Anyone who doesn’t understand the value of one minute hasn’t been paying attention to my good friend Ken Blanchard. Starting with his “One Minute Manager” and moving through a series of best-sellers, he has shown his millions of fans how just 60 seconds can improve your chances for success.

Good news -- he’s at it again, this time with “One Minute Mentoring,” a must-read for folks looking for some help and those who are prepared to offer it. He’s teamed up with Claire Diaz-Ortiz, a former Twitter executive and author of “Twitter for Good.” Their combined knowledge of intergenerational mentoring is presented in this fictional parable about the power of finding or being a mentor.

But shouldn’t mentoring be a longer process than just one minute? Ken and Claire would agree with that, but say that “the best advice we ever gave or received was given in less than a minute. In other words, the guidance that really made a difference did not come in the form of long, complex theories -- it came in short, meaningful insights.”

As one who has been on both sides of the conversation, I couldn’t agree more. I am fortunate to have learned from a variety of mentors: my father, Jack Mackay, my father-in-law, Rudy Miller, my University of Minnesota golf coach Les Bolstad, my college adviser Harold Deutsch, businessman Curt Carlson, and many others. I owe much of my success to their guidance.

Understanding that I had a responsibility to give back, I have also mentored over 100 young -- and not so young -- entrepreneurs. I usually learned as much from the experience as my mentees did. And it was worth every minute.

How did we find each other? Sometimes through mutual friends or work events, even by sitting next to one another on a plane. As the authors say, “When the student is ready, a teacher appears. Mentors are all around you once you start looking for them.”

And it works both ways, they say. They encourage people to become mentors because “you won’t fully discover, appreciate or leverage what you have until you start giving it away.”

Compatibility is important, and they describe two aspects of working with someone -- essence and form. “Essence is all about sharing heart-to-heart and finding common values. Form is about structure -- how you might work together.”

Ken and Claire say that one of the biggest barriers people worry about is time: “It’s true that a mentoring relationship will take a little time, but a few hours a month is not going to do people in, especially when they realize how energizing and inspiring those few hours will be.”

They also acknowledge a couple other things that get in the way of mentoring -- fear and uncertainty. A lot of people are afraid to approach potential mentors, they say, and potential mentors may be afraid that they don’t really know how to mentor.

Added to that, uncertainty about what mentoring really is and how the relationship works scares people away. I’ve found that there isn’t a specific set of guidelines. Every mentor/mentee relationship needs to be tailored to the situation.

Ken and Claire created the MENTOR model to help people build successful relationships:

“By creating a Mission, you’ll put the relationship on solid footing.

“By deciding how to Engage, you’ll have clarity about how to work together.

“By Networking, you’ll expand your horizons.

“By building Trust, you’ll deepen the bond.

“By creating Opportunities, each of you will grow.

“And by Reviewing and renewing your partnership, you’ll know if and when your season of mentorship has ended.”

Exactly what is a “season of mentorship”? From my own experience, I can tell you that I have mentored some people for a few weeks and others for years. As their needs have changed, I have sometimes directed people to other mentors who might have different insights. I know my limitations!

Similarly, I have relied on my mentors, sometimes with months or years between those contacts. But I made a point of staying in touch so that they would realize how much I valued their help. I made sure they knew about my successes and appreciated their contributions toward my goals.

“Mentoring will take some time and intention,” Ken and Claire say. “It also takes time and intention to learn to drive -- but once you know how, you can really go places!”

Mackay’s Moral: One minute truly can change your life.

In the famous French story “The Little Prince,” a fox becomes the best friend of a young royal on a fictitious planet. When the fox must depart from the prince forever, he offers to tell him the world’s most wonderful secret if the prince meets certain conditions. The little prince agrees, does what is expected and then asks to be told the greatest secret.

“Only that which is invisible is essential,” the fox replies.

The most valuable things in life cannot be seen with the naked eye: love, friendship, hope, integrity, trust, compassion and values.

You can’t see values, touch them, taste them or smell them. Yet they are critical, intangible essentials that bring continuity and meaning to life.

And they are every bit as important for organizations as they are for individuals.

“It’s not hard to make decisions, once you know what your values are,” said Roy E. Disney.

The Walt Disney Company is the epitome of a values-driven organization. While it may be overshadowed by its retail prowess, its primary product is happiness. Its “Disney courtesy” concept is based on four key values: safety, courtesy, show and efficiency. Every one of its performance standards is based on these encompassing beliefs.

Defining your values is not just an academic exercise. “Clarifying your values is the essential first step toward a richer, fuller, more productive life,” said Carl Rogers, an American psychologist. Rogers is widely considered to be one of the founding fathers of psychotherapy research and was widely honored for his pioneering work.

If you want to clarify your own values, ask yourself these questions:

-- What do I believe in?

-- In what guiding principles can I become constructively obsessed?

-- What governs my life?

-- What do I stand for?

-- What puts meaning in my life?

-- What qualities are important for my life to be complete?

Hey, I never said this was easy! This is not a quick and dirty exercise. Values are not a spur-of-the-moment action. They are non-negotiable principles that guide our everyday lives. Your personal convictions, not those of others, determine how you live. You cannot separate personal value from personally held values.

Nor can you separate corporate value from corporate values. Customers and competitors should be able to see your values in action every day. Honesty, fairness, respect and trustworthiness are among values that should be front and center with every transaction.

The often-quoted Chinese philosopher Confucius wrote: “The rule of life is to be found within yourself. Ask yourself constantly, ‘What is the right thing to do?’ Beware of doing that which you are likely, sooner or later, to repent of having done.”

When you are in a position of having to repent, do it quickly and sincerely. That is another value that is essential to a good life: being able to admit mistakes and correcting them.

I will never forget when my good friend Lou Holtz was coaching Notre Dame in the 1989 Fiesta Bowl against West Virginia. His players learned a valuable lesson about their coach’s values that day, which resulted in a national championship.

Notre Dame was penalized on two consecutive plays for “taunting” the opposition. Despite knowing that his actions would bring another penalty, Holtz ran out on the field and asked the referee which of his players were doing the taunting, since this was before referees identified players by numbers. Then Holtz -- with a national TV audience watching -- grabbed the player and told him what was expected of him.

Holtz has always believed strongly in his players, but he demands that they follow his three simple values:

1. Do what is right. Be on time, polite, honest, remain free from drugs, and if you have any questions, get out your Bible.

2. Do everything to the best of your ability in the time allotted. Mediocrity is unacceptable when you are capable of doing better.

3. Show people you care.

Mackay’s Moral: Decide what you will stand for or you won’t have a leg to stand on.

Mark Twain once said, “I could live for two months on one good compliment.”

We all love to receive compliments. They make everyone feel better. It turns out studies show that compliments can also help people perform better.

In a study published in the journal PLOS One, researchers at Japan's National Institute for Physiological Sciences recruited 48 adults to perform a task that required them to tap items on a keyboard in a specific pattern. Then the adults were split into three groups. One group received personalized, individual compliments from one of the administrators of the study. Another group was forced to watch as other people received compliments. The third group was simply meant to evaluate how they did, as participants, on the test.

When the participants returned to the testing facility the next day, all the participants were asked to perform the keyboard test once again. The group that received personalized compliments performed better on the test that day than either of the other groups. Researchers believe that the compliments made them perform better.

According to the study, compliments activate the same region of the brain -- the striatum -- as cash does, and both encourage people to perform better. In other words, compliments may not buy your groceries, but they sure help.

Norihiro Sadato, one of the study authors, said, “To the brain, receiving a compliment is as much a social reward as being rewarded money. We've been able to find scientific proof that a person performs better when they receive a social reward after completing an exercise. There seems to be scientific validity behind the message ‘praise to encourage improvement.’”

Compliments are a powerful social and work-related tool. If you want to make a positive impression at work, be generous with compliments. Show appreciation to co-workers (and even your boss) for their good work. When giving compliments, the more specific you are, the better. This shows you notice the little things.

Compliments not only reassure people, they create positive energy, strengthen relationships and build trust. They are a sign of respect.

You don’t need to be an expert at giving compliments. You just need to be sincere and genuine. Many people know how to flatter, but few know how to praise. Sincere praise reassures individuals. It helps them neutralize doubts they have about themselves. Just remember, the sweetest of all sounds is praise. Silent gratitude isn’t of very much use to anyone.

At MackayMitchell Envelope Company, we are intensely grateful for customer referrals, which we consider to be the ultimate compliment. When customers are happy with our service and products, there is no better validation than for them to tell their friends.

Everyone likes a pat on the back and a hearty “well done.” But making praise a truly effective motivational tool requires a little planning. Like anything else, praise loses its effectiveness if it’s overused. On the other hand, ITS power is diminished if it’s underused.

The purpose of workplace praise is to improve productivity and reinforce positive behavior. Try to offer some sort of praise or positive feedback at least once a month. Give extra attention to new employees, those who seem to lack confidence or team members testing the waters with new assignments. Otherwise, focus on those making an extra effort, accomplishing a difficult task or exhibiting behavior you want others to emulate.

Don’t ignore the flip side of giving compliments. The givers benefit through improved moods, enhanced positivity and awareness.

Nearly 100 years ago, Charles M. Schwab was one of the first men to earn a million dollars a year working for someone else. Schwab was paid such a handsome amount largely because of his ability to deal with people.

Schwab described his secret: “I consider my ability to arouse enthusiasm among the men the greatest asset I possess, and the way to develop the best that is in a man is by appreciation and encouragement. There is nothing else that so kills the ambitions of man as criticisms from his superiors. I never criticize anyone. I believe in giving a man incentive to work. So, I am anxious to praise but loath to find fault. If I like anything, I am hearty in my approbation and lavish in my praise.”

A hundred years later, his advice still works for men and women alike.

Mackay’s Moral: As I’ve said a million times, little things don’t mean a lot -- they mean everything.