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

By Marcus Buckingham

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.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
• Release date: Sep 4, 2008
• ISBN: 9781847396235

Marcus Buckingham

Marcus Buckingham’s bestselling books have sold more than four million copies. The world's foremost thought leader on strengths and performance, Marcus relentlessly seeks the fundamental truths that help people unleash their greatest potential. He began his career as a researcher at Gallup, spending two decades studying excellence in leaders and teams. In 2006, he launched the Marcus Buckingham Company, which delivers education, coaching, and HR technology to some of the world’s most prestigious firms. Marcus has been profiled in Harvard Business Review, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Fortune, and Fast Company and has worked with companies such as Facebook, Cisco, Deloitte, Hilton, Lululemon, and The Walt Disney Company.

Reviews for The One Thing You Need to Know

[porch_reader · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I like complexity. That's the reason (one of the reasons) that I'll likely never write a best-selling management book. Buckingham, on the other hand, is a master at simplifying things and providing concise advice about managing, leading, and succeeding. I can see the benefits to his focused approach. I finished this book with a clear understanding of Buckingham's keys to great management (capitalize on employees' strengths), leadership (provide focus and clarity about the future), and individual success (play to your own strengths and avoid your weaknesses). And it's not that I disagree with any of these basic pieces of advice. However, as you'll see if you've read any of his other management books, Buckingham repeats a number of familiar themes in this book. Further, he sometimes ignores the other side of basic arguments. For example, he adamantly states that great leaders are born, not made. My reading of the research literature on leadership suggests that there is evidence to support both sides of that argument; however, Buckingham provides only examples that support his side. Some of these examples were quite interesting and may prove useful to those attempting to improve their management, leadership, and individual performance. But, in the end, I felt that Buckingham erred on the side of oversimplifying a complex topic.

[jpsnow · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I've read the book, seen his presentation, and highly recommend his approach to personal success and leadership.