Hiring and keeping good employees is a challenge for most organizations. It may also be one of the most important things we do. This book offers some different suggestions that managers will want to consider.

Buckingham and Coffman, in their book “First, Break All the Rules: What the World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently”, report on the findings of Gallup Organization in-depth interviews of over 80,000 managers in over 400 work settings. They write clearly if not poetically. Their messages on leadership and management are thought provoking and very different from most treatises on the art of supervision. The authors debunk standard “rules” of management, like treating all employees the same way, and trying to help employees overcome their weaknesses.

The book features twelve questions, which measure the core elements needed to attract, focus and keep the most talented employees in an organization. The questions help to assess strength of a workplace. The researchers were surprised to learn that questions about pay and benefits did not “make the cut” as significant core element measures. If pay and benefits weren’t critical means for attracting and keeping the most talented employees, then what were the things managers believed were important enough to be included in this list of core elements of a healthy work place?

At the top of the list of the questions used to measure the strength of a work environment was the simple question “Do I know what is expected of me at work”? Other questions which were culled out of the research and deemed significant by managers included “At work, do I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day”? and “Does my supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about me as a person’? It is apparent that the managers who were surveyed value personal contact and believe that great managers take time to really encourage employees to develop professionally.

The extensive research upon which the book is based revealed that truly great managers do play favorites, don’t believe that people can achieve anything they set their minds to, and disregard the “Golden Rule”. Great managers (leaders) employ vastly different styles and focus on different goals. Nevertheless, while unconventional, they are capable of creating supportive and lively work environments and they take time to give employees helpful direction and support.

Researchers discovered that really exceptional customer service features accuracy of information, availability of services, creation of a partnership with the customer, and providing advice. Customers want accurate information at convenient times as their top priorities.

Good managers are encouraged to seek greatness by doing seemingly simple things like creating heroes in every role in the organization instead of always nudging people to “climb the career ladder”. Four keys to successful leadership in any organization were provided in this book. Great managers and leaders select employees for talent, define for them the right outcomes, focus on their strengths instead of their weaknesses, and work hard to find the right fit for employees.

The book is full of little suggestions, which help turn average managers into great ones. One sample suggestion involves asking employees to share information about the most meaningful recognition they ever received and then using that information to plan the kind of recognition, which is meaningful and relevant to each person. Too often, leaders just assume that everyone likes to be praised publicly. For some employees public recognition violates cultural imperatives about humility and would be seen as creating discomfort rather than achieving the desired reinforcement effect. Great managers tell employees why they are valuable today, rather than trying to influence them to be greater tomorrow. Great leaders find a way to meet with employees personally at least every six months to discuss progress, goals, expectations, and performance. Great leaders resist the temptation to focus too much attention on employees who perform poorly and, instead, spend the most time with their best people. Instead of trying to put new talents into an employee, great managers spend time drawing out the strengths each employee already has. While it may seem helpful to push an employee to grow and to seek advancement, it is incumbent upon great managers to find out what kind of professional development an employee seeks before assuming that education and/or career advancement are everyone’s goals.

“First, Break All the Rules” is an important new (copyright, 1999) leadership tome. Because it is based on so much research in real work environments, it is relevant. The authors encourage managers to seek greatness not in traditional leadership theory, but rather in making certain that employees are selected with great care, told what is expected of them, encouraged to grow professionally in ways that are personally relevant, and given every opportunity to “play to their strengths”. This book, published by Simon and Schuster, provides “food for thought” for anyone who aspires to be a better leader or manager.

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Vice President, Student Services
MiraCosta College