GATELY CONSULTING Robert F. Gately, PE, MBA 508-634-7748 115 Dutcher Street gately@compuserve.com Fax: 508-634-0670 Hopedale, MA 01747 http://go.ourworld.nu/gately Toll Free: 800-478-8117 The following quotes are from the book "First, Break All The Rules, what the world's greatest managers do differently" by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman of the Gallup Organization. We recommend that you purchase and read it. This memo is based on the book but it should not be a substitute for buying and reading the book. The authors deserve your purchase and you will be rewarded for it. "... the strength of a workplace can be simplified to 12 questions (see page 28): 1. Do I know what is expected of me? 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 every day? 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 that 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 coworkers committed 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 opportunities at work to learn and grow? "the manager—not pay, benefits, perks, or a charismatic corporate leader—was the critical player in building a strong workplace." (page 32) "It tells us that people leave managers, not companies. So much money has been thrown at the challenge of keeping good people—in the form of pay, better perks, and better training—when, in the end, turnover is mostly a manager issue. If you have a turnover problem, look first to your managers." (page 33) "It is better to work for a great manager in an old fashioned company than for a terrible manager in a company offering an enlightened employee– focused culture." (page 34) "...from the employee's perspective, managers trump companies." (page 36) "This company didn't have one culture. It had as many cultures as it did mangers. No matter what the company's intent, each store's culture was a unique creation of the managers and supervisors in the field." (page 38) "People don't change much. Don't waste time trying to put in what was left out. Try to draw out what was left in. That is hard enough." (page 57) "Great managers look inward...Great leaders, by contrast, look outward...Great managers are not simply managers who have developed sophistication." (page 63). "a 'talent' is a recurring pattern of thought, feeling, or behavior that can be productively applied...The emphasis here is on the word 'recurring.' Great managers say 'Your talents are the behaviors you find yourself doing often.'" (page 71) "The key to excellent performance, of course, is finding the match between your talents and your role." (page 71) "Whether the excellence is 'celebrated' or anonymous, great managers know that excellence is impossible without talent." (page 71) "First, you cannot teach talent." (page 73) "Only the presence of talent can explain why, all other factors being equal, some people excel in the role and some struggle." (page 73) "A manager can never breathe motivational life into someone else." (page 92) "Myth #1: Talents are rare and special." (page 93) "Myth #2: Some roles are so easy, they don't require talent." (page 95) "As a manager you need to know exactly what talents you want." (page 101) "The difference between greatness and failure in sales is that the great salesperson is not paralyzed by fear ... the bad salesperson simply feels the fear." (page 103) "Take time to study your best, say great managers. Learn the whys, the hows and the whos of your best and then select for similar talents." (page 103) "Great talents need great managers if they are to be turned into performance." (page 105) "Each employee breathes different psychological oxygen." (page 151) "You cannot learn very much about excellence by studying failure...Excellence is not the opposite of failure." (page 157) "Whereas conventional wisdom views individual specialization as the antithesis of teamwork, great managers know it is the founding principle." (page 173) "In the minds of great managers, consistent poor performance is not primarily a matter of weakness, Quotes from First, Break All The Rules, what the world's greatest managers do differently GATELY CONSULTING Robert F. Gately, PE, MBA 508-634-7748 115 Dutcher Street gately@compuserve.com Fax: 508-634-0670 Hopedale, MA 01747 http://go.ourworld.nu/gately Toll Free: 800-478-8117 stupidity, disobedience, or disrespect. It is a matter of miscasting." (page 209)