First, Break All the Rules

Based on the largest study of its kind ever undertaken, company managers reveal revolutionary insights about successful managerial behaviour. Great managers do not help people overcome their weaknesses. They do not believe that each person has unlimited potential. They do play favourites and they break the 'Golden Rule' book everyday. This amazing book explains why great managers break all the rules of conventional wisdom. The front-line manager is the key to attracting and retaining talented employees. No matter how generous its pay or how renowned its training, the company that lacks great, front-line managers will suffer. Great managers are the heroes of this book. Vivid examples show how, as they select, focus, motivate and develop people, great managers turn talent into performance. Finally, the authors have distilled the essence of good management practice into twelve simple questions that work to distinguish the strongest departments of a company from all the rest. This book is the first to present this essential measuring stick and to prove the link between employee opinions and productivity, profit, customer satisfaction, and the rate of turnover.

Marcus Buckingham, who was born in England and is a graduate of Cambridge University, is one of the Gallup organisation's leading management consultants and leader of its 15 year study. Curt Coffman is Senior Vice President and Senior Consultant at Gallup, and consults for many of the Fortune 500 companies.