The One Thing You Need to Know: About Great Managing, Great Leading, and Sustained Individual Success »

Marcus Buckingham, graduated from Cambridge University in 1987, with a master's degree in social and political science. During his seventeen years with The Gallup Organisation, Buckingham helped lead research into the world's best leaders, managers, and workplaces. He drew on this research and used it as the basis for two bestselling books: First, Break All the Rules: What the World,s Best Managers Do Differently and Now, Discover Your Strengths, of which he was both the writer and the principal author. Buckingham is considered one of the world's leading authorities on employee productivity and the practices of leading and managing. He lives with his wife and two children in Los Angeles, USA.

Utilizing a wide range of examples of personal achievement from Rudolph Giuliani to successful Walgreen's clerk, Manjit Kaur, Buckingham, an independent consultant, author, and speaker, examines three aspects he considers fundamental to this achievement: "great" managing, "great" leading, and career success. As well, the author explores "core insight" and its ramifications in decision making, using research from his own data and interviews. Designed for business professionals. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Library Journal

Following up on his first two best sellers (First, Break All the Rules; Now, Discover Your Strengths), Buckingham continues in the same vein, this time trying to quantify what makes a successful manager, leader, or even spouse. While occasionally referencing his earlier works, he concentrates on three key areas: management, leadership, and personal success. Much of the text boils down to essential truisms that are not very helpful in themselves, e.g., "discover your strengths and cultivate them." However, by using well-chosen case studies to illustrate his points and by writing in an enjoyable fashion, Buckingham succeeds in creating another book that will connect with readers and encourage them to succeed in leadership positions. Recommended for business collections in both academic and public libraries.-Susan Hurst, Miami Univ. Libs. of Ohio, Oxford Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Contents

1: A Few Things You Should Know About the "One Thing"

"Get me to the core": "If you dig into a subject deeply enough, what do you find?"

A lifetime of "why"s: "What drove this book?"

The tests for the "one thing": "Why are some explanations more powerful than others?"

One controlling insight: "What is the One Thing you need to know about happy marriage?"

Part I

The One Thing You Need to Know

Sustained Organizational Success

2: Managing and Leading: What's the Difference?

A vital distinction: "Are they different? Are they both important? Can you do both?"

A view from the middle: "What do great managers actually do and what talents do you need to do it?"

A view from the top: "What do great leaders actually do and what talents do you need to do it?"

3: The One Thing You Need to Know: Great Managing

The basics of good managing: "What skills will prevent you from failing as a manager?"

Great managers play chess: "What is the One Thing you need to know about great managing?"

A walk through a walgreens: "How does one truly great manager do it?"

Great managers are romantics: "What are the benefits of individualization?"

The three levers: "What are the three things you need to know about a person in order to manage him or her effectively?"

The most useful questions: "How can you identify these levers?"

4: The One Thing You Need to Know: Great Leading

A leader wins our loyalty: "What did Giuliani say to calm ourfears?"

Five fears, five needs, one focus: "What are the universals of human nature?"

The points of clarity: "Where are your followers crying out for clarity?"

The disciplines of leadership: "How do the best leaders achieve this clarity?"

Part II: The One Thing You Need to KnowSustained Individual Success

5: The Twenty Percenters

Dave, Myrtle, and Tim: "What does sustained individual success look like?"

The early contenders: "What explanations seem like the One Thing, but aren't?"

What is sustained success?: "It's a broad term. How do we define it?"

6: The Three Main Contenders

Contender 1: "Find the right tactics and employ them."

Contender 2: "Find your flaws and fix them."

Contender 3: "Discover your strengths and cultivate them."

7: So, How Do You Sustain Success If...?

You're bored

You're unfulfilled

You're frustrated

You're drained

Conclusion: Intentional Imbalance

Acknowledgments