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

Description

Drawing on a wide body of research, including extensive in-depth interviews, THE ONE THING YOU NEED TO KNOW reveals the central insights that lie at the core of: Great Managing, Great Leadership and Great Careers. Buckingham uses a wealth of relevant examples to reveal that at the heart of each insight lies a controlling insight. Lose sight of this 'one thing' and all of your best efforts at managing, leading, or individual achievement will be diminished. For great managing, the controlling insight has less to do with fairness, or team building, or clear expectations (although all are important). Rather, the one thing great managers know is the need to discover and then capitalize on what is unique about each person. For leadership, the controlling insight is the opposite - discover and capitalize on what is universal to all your people, regardless of differences in personality, race, sex, or age. For sustained individual success, the controlling insight is the need to discover what you don't like doing, and know how and when to stop doing it. In every way a groundbreaking work, THE ONE THING YOU NEED TO KNOW offers crucial performance and career lessons for business people at every level.

Marcus Buckingham spent seventeen years at the Gallup Organization, where he conducted research into the world's best leaders, managers, and workplaces. The Gallup research later became the basis for the bestselling books First, Break All the Rules: What the World's Best Managers Do Differently (Simon & Schuster) and Now, Discover Your Strengths (Free Press), both coauthored by Buckingham. Buckingham has been the subject of in-depth profiles in The New York Times, Fortune, BusinessWeek and Fast Company. He now has his own company, providing strengths-based consulting, training, and e-learning. In 2007 Buckingham founded TMBC to create strengths-based management training solutions for organizations worldwide, and he spreads the strengths message in keynote addresses to over 250,000 people around the globe each year. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife Jane and children Jackson and Lilia. For more information visit: marcusbuckingham.com

""The One Thing You Need to Know" is actually a modest title. It contains many things you need to know. Marcus Buckingham is flat out the most original, provocative writer there is on the subjects of leadership and management. He comes to his theories the old-fashioned way: by truly getting to know the people and the workplaces he writes about. He also happens to be a wonderful writer and a joy to read." -- Tony Schwartz, coauthor of "The Power of Full Engagement;" president, The Energy Project "As I read "The One Thing You Need to Know," for the first time I had the urge to compare someone -- Marcus Buckingham -- to Peter Drucker. Buckingham performs the most magical of acts: He speaks with surpassing common sense, yet reaches profoundly uncommon conclusions. This is a wise -- and radical -- book; a true gem worth savoring."-- Tom Peters "Buckingham is a superb writer and speaker who can make complex ideas crystal clear, cut through to the core insight, and reveal its crucial importance. He has been an inspiration to all of us at Lexus."-- Denny Clements, group vice president and general manager, Lexus U.S. "Given the tremendous complexities of today's business environment and consumer expectations, Marcus Buckingham is able to deliver a clear path of understanding to the simple truths at the heart of managing and leading. The 'one thing' I find invaluable about this book is its unique, challenging examples about how to stay laser focused on operational excellence."-- Robert L. Nardelli, chairman, president, and CEO, The Home Depot, Inc. "Marcus Buckingham has a keen sense of what it takes to excel, and he backs his insights with an impressive body of in-depth interviews and research. This is an important book for anybody who aspires to effective leadership, managing, or any kind of enduring individual achievement."-- Richard M. Kovacevich, chairman, president, and CEO, Wells Fargo and Company