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Lector Book Reviews:
Fulcrum Edge offers honest business book reviews for business leaders – by a business leader and business reader. Reviews are focused on whether the book has value for you, not on how well it sold.
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Let me start with: this book reads like virtually all other business books. It presents case examples of real companies with real people, written in language that isn't overly complex and certainly not flourishy, but the comparison to most business books stops there. This book attempts to delve into the area of identifying which characteristics and qualities define a good manager, but in a roundabout, yet appropriate method. The book is not focused on finding ideal chief executive officers or top notch presidents. Instead, "First Break All The Rules" covers all management levels: supervisors, first line managers, middle managers -- the backbone of most organizations -- plus executives.
"First, Break All The Rules" is based on interviews conducted by the famous Gallup Organization. Over 80,000 managers and 400 companies were questioned to determine which management traits appeared to work in their organizations. That's a lot of data. The question is whether this book turns that data into real information for business people. The book developed out of two mammoth research studies conducted by Gallup, involving twenty-five years of work and surveys of over a million employees. The purpose was to ascertain, "What do the most talented employees need from their workplace?" The research results yielded one key discovery, as cited by the authors: Talented employees need great managers. It's this latter point that drove the production of "First, Break All The Rules".
What makes a great manager? Authors Buckingham and Coffman will strive to answer that question for you by presenting solid, compelling examples of great management from front-line supervisors to executives, and then in Chapter Seven provide you with tools to help uncover greatness in your own style. The authors don't try to conjure up trendy new business styles, but instead focus on day-to-day management skills developed by empathetic and creative people. These skills undoubtedly come naturally to some, but can be nurtured in most, if the supervisor is willing to adopt some of their suggestions.
Although the authors present tips in the time-honored business book format of numbered suggestions, keys and questions, their ideas are backed up by empirical data. I admit I may be biased. When I read "First, Break All The Rules" I felt many of my own, sometimes criticized organizational management philosophies had been vindicated in print. I like Buckingham and Coffman's results. I even reference their book in some of my talks. But the truth is, their discoveries work. It's difficult to argue against tens of thousands of interviews.
In a time when many businesses strive for treating everyone exactly the same, this book screams out that great managers should not. Surely, managers must treat workers fair and equal, but great managers have learned how to gain the most out of their people by individualizing the rewards for work. After reading "First, Break All The Rules", you will undoubtedly recognize how to find the individual greatness in every employee. The challenge will then be up to you.
Copyright 2004 - Fulcrum Edge, Inc. All rights reserved.
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