First, Break All the Rules.
What the World's Greatest Managers Do Differently
Marcus Buckingham & Kurt Coffman - Simon & Schuster, New York, 1999

I started this book while I was sadly in an analytical phase, thinking that it was a scientific research presentation and, while its basis is very much in research, I was pleased to find that it was much more than a cold, analytical statistician's read.

While the Gallup research responsible for this text involved 80,000 managers in over 400 companies, the reported results are presented in a very human form. For a start it moves away from the current focus on "leadership" and returns to the graft of "management". As the title suggests, the findings identify that, while effective managers are hugely different in their backgrounds and styles, they share one common element; they break all the rules typically promoted as underlying management success. The don't believe that a person can achieve everything they set their minds to; they don't try to help people overcome their weaknesses; they consistently disregard the 'golden rule' of treating people as you would be treated; and they play favourites; and the writings explain why.

There are some great gems in this book, and the keys that are proposed to identify great managers are explained and exampled as good common sense.

This is a brilliant book.

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