Latest Marcus Buckingham Quotes from Interviews

Quotes about:

• Getting after this terrible, avoidable waste of human potentiality is what gets me out of bed every morning.

  Marcus Buckingham

  Morning, Bed, Waste

  Source: bobmorris.biz

• You should know that what wakes me up at night, what gets me running fast in the morning, and, frankly, what prompts me to lose any semblance of my habitual reserve is the conviction that work doesn't have to be this grim. We can do better.

  Marcus Buckingham

  Running, Morning, Night

  Source: bobmorris.biz

• We all want the chance to express the very best of ourselves and to be challenged to keep reaching for more. Our time at work affords us this chance - not the only chance, to be sure, but, given that we're there forty or fifty hours a week, it's one of the best.

  Marcus Buckingham

  Fifty, Want, Chance

  Source: bobmorris.biz

• CEOs the world over are fond of pointing to their workforce and saying "Our people are our greatest asset." And yet today, only two out of ten people think their assets are being well used at work.

  Marcus Buckingham

  Thinking, Two, People

  Source: bobmorris.biz

• I need to reach out to people who work for small to mid-sized companies, and help them identify and apply their strengths at work.

  Marcus Buckingham

  People, Needs, Helping

  Source: bobmorris.biz

• Too many of the organizations I have observed resemble a farm in Kansas. They have lots of fences and silos as well as a storm cellar.

  Marcus Buckingham

  Organization, Kansas, Storm

  Source: bobmorris.biz

• The first step is to recognize what you need to know and why you need to know it.

  Marcus Buckingham

  Needs, Firsts, Steps

  Source: bobmorris.biz

• There is no shortage of mechanisms by which to measure almost anything.

  Marcus Buckingham

  Shortage, Mechanism

  Source: bobmorris.biz

• It remains true that great managers recognize individualities and focus on developing strengths rather than weaknesses. Great leaders, in sharp contrast, recognize what is (or could be) shared in common - a vision, a dream, a mission, whatever - and inspire others to join them in the given enterprise.

  Marcus Buckingham

  Dream, Focus, Leader

  Source: bobmorris.biz

• All the great organizations have great managers at all levels who recognize where their culture is getting stronger and where it is getting weaker. There are always reasons why.

  Marcus Buckingham

  Organization, Stronger, Culture

  Source: bobmorris.biz

• If the manager really is the problem, try to get reassigned elsewhere in the organization or start looking for one in which you can play to your strengths.

  Marcus Buckingham

  Play, Organization, Trying

  Source: bobmorris.biz

• Most of the time, our limitations are self-imposed.

  Marcus Buckingham

  Self, Limitation

  Source: bobmorris.biz

• The fact remains that we have an obligation to discover what we really, really, really want to do (which is probably what we do best) and then do it even better... much better.

  Marcus Buckingham

  Want, Facts, Obligation

  Source: bobmorris.biz

• Managers are, and should be, totally responsible for recognizing individual strengths (both natural talents and skills), getting those strengths in proper alignment (i.e. in the right "seats"), and then leveraging them.

  Marcus Buckingham

  Natural Talent, Individual Strength, Skills

  Source: bobmorris.biz

• My point is, people really don't change very much.

  Marcus Buckingham

  People, Don't Change

  Source: bobmorris.biz

• Obviously, you have to know what you need now and what you will soon need, then hire or promote from within to meet those needs.

  Marcus Buckingham

  Needs, Knows

  Source: bobmorris.biz

• People should be hired "as is" and their managers then help them to develop their individual strengths while completing tasks for which they have the greatest aptitude and in which they have the greatest interest.

  Marcus Buckingham

  Individual Strength, People, Tasks

  Source: bobmorris.biz

• As a general rule, people tend to do best what they enjoy doing most.

  Marcus Buckingham

  People, Enjoy

  Source: bobmorris.biz

• Too many companies waste time trying to eliminate their employees' weaknesses when, in fact, they should concentrate on developing their strengths.

  Marcus Buckingham

  Trying, Weakness, Waste

  Source: bobmorris.biz

• There are "four keys" to becoming an excellent manager: finding the right fit for employees, focusing on strengths of employees, defining the right results, and hiring for talent - not just knowledge and skills.

  Marcus Buckingham

  Skills, Keys, Becoming

  Source: bobmorris.biz