Book Summary: First Break All The Rules

This article is based on the following book: First, Break All The Rules ‘What The World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently’ By Marcus Buckingham & Curt Coffman Simon & Schuster, 271 pages

Based on a mammoth research study conducted by the Gallup
Organization involving 80,000 managers across different nindustries, this book explores the challenge of many ncompanies - attaining, keeping and measuring employee nsatisfaction. Discover how great managers attract, hire, nfocus, and keep their most talented employees!

Key Ideas:
1. The best managers reject conventional wisdom.
2. The best managers treat every employee as an individual.
3. The best managers never try to fix weaknesses; instead n they focus on strengths and talent.
4. The best managers know they are on stage everyday. They n know their people are watching every move they make.
5. Measuring employee satisfaction is vital information n for your investors.
6. People leave their immediate managers, not the companies n they work for.
7. The best managers are those that build a work environment n where the employees answer positively to these 12 n Questions:n a. Do I know what is expected of me at work?n b. Do I have the materials and equipment I need to do my n work right?n c. At work, do I have the opportunity to do what I do n best everyday?n d. In the last seven days, have I received recognition or n praise for doing good work?n e. Does my supervisor or someone at work seem to care n about me as a person?n f. Is there someone at work who encourages my development?n g. At work, do my opinions seem to count?n h. Does the mission/purpose of my company make me feel my n job is important?n i. Are my co-workers committed to doing quality work?n j. Do I have a best friend at work?n k. In the last six months, has someone at work talked to n me about my progress?n l. This last year, have I had the opportunity at work to n learn and grow?

The Gallup study showed that those companies that reflected npositive responses to the 12 questions profited more, were nmore productive as business units, retained more employees nper year, and satisfied more customers.

Without satisfying an employee’s basic needs first, a nmanager can never expect the employee to give stellar nperformance. The basic needs are: knowing what is expected nof the employee at work, giving her the equipment and support nto do her work right, and answering her basic questions of nself-worth and self-esteem by giving praise for good work nand caring about her development as a person.

The great manager mantra is don’t try to put in what was nleft out; instead draw out what was left in. You must hire nfor talent, and hone that talent into outstanding nperformance.

More wisdom in a nutshell from First, Break All the Rules:
1. Know what can be taught, and what requires a natural n talent.
2. Set the right outcomes, not steps. Standardize the end n but not the means. As long as the means are within the n company’s legal boundaries and industry standards, let n the employee use his own style to deliver the result or n outcome you want.
3. Motivate by focusing on strengths, not weaknesses.
4. Casting is important, if an employee is not performing n at excellence, maybe she is not cast in the right role.
5. Every role is noble, respect it enough to hire for n talent to match.
6. A manager must excel in the art of the interview. See n if the candidate’s recurring patterns of behavior match n the role he is to fulfill. Ask open-ended questions and n let him talk. Listen for specifics.
7. Find ways to measure, count, and reward outcomes.
8. Spend time with your best people. Give constant n feedback. If you can’t spend an hour every quarter n talking to an employee, then you shouldn’t be a manager.
9. There are many ways of alleviating a problem or n non-talent. Devise a support system, find a n complementary partner for him, or an alte
ative role.
10. Do not promote someone until he reaches his level of n incompetence; simply offer bigger rewards within the n same range of his work. It is better to have an n excellent highly paid waitress or bartender on your n team than promote him or her to a poor starting-level n bar manager.
11. Some homework to do: Study the best managers in the n company and revise training to incorporate what they n know. Send your talented people to learn new skills or n knowledge. Change recruiting practices to hire for n talent, revise employee job descriptions and n qualifications.