First, Break All the Rules: What the World's Greatest Managers Do Differently

by Marcus Buckingham

Engaged workers view the world differently than disengaged workers do because they have managers who develop their strengths rather than fixate on their weaknesses.

the best a manager can do is to make each person comfortable with who they are. Look, we all have insecurities. Wouldn’t it be great if, at work, we didn’t have to confront our insecurities all the time?

people want to feel understood. Treating them differently is part of helping them feel unique.

If you expect the best of people, they’ll give you the best.

Never pass the buck. Never say, “I think this is a crazy idea, but corporate insists.” Passing the buck may make your little world easy, but the organism as a whole, sorry, the organization as a whole, will be weakened.

Make very few promises to your people, and keep them all.

A manager has got to remember that he is on stage every day. His people are watching him. Everything he does, everything he says, and the way he says it, sends off clues to his employees. These clues affect performance. So never forget you are on that stage.

A question where everyone always answers “Strongly Agree” is a weak question.

We had discovered that the manager — not pay, benefits, perks, or a charismatic corporate leader — was the critical player in building a strong workplace. The manager was the key.

If you have a turnover problem, look first to your managers.

The manager role is to reach inside each employee and release his unique talents into performance.

select a person, set expectations, motivate the person, develop the person. These four activities are the manager’s most important responsibilities.

You must know on which parts of a job you will enforce conformity and on which parts you will encourage your employee to exercise her own style.

Your filter, more than your race, sex, age, or nationality, is You.

Talents are the four-lane highways in your mind, those that carve your recurring patterns of thought, feeling, or behavior.