How Do Great Leaders Unlock the Potential of Others?
First, Break All the Rules: What the World’s Greatest Managers do Differently, Marcus Buckingham & Curt Coffman
By: Linnea Nilsen Capshaw
“You cannot build a great team simply by selecting people based on their experiences, intelligence, and determination. Defining the right steps and fixing people’s weaknesses are not the most effective ways to generate sustained performance. And preparing someone for the next rung on the ladder completely misses the essence of “development.”

Remember the revolutionary insight common to great managers:

People don’t change that much.
Don’t waste time trying to put in what was left out.
Try to draw out what was left in.
That is hard enough.

If you apply their insight to the core activities of the (manager’s) catalyst role, this is what you see:

• When selecting someone, they
select for talent…not simply experience, intelligence, or determination.
• When setting expectations, they
define the right outcomes…not the right steps.
• When motivating someone, they
focus on strengths…not on weaknesses.
• When developing someone, they
help him find the right fit…not simply the next rung on the ladder.

We’ve labeled this revolutionary approach, “the Four Keys” of great managers. Taken together, the Four Keys reveal how these managers unlock the potential of each and every employee.”