First,

Break
All the
Rules
What the World’s
Greatest Managers
Do Differently

Marcus Buckingham
And Curt Coffman
Marcus Buckingham (born January 11,1966)
• a British-American author, researcher, motivational
speaker and business consultant

• Holds a degree in Social and Political Sciences from

Cambridge University

• Top ten business thinkers in the world according to

Thinkers50 Summit (co-sponsor ed by Forbes and HBR)

• Only author with two book on the ’Top 100

business books of all time” by Jack COver t
* This book is the poduct ol tw0 mammoth re5earch studies undertaken by the
Gallup Organiution,

• 8aS@ 0£ the research findings that lasted for 25 years

• This b00k pives voice IO one million employees anJ 80,06 managers.

• First resarch focused on°\¥hat do the most talented empIo\ees ned Ir0m
their xortplace ig

• Second re5earch éf0rt Jealt with “How do the rorld’s Neatest

managers find, fOCJs, 8nd kssp talentei emplo\est”
Chapter 1
The Measuring Stick
 easuring strengt of W:rk lace
How do you measure the core elements needed
to attract, focus and keep the most talented
employees?

ness Units were measurably more

ctive when employees answered positively on a scale of 1 to 5 to thefollowing 12

Analysis of yerforntance dnto froit1 over 2,ñ00 business uni'ts ni1rI over
105,000 employees
 esti ns
1. Do I know x’v hat is ex meeted of me at 'work?

2. Do I have tI›e m atei”iS!4 & equipment I i0eecJ to do my ‹'7ork i ight?

3. At \’vo rk, ‹io I Ilaue the o pj›o rtunity to do \’vInat I do bekt evei-y ‹lay 7

4. In t e I ast 7 day:, have I i-eceived recog nitioin o r pi-aile fo r good \•/oi-k 7

7. At \’vo rk, ‹io my op inioi0k S 'em to cO ulht 7

8. DOWN tlfie p ui- OkP Of my com pany m ake me f»I like my ¥'/o rk is im po rtant7

3. Ai-e my co-\’vo rkei-: com mittecl to doing qfJality \•7oi-k 7

10. E/o I have a I3est friencl at ¥'/oi-k7

11. In th e la st s ix months, h ave I tal keel vv ith some a ne a bo ut my a rogi-esk

12. At \°/ork, have I had opj›ortunities to learn and gro\°/ 7

 auntain imbing
Getting great at what you do
Chapter2
The Wisdom of Great Managers
 Words From the Wise
"Whom did Gallup interview?"

A research through Interviews

- Interviewed over eighty thousand managers.

- Each great manager was interviewed for about an hour and a half, using open-ended questions
- CONCLUSIONS: - Don't have much in common at all.

However, deep within all these variations, there was one insight, one shared wisdom, to which all of
these great managers kept returning.
What Great Managers Know
"What is the revolutionary insight shared by all great managers?"

“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.”
 What Great Managers Do?
"What are the four basic roles of a great manager?"

• Great Managers play a role of Catalyst. The four core activities of

the catalyst role:

Select a person

Set expectations
Motivate the person

Develop the person

• MANAGERS ARE NOT JUST LEADERS-IN-WAITING

 The Four Keys
"How do great managers play these roles?"

When selecting someone, they select for talent. . .

not simply experience, intelligence, or
determination.
When setting expectations, they define the right outcomes . . .
not the right steps.

When motivating someone, they focus on strengths. . .

not on weaknesses.

When developing someone, they help him find the right fit. . .
not simply the next rung on the ladder.
Chapter - 3
The First Key : Select for Talent
 Talent: How Great Managers
Define It
"Why does every role, performed at excellence, require talent?”

TALENT:

"a recurring pattern of thought, feeling, or behavior that can be productively applied."
 The Right Stuff
"Why is talent more important than experience, brainpower, and will power?”

• Conventional wisdom says:

- “Experience makes the difference”.
- “Brainpower makes the difference”.
- “Willpower makes the difference”.

• While experience, brainpower, and willpower all affect performance

significantly, only the presence of the right talents—recurring patterns of
behavior that fit the role—can account for this range in performance. Only
the presence of talents can explain why, all other factors being equal, some
people excel in the role and some struggle. – IT’S ALL BECAUSE OF
THE FILTER.
 The Decade of the Brain
"How much of a person can the manager change?”

he recurring patterns of behavior that it creates, is enduring. In the most important ways people are permanently, wonderf
Skills, Knowledge, and Talents
"What is the difference among the three?"

Talent •
•
Cannot be taught
4- line highways of your mind
• Recurrent patterns of thoughts, feelings, or behaviors
• Difficult to transfer

Can be taught
Skills “ How to do” of a role
Transferable

Knowledge • Can be taught

• Is what you are aware of
• Factual Knowledge and Experiential Knowledge
• Transferable
 Types of Talent
Striving Talents
HY of a person: Why each person is motivated to push and push just the little bit harder.

Thinking Talents
The HOW of a person: How each person thinks, weights alternatives, comes to d

Relating Talents
he WHO of a person: Whom people trust, builds relationships, confronts, ignores.
The World According to Talent
"Which myths can we now dispel?"

MYTH #1: "TALENTS ARE RARE AND SPECIAL"

MYTH #2: "SOME ROLES ARE SO EASY, THEY DON'T REQUIRE TALENT"
Talent: How Great Managers Find It
"Why are great managers so good at selecting for talent?"

KNOW WHAT TALENTS YOU ARE LOOKING FOR

STUDY YOUR BEST

 A Word from the Coach
"John Wooden, on the importance of talent."

John Wooden, the legendary coach of the UCLA Bruins, puts it pragmatically:

"No matter how you total success in the coaching profession, it all
comes down to a single factor—talent. There may be a hundred great
coaches of whom you have never heard in basketball, football, or any
sport who will probably never receive the acclaim they deserve simply
because they have not been blessed with the talent. Although not every
coach can win consistently with talent, no coach can win without it."
Chapter - 4
 The Second Key: Define
the Right
Outcomes

• Managing by Remote Control

• Temptations
• Rules of Thumb
• What Do You Get Paid to Do?
Managing by Remote Control
"Why is it is so hard to manage people well?"

• We actually have less control than the people who report to us.
• Each one has his/her own style.
• People don’t change that much.
• manager's most basic responsibility is to focus people
toward performance.
• Solution - Define the right outcomes and then let each person
find his own route toward those outcomes.
Temptations
"Why do so many managers try to control their people?"

• Temptation 1- “Perfect people.” The allure of control is just too

tempting. So, a manager would find "one best way" and teach it to
all employees.
• Although areas of interest differ, these scientific experts all base their
ideas on the same premise: namely, that each person's uniqueness is
a blemish.
• So everyone must be taught the perfect method, blemishes must be
removed, and person should be perfected.
• Solution - Any attempt to impose the "one best way" is doomed to
fail, so never try to perfect people. Let each one find his own way.
• Temptation 2- “My people don't have enough talent.“
It is tempting to believe that some roles are so
simple that they don't require talent.
• This belief ends up with a hopelessly miscast work
force—thousands of employees who see their role as
demeaning and who can think only of getting out of it
as fast as possible.
• So, their managers respond with strict legislation.
• Solution would be- to start respecting the role
enough to select for talent in the first place.
• Temptation 3- “Trust is precious—it must be earned.“
Some managers are hamstrung by their fundamental
mistrust of people.
• So, they impose rules. They spin a web of
regulations over their world.
• No amount of good behavior in the past will ever truly
convince such managers that people are not just
about to disappoint. Suspicion is a permanent
condition.
• But great managers believe that if you expect the
best from people, then more often than not the best
is what you get.
• Temptation 4: “Some outcomes defy definition.“
Some outcomes are indeed difficult to define. So,
defining the right steps would certainly be one
such way, the managers think.
• For example, employee morale cant just be measured
by competencies defined by the culture, but great
managers believe that we should not legislate in
advance how a manager is to interact with his
people, moment by moment. We should not try to
script culture.
• It would be more effective to identify the few
emotions we want our employees to feel and then
to hold our managers accountable for creating these
emotions. These emotions become outcomes.
Rules of Thumb
"When and how do great managers rely on steps?’
• Rule of thumb 1: “Don't break the bank”- Employees must follow
certain required steps for all aspects of their role that deal with
accuracy or safety.
• Rule of thumb 2: “Standards rule”- Employees must follow required
steps when those steps are part of a company or industry standard.
• Rule of thumb 3 : “Don't let the creed overshadow the message”-
Required steps are useful only if they do not obscure the desired
outcome.
• Rule of thumb 4: "there are no steps leading to
customer satisfaction“- Required steps only prevent
dissatisfaction. They cannot drive customer
satisfaction.
• There are four customer expectations that are being
consistent- Accuracy, Availability, Partnership, Advice.
What Do You Get Paid to Do?
"How do you know if the outcomes are right?"
• #1: What is right for your customers? Whatever we happen to think, if
the customer thinks that a particular outcome isn't valuable, it isn't.
• #2: What is right for your company? Make sure that the outcomes
you define for your people are in line with your company's current
strategy. With the dizzying pace of change in today's business
world, it is sometimes hard for managers to keep track.
• #3: What is right for the individual? Identify a
person's strengths. Define outcomes that play to
those strengths. Find a way to count, rate, or rank
those out comes. And then let the person run.
Chapter - 5
 THIRD KEY:
FOCUS ON STRENGTHS

“Let them become more of who they already are!!”

 CASTING IS EVERYTHING
• If you want to turn talent into performance, you have to position each person so that you are paying her to do what she is
naturally wired to do.
• You have to cast her in the right role.
• Everyone has the talent to be exceptional at something. The trick is to find that "something." The trick is in the CASTING
 MANAGE BY EXCEPTION

THE BEST MANAGERS BREAK THE GOLDEN RULE

EVERYDAY!!
 SPEND THE MOST TIME WITH YOUR
BEST
PEOPLE
No news kills behavior
It is the fairest thing to do
It’s the best way to learn
It’s the only way to reach excellence
HOW TO MANAGE AROUND A WEAKNESS

Find an
alternativ e role
Find a
complementary partner

Devise a support
system

Identify if it is
a weakness or non talent
Chapter - 6
 FOURTH KEY:
FIND THE RIGHT FIT

“Help each person find the right fit”

 THE BLIND BREATHLESS CLIMB
Conventional wisdom persuades most of us that the right answer to
the question
"Where do I go from here?" is "Up.”

Most managers are promoted to their level of incompetence

The problem with climbing the ladder

• Each rung on the ladder represents a

FIRST
FALLACY slightly more complex version of the
previous rung.
SECOND
FALLACY • The conventional career path is condemned
to create competition and conflict

• Conventional wisdom programs employees to

THIRD hunt for marketable skills and climb to the
FALLACY
next rung.
CREATE HEROES IN EVERY ROLE
Set up levels of achievement for each role.
For every role, define pay in broad ranges.
Set up creative acts of revolt (special projects.)
 THE ART OF TOUGH LOVE
Tough love is a mindset
• An uncompromising focus on excellence with a genuine need to care.
• It focuses great managers to confront poor performance early and directly
• It allows them to keep their relationship with the employee intact even if the employee has to be ‘let go’
• Understanding that each person possesses enduring patterns of thought, feeling, and behavior, liberates managers who have
to confront poor performance.
• Why? Because it frees the manager from blaming the employee.
Chapter - 7
Turning the keys:

A Practical Guide
t The art of performance management
Keep the routine SIMPLE

Meet FREQUENTLY: minimum once a quarter

Focus on the FUTURE

Ask employee to keep track of HIS OWN performance and learnings

How to operate if your manager is not quite *perfect‘
What companies can do to create friendly climate for great managers

M]OflOQRM]Rfl#O U
company con use to breob
through ‘conuenl2onal
wisdom’s’ honlcades
End thought

"G reat managers make it all seem so simpli2.

JList select for talent, define the i-ight outcomes, fOCLiS on strengths and then,
as each person gi-ows, encourage him er leer to find tile right fit.
Com yl»ting th»se few steys with »vei-y single employe», your H»yartment,
division or com yany will yi«l‹l pei-ennial ex‹eIl»rice.”
Summary & Learnings -