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Is there really a silver bullet? Did all Buckingham's years of research into what makes successful people successful finally uncover the one true thing you need to know to be a great manager, or a great leader, or how to sustain individual success?
I won't spoil it for you by revealing here in my review that one thing. That would be like me revealing the punch-line before I tell you the joke or telling you how the movie ends before selling you a ticket. But I will recommend this book as a must-read for anyone who has aspirations of joining the ranks of "managementdom" - the managerial kingdom.
I'm a behaviouralist by training so I enjoyed reading Buckingham's "take" on how to effectively manage or lead people by understanding their natural style. (For those of you who have scored a Myers-Briggs Type Indicator or used any number of personal behavioural assessments tools, you'll know where I'm coming from.) Buckingham believes, as I do, that managers spend way too much time trying to work on their staff's weak points instead of discovering what they do really well and then putting them into positions where they will succeed. As Buckingham points out, "You have to motivate people by focusing on their strengths and managing around their weaknesses".
Be sure to check out Part II of Buckingham's book where he talks about how to sustain individual success. He suggests you take a moment every three months or so to ask yourself one question: "What percentage of your day do you spend doing those things you really like to do?" (What a great question!) He goes on to say that if you are not spending at least 70% of your time doing the things you love doing, identify the things getting in your way and do whatever it takes to remove them. Steve Jobs of Apple fame asks himself this question to stay on track: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" If he answers no to that question too many days in a row, then he knows he needs to change something.
George Bernard Shaw was once quoted as saying, "I don't believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can't find them, make them." I believe the one thing you need to know more than anything is to know yourself. "The greatest discovery of our generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes," said William James. I believe that attitude, your attitude, is everything. If you want to be great at managing, leading or controlling your own success then you must think "successful" and act "successful", and then you will become it. I recommend that you buy this book and then go out and implement your plan.
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