This article is based on the following book:
First, Break All The Rules
?What The World?s Greatest Managers Do Differently?
By Marcus Buckingham & Curt Coffman
Simon & Schuster
271 pages

Based on a mammoth research study conducted by the Gallup Organization involving 80,000 managers across different industries, this book explores the challenge of many companies - attaining, keeping and measuring employee satisfaction. Discover how great managers attract, hire, focus, and keep their most talented employees!

Key Ideas:

1. The best managers reject conventional wisdom.
2. The best managers treat every employee as an individual.
3. The best managers never try to fix weaknesses; instead they focus on strengths and tallent.
4. The best managers know they are on stage everyday. They know their people are watching every move they make.
5. Measuring employee satisfaction is vital information for your investors.
6. People leave their immediate managers, not the companies they work for.
7. The best managers are those that build a work environment where the employees answer positively to these 12 Questions:
   1. Do I know what is expected of me at work?
   2. Do I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right?
   3. At work, do I have the opportunity to do what I do best everyday?
   4. In the last seven days, have I received recognition or praise for doing good work?
   5. Does my supervisor or someone at work seem to care about me as a person?
   6. Is there someone at work who encourages my development?
   7. At work, do my opinions seem to count?
   8. Does the mission/purpose of my company make me feel my job is important?
   9. Are my co-workers coommitted to doing quality work?
   10. Do I have a best friend at work?
   11. In the last six months, has someone at work talked to me about my progress?
   12. This last year, have I had the opportunity at work to learn and grow?