First, Break All the Rules

There’s no shortage of books on management, but many rely too much on conjecture. This book pulls in hard data derived from Gallup's in-depth research, research I respect so much I reference it in my work. It offers a fresh perspective on what separates great managers from the pack.

I especially appreciated the way it focuses on employees' strengths. Any leadership approach that encourages managers to adapt to individuals is one I can get behind. 

In First, Break All the Rules, Buckingham shares a lot of human psychology but more than that, it outlines how we as managers should lead our teams.

For example, golfer Tiger Woods, was one of the best in the world at driving and putting yet in his mid-game he was ranked in the 60s. Guess what his coach had him focus on? Driving and putting. This book reminded me not to be in the human change business.

This book manages to stay timely because it is not about specific aspects of technology or evolving business theories. It’s about challenging conventional thinking, about asking hard questions, about getting raw and real and blunt and pragmatic. This book is radical in giving careful consideration to greed, to solitude, to absenteeism, to total restarts, and to disobedience. It needs to be read slowly and cautiously, but with an open mind toward new thought patterns.