Darby Thompson

            Over the last twenty-five years, the Gallup Organization has sought to measure success among the world’s best managers. Researchers and interviewers expected to find common patterns in organizational skills, leadership styles, hiring methods, etc. Surprisingly, they did not.

            In First, Break All the Rules, Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman describe the discoveries made by Gallup’s cross-industry study of 80,000 managers in over 400 companies. After defining the “measuring stick” of the twelve questions that Gallup asked each manager, Buckingham and Coffman reveal the secret of successful managers: They are all different.

            The best managers do not follow any certain set of general guidelines. Rather, they adapt well to their respective work environments and work diligently to form individualized professional relationships with those whom they are expected to lead. The Gallup Organization did, however, find four main components in which the absolute best managers all exemplified extraordinary success. Although each manager had his/her own strategies and tactics, success was evident in what Buckingham and Coffman label “The Four Keys.” These keys are: selecting for talent, defining the right outcomes, focusing on strengths and finding the right fit.

            To conquer these proven steps to success, Buckingham and Coffman suggest that managers should “break the Golden Rule.” This book implies that managers should treat their employees as they deserve to be treated rather than how they would like to be treated. It almost sounds like something Frederick Taylor would say in his quest for supreme efficiency, but the advice that is offered in First, Break All the Rules is actually rather Druckeresque.

            Peter Drucker focused on relationships and the ways in which a given organization could bring out the best in its employees. This book would win Drucker’s approval because it encourages managers to focus on strengths, acknowledge accomplishments and personally recognize those who excel in the workplace. Like Drucker, Buckingham and Coffman believe that “everyone has the talent to be exception at something.” The trick, they say, “is to find that something” by hiring, motivating and retaining the right people.

            I would absolutely recommend this book to other public relations students because its message is so pertinent to the public relations industry—people matter. First, Break All the Rules emphasizes the necessary components in building strong professional relationships. These relationships benefit leaders of all kinds, but public relations practitioners especially need to follow this leadership advice as it will lead to better networks, stronger teams and successful companies and/or organizations.