First, Break all the Rules summary

If the key to a successful business is the satisfaction of its employees, then what’s the key to that satisfaction?

The manager.

To become a great manager you must first let go of popular management principles and learn what the essence of your job really is.

The first thing to understand is that a manager is not a leader.

Although all great managers have their own individual styles of management, there is one central maxim they all share:

Every person is unique. They have a unique way of thinking and relating to the world, and are motivated in ways specific to them.

The fact that each person has his or her unique and unchangeable set of behaviors means that, for managers, this must be translated into management guidelines.

This is because each employee’s unique nature plays a crucial role in their individual job performance.

As we have seen, the snug fit of an employee’s talents with company demands contributes greatly to good performance.

But how do great managers find such employees? And how do they decide which qualities they’re looking for?

Gathering a team of talented employees is not enough.Managers must also make sure that employees’ talents are actually put to use properly.

What often gets in the way of achieving this is the conventional career path – a model of progress with many flaws.

Ultimately, the results of management lie in the employees’ performance. For this reason, great managers shift their attention away from controlling employees and onto employees’ performance results and outcomes.

Behind this is the manager’s awareness that they have only limited control over workers. For a start, managers are not the ones who actually do the work that may lead to the results they desire. All they can do is motivate their employees to do it. Thus the manager’s control should be reconceptualized as a mediated form of control – or, “remote control.”

While great managers allow employees to be individuals, that doesn’t mean employees are free to do whatever they wish.

Indeed, in terms of certain aspects, there are some rules employees must adhere to.

Great managers establish successful, personal relationships with employees, and they do this in order to help those employees to develop.

They also spend a lot of time with their best employees, trying to understand not only their talents, but all aspects of their lives. It’s only by knowing their employees this well that great managers are able to choose the right ways to develop them.

Because great managers focus on performance, they immediately address any performance that’s not meeting their expectations.

Rather than drawing hasty conclusions about poor performance, great managers first analyze the situation. For instance, they will try to determine whether poor performance is caused by lack of teachable skills or knowledge. If so, the right training will likely improve performance.

The key message in this book:

Each person has a unique set of talents which make him or her the right fit for a certain job. Successful management encourages and helps employees to develop these innate talents and to become even better at what – thanks to their natural inclinations – they’re already good at.