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by Marcus Buckingham

Marcus Buckingham has spent two decades, including why they’re going to win. For Best Buy CEO Brad
17 years with the Gallup Organization, studying managers and Anderson, this core strength is the quality of frontline
leaders and how they build effective workplaces. His most store employees, so people get the training they need
recent book, The One Thing You Need to Know . . . About to better serve customers.
Great Managing, Great Leading, and Sustained Individual • What is our core measurement? Rather than looking
Success, brings together his thoughts in a well-written and at 15 different metrics, leaders identify the one score
engaging format. Buckingham points out that: “A leader’s that will track people’s progress toward the future.
job is to rally people toward a better future.” The problem, At Best Buy, the core measurement is employee
though, is that motivation can flag because most people fear engagement, based on the Gallup Q12 survey (dis-
the future. So how do leaders “find a way to make people cussed in this textbook).
excited and confident about what comes next”? • What actions can we take right now? Leaders high-
light a few carefully selected actions they can take to
DO ONE THING: BE CLEAR show followers the way to the future. Some actions
are symbolic and demonstrate the leader’s vision of
Clarity, Buckingham contends, it the most effective way to
the future. Others are systemic and compel people to
turn fear into confidence and motivation. Leaders define the
do things differently.
future in such clear and vivid terms—through their actions,
their stories, their heroes, their images, their measurements,
THREE DISCIPLINES OF LEADERS
and their rewards—that everyone can see where the orga-
“Effective leaders don’t have to be passionate or charm-
nization is, where it wants to go, and how they can take it
ing or brilliant,” says Buckingham. “What they must be
there. He offers four points of clarity that leaders address:
is clear.” To find that clarity, leaders develop three dis-
• Who do we serve? Leaders let followers know ciplines. First, they take the time to reflect so they can
precisely whom they are trying to please. General distill complexity into a vivid path to the future. Next, they
Manager Denny Clements, for example makes clear practice the key words, images, and stories they will use
that the only people Toyota’s Lexus Group is trying to describe where they want followers to go. The third
to serve are customers for whom time is their most discipline involves selecting and celebrating heroes in the
precious commodity. Leaders don’t always have to be organization who visibly embody the future. By mastering
right, Buckingham says, because there are often no these three disciplines, leaders can provide clarity for fol-
right answers. They just have to be focused. lowers and engender confidence, motivation, and creativ-
• What is our core strength? People know competi- ity to move toward the desired future.
tion is tough. If leaders expect followers to feel
The One Thing You Need to Know, by Marcus Buckingham, is
confidence about the future, they need to tell them published by Free Press.

By conscientiously implementing changes designed to meet the needs of em-
ployees based on the Q12, leaders dramatically boosted engagement and helped
turn the Medical Center into the leader of Plano’s medical institution pack. How-
ever, they know long-term success depends on continually looking for ways to
maintain high employee motivation. In addition, leaders are expanding their
efforts to measure and increase patient satisfaction and engagement as well.

Other Approaches
There are a number of other approaches to improving organization-wide motiva-
tion. Some of the most common are job enrichment programs, employee owner-
ship, gainsharing, paying for knowledge, and paying for performance. Variable
compensation and various forms of “at risk” pay are key motivational tools today
and are becoming more common than fi xed salaries at many companies.
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