It was about
eleven years after I started Business Navigators that I read chapter 5 and
suddenly it all made sense.
It's the
third key. And that focus has more power than almost anything else.
One day Marcus
Buckingham said to his boss, "I wonder if the Harvard Business School's rules
for Managers still are valid?"
His boss
said, "How would you find out?"
Marcus
replied, "Well, I'd interview some successful Managers and they would tell
me."
Marcus' boss
was Donald O'Clifton, the head of the Gallop poll organization with enormous
interviewing resources who said, "Good Idea, Go Ahead".
Over eighty
thousand Managers in more than four hundred companies were interviewed.
What did
Buckingham discover about 'The Rules for Managers'? The title of his book says it all,
"First, break all the rules".
Great
managers concentrate on four keys after they understand this 'Revolutionary
Insight'.
·
People
don't change that 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
The first
key: Select for Talent
The second
key: Define the Right Outcomes
The third
key: Focus on Strengths
The fourth
key: Find the right fit.
It's that third key that clarified my focus in
consulting. I have been behaving that
way since before I started this business. But, Buckingham's chapter five and
his following book, "Now, Discover Your Strengths" supported, with
facts, something I really believe. Multiplying a person's strengths is more
valuable than trying to reduce their weaknesses and oh yes, a lot more fun!
There is so much of value in this book. Chapter seven: 'Turning the Keys: A Practical
Guide' is a wonderful summary and call for action. I've used the twelve
questions, first mentioned in Chapter 1, with many of the companies I've
served. Those questions are remarkable and the answers from those associates
are extremely telling and most useful.
I've had to purchase new copies of this book over three times
because they keep wearing out.
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