First, Break All the Rules: What the Worlds Greatest Managers Do Differently

by Marcus Buckingham, Curt Coffman, Gallup Press

Book Overview

Gallup presents the remarkable findings of its revolutionary study of more than 80,000 managers in First, Break All the Rules, revealing what the world's greatest managers do differently. With vital... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0684852861
• ISBN13: 9780684852867
• Release Date: May 1999
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.6" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

Well researched and well presented. All managers must read this book.

This is a well researched book. The authors arrived at their conclusions after analyzing data collected by Gallup over 25 years - using an impressive sample size of 80 thousand managers and 1 million staff from 400 companies. Gallup has used its expertise in survey research to link employee engagement to business performance. The concepts are well explained and presented. The essence of the findings lie in the 4 Keys of great managers and the 12 Questions that give organizations the information they need to attract, focus, and keep the most talented employees. The 4 Keys of great managers: 1. Select for talent - the authors define talent as "recurring patterns of behavior" and state that great managers find the match between talents and roles. 2. Define the right outcomes - managers needs to turn talent into performance. This can be done by defining the right outcomes and letting people find their own route toward the outcomes. 3. Focus on strengths - managers need to concentrate on strengths and not on weaknesses. 4. Find the Right Fit - managers need to assign roles to employees that give the employees the greatest chance of success. The 12 Questions make an excellent list of questions that will be helpful to organizations as well as to employees. The authors group the questions into various categories and explain the importance of each question and group. I give this book 5 stars because the insights are practical and backed by empirical evidence, and the book is well presented. I was able to apply the concepts immediately. I read this book when I was assigned the role of a team lead. I was able to improve the efficiency of the team by assigning tasks to people based on their individual strengths. This book has a lot of substance. I am sure I will be referring to it often to make the valuable insights a part of my management style. In addition, it does a good job explaining key business terms that people often take for granted, such as talent, skills, knowledge, etc. I also like the fact that this book has proven some of Peter Drucker's concepts with scientific research. Here are a couple of examples that are verbatim quotes from "The Essential Drucker" : Chapter 9 : Picking People - The Basic rules: (page 130): "... the person and the assignment need to fit each other.", "... effective executives do not start out by looking at weaknesses. You cannot build performances on weaknesses. You can build only on strengths". "First Break..." is an excellent book that I recommend as a must read to every manager and anybody interested in management.

Great management book

If you're a manager, if you work in human resources, or if your company hires managers and you are seeking criteria to hire great managers, you'll want to give "First, Break All The Rules: What The World's Greatest Managers Do Differently" by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman a read.After extensive research, Buckingham and Coffman summarize the twelve key factors in retaining star employees. If employees can answer the below questions affirmatively, you probably have a strong and productive workplace:"1) Do I know what is expected of me at work? 2) Do I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right? 3) At work, do I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day? 4) In the last seven days, have I received recognition or praise for good work? 5) Does my supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about me as a person? 6) Is there someone at work who encourages my development? 7) At work, do my opinions seem to count? 8) Does the mission/purpose of my company make me feel like my work is important? 9) Are my co-workers committed to doing quality work? 10) Do I have a best friend at work? 11) In the last six months, have I talked with someone about my progress? 12) At work, have I had the opportunities to learn and grow?" ("First, Break All The Rules: What The World's Greatest Managers Do Differently") What about stock options, high pay, and other more obvious benefits? Don't employees want those also? Yes. However, Buckingham and Coffman point out that those benefits attract all people, including what they classify as ROAD warriors (Retired While On Active Leave or unproductive employees). The above twelve factors attract and keep productive employees. So, can anyone become a great manager? According to the research of Buckingham and Coffman, probably not. They found that among great managers, those who are effective catalysts for turning employee potential into production, the motto is "People don't change that much. Don't waste time trying to put in what was left out. Try to draw out what was left in. That is hard enough."Buckingham and Coffman found that the greatest managers make a clear distinction between knowledge, skills, and talent, where talent is defined as natural recurring patterns of thought within a person. While knowledge and skills can be taught, the greatest managers know that talent cannot be taught. A key of management success is finding the right kind of person for any given job.Each person has a unique set of talents and proclivities making them unique. This set of talents defines who the person is and, more importantly, the kinds of work the person will enjoy. What about the various self-help and self-improvement programs used by companies today? Buckingham and Coffman say that most great managers dismiss them as ineffective. You can't just teach employees "the nine habits of an effective life" and expect them to excel. Buckingham and Coffman explain that each individual's brain is uniquely wi

Data-Driven Conclusions

Management books are everywhere. They espouse a great many theories. Often they explain what has worked well for one corporation, industry, or professional field. The books share the secrets of success as understood by that shining example. The data consists of their productivity indicators. But what may work well for one, may not work for another.The book First, Break All the Rules by Buckingham and Coffman has the data. It is a research-based analysis of over 80,000 managers in over 400 companies. Their conclusions are the result of their data analysis rather than the other way around.The essence of the book consists of 12 questions that have a high degree of statistical reliability in predicting organizational productivity and success. Buckingham and Coffman then go on to offer four keys to receiving a high score from employees. The keys break with conventional thinking and rules of operation: talent is more important than qualifications; outcomes are more important than process; treat every employee differently; and throw out the career ladder.I highly recommend this book. It has substantially changed my management style.

Follow the Four Keys and be a Great Manager!

(email: shashi-kant@usa.net )"First, Break All the Rules: What the World's Greatest Managers Do Differently" is an excellent book, which will help not only the managers, but all other talented employees as well, who have the potential and will eventually become great managers. This book extols the wonders and potential of human resource development in organizations of all sizes.The authors, Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman, based on Gallup's interviews over a period of 25 years with about 1 million staff and 80,000 managers from over 400 companies pinpoint "four keys" to evaluate the performance of an organization in general. This reflects the competence of the managers to get the best in terms of: -Selecting the staff for talent (not just for experience, which can be acquired and updated with rapid change in technology), -defining the right results expected (and should be clearly understood by the individual), -focusing on strength of employees (leaving scope for their professional growth), and -finding the right fit for all of them.How much successful the manager is with respect to these four keys, will be reflected in terms of performance in assignments or projects the company has undertaken. I am a firm believer that employees will do what you pay them to do (in terms of responsibility and recognition, scope for professional growth, appreciation and salary).The authors reach the conclusion that a company that lacks great frontline managers will bleed talent (or, will produce `talented deadwoods'), no matter how attractive the compensation packages are! Why should a highly motivated employee waste his or her time if a weak employee gets the recognition?First-line supervisors and managers are the key to our success. They are the vital link between the top management and the staff. What separates the great manager from the mediocre manager is the ability to recognize and develop talented individuals right from the initial point of employment, and the key to finding the right supervisor and manager is in this book!The book also describes: `The Art of Interviewing for Talent' - 'Which are the right questions to ask?' 'Past performance is indicative of future performance'. But it is a must that assessors are more talented than the candidates are. If you promote or favor an employee mainly for his talents, let everyone else know about his capabilities and achievements over the others. Because it is possible that a group of some mediocre or manipulative managers, for their personal gains, form a cabal and help promoting "pseudo talents" and/or mask actual talents. They may do it by passing incorrect or "selective" information about their subordinates to the top management (or "by dragging and dropping" credits from deserving candidates to the `favored ones'). The book, however, does not explicitly describe how the organization can be saved from such managers. "Favoritism" or "First, Break All the Rules",

Best set of management tools that I've ever seen!

I am a recent MBA grad with 15 years' experience in different company environments. I've worked for Silicon Valley startups, large national corporations, and family-owned businesses.The scenarios, myths, situations, and other examples in the book are 100% right on! Gallup has put names and descriptions on things that I have lived with for years. Now a manager at another tech startup, I plan on using this book as a template to grow our company into a vibrant workplace that attracts and KEEPS talented individuals.I don't understand the reviewers who say they gained nothing from this book. There is a well-documented framework that is not weighted down with technical terminology, and a productive toolset to implement the theory.I especially appreciated the section on creating Advocates, something that I have been prevented from doing by supervisors in past positions. In my opinion, anyone who does not recognize the business implications of Advocates needs to go back and retake Business 101. Understanding and measuring "Talent" is what this book is based on, and is worth learning. It is not as "out there" as personality typing, and makes good business sense. Put people where they will naturally do well, and your business and Clients will do well also. I am a firm believer that employees will do what you pay them to do. Incentive plans are critical in controlling what people do on a daily basis. Here, again, this book makes a lot of sense advising that incentive plans must be tailored to the individual. I do not climb on many bandwagons, but I will get up on my soapbox about this book.It is simply the best book I have ever read about managing people and making the most of a workplace. Much has been written about what makes a workplace great. This book tells you how to make YOUR workplace great.I recommend it without hesitation.