately, the gap has not yet closed for USA's fabulous women's players.

The problem for Coach K is no one seems to understand this fact. The world, and especially USA basketball fans, think every game we play is over before it starts. Nothing could be further from the truth.

As a group, America unquestionably has the edge in sheer talent. We assemble a team of all-stars who command enormous professional contracts and huge endorsement deals. These 11 individual dominant players, however, must play as a team. They play for national pride. There are no salaries involved here. All the players come together and risk injury to play for their country. They give up their summers and check their egos at the door. Money can't buy their emotional high.

Coach K is the genius who kept them playing as a team. Truth is, I didn't go to all eight games just to see the players. I went to marvel at the coaching. Coach K has been expected to win (at Duke) his entire career and has the mental tools and strength that come with the highest expectations. He welcomes this pressure.

I had the pleasure of watching part of a closed practice. Coach K is untouchable when it comes to handling pressure and maintaining sheer unadulterated focus. He is one of the most disciplined coaches I have ever witnessed.

Coach K was virtually emotionless from start to finish in all eight Olympic games. That is part of his DNA -- no matter if his team is ahead by 30 points or losing coming down the stretch.

Never for a moment during their quest for a gold medal did I ever think that every player who took the court was putting out less than 110 percent. This is a great tribute to Coach K. Without a question in my mind, they would never have brought home the gold without that kind of work ethic inspired by their leader.

Another feather in Coach K's hat was the explosive nature of Olympic team competition. You can easily have an international scene on your hands. In the USA game against Argentina, one of the USA players was kneed in the groin right in front of the team bench. I thought, "That's it. Here comes a total brawl." "Lucky" is not the word to describe how we escaped a donnybrook. Once again, credit Coach K. His players demonstrated total restraint from retaliating against the unsportsmanlike player.

Talking with Coach K at the afterparty gold-medal celebration, I kidded him about his 3-foot leap off the bench when Chris Paul blew past his defender for a reverse layup to break Spain's back in the gold-medal game. He admitted he couldn't hold back his emotion after four years of pressure to bring home the gold.

Coach K told me he is a better coach in 2012 than he was in 2008. He claims this is his last Olympics coaching gig. Let's hope the next coach and all the businesspeople out there take a page from Coach K's playbook.

Mackay's Moral: "Don't worry about losing. Think about winning." -- Coach Mike Krzyzewski