Nine Lies About Work: A Freethinking Leader’s Guide to the Real World Hardcover – April 2, 2019

“Lie” is quite a strong & exaggerating word which is used in this book. However, the author has perfectly brought this to our attention. This book will challenge your belief, and all so-called classic theories/ best advice in all-time best-selling books. At first I was confused, but the more I read, the more I realize it is so authentic & practical in this real world. Warnings: This book can give you a slap in your face, for your wake-up.

Leadership is widely praised and poorly practiced. Worse, we often equate leadership with management, a serious mistake. Buckingham and Goodal do a superb job of exposing what many of us already suspected -- all that corporate mumbo-jumbo about culture, planning, performance reviews, and other attempts to exert control aren't just baloney; they're counter-productive. What is actually effective are teams, and leading a team doesn't require as much magic as is commonly believed. In fact, these guys present an almost step-by-step roadmap for successful leadership, and do so in an easily readable and fun book. Importantly, their prescription is backed up by an almost obsolete concept: facts based on research. What they don't cover are the basic traits required to be a superb leader, but Marcus has addressed those in his previous books. Will this book change the dismal way in which corporations treat employees? Nope. But it might result in more highly successful teams. As the authors point out, that turns out to be far more important than the corporate PR nonsense.

This book his so close to home the entire way through. It's one of the few books I am tempted to buy a ton of copies of and just have them to my senior management to read.While it's good the entire way through, the final lie if the book -- regarding leadership -- was worth buying this book for in itself.The ONLY reason I'm giving it 4 and not 5 stars is the writing style... which unfortunately reminded me of my own style. I found it a little too casual with a lot of interventions mid-sentence, a lot of run on sentences, and just odd sentence structures throughout.Highly recommend this book for anyone in the corporate world... At all levels.

Since moving from independent practice of clinical psychology to the corporate world, I have been involved in various aspects of leadership development. I have been a fan of Marcus Buckingham’s work and have probably read all of his earlier books. I just finished reading Nine Lies About Work and believe this is an absolute “must read” for those of us who live in the work world and more importantly for those who are leadership positions and/or provide leadership development programs.I have shared my enthusiasm for this book with many of my colleagues and have also included a warning: Buckingham’s book (and research) challenges many of the ideas believed to be “sacred” in the world of work. For example, he emphasizes the importance of focusing on strengths rather than the need to be “well-rounded” (Lie #4). He presents data indicating that people cannot reliably rate others (e.g., performance reviews, certain assessments and surveys, etc.; Lie #6). And these are just two of the nine lies. I take notes in the back of books and by the time I finished there was no space left for entries secondary to so many key points I want to remember.When I travel I can typically read an entire book. Full disclosure: it has taken me several flights and some dedicated time to read “Nine Lies.” For me, there is much to be consumed and processed and I would encourage slow reading.If there were more than 5 Stars this book would get them!Ed Nottingham, PhD, PCCConsulting and Clinical PsychologistAuthor, It's Not as Bad as It Seems: A Thinking Straight Approach to Happiness

Wish I could make this required compliance reading for our huge organization, which is just now in the throes of decimating reorganization based on several of these lies (notably coercive cascaded goals, constant feedback about deficits, and peer reviews). I will retire in a few years, probably before the well-researched truths of this entirely engaging and highly readable book become accepted concepts. Too bad, because the changed corporate world will be much livelier and worthy of loyalty then.

I've been in business a long time and this book was so refreshing and exhilarating to see that these two wonderful authors are exposing the truth. Whether you are long-time veteran of leadership or just getting started in managing others, you have got to read this book. It's courageous and so freeing to know that many of the social norms of leading others is questionable. Great book!!!!

I’d recommend this to an avid reader willing to take the time to weave around simple and useful points. The examples are okay but as the book goes on, it deviates from examples in the workplace to examples of the greatest leaders in the world. While great, that’s overdone and doesn’t seem practical for workplace application.

There are probably more management help books than there are managers to buy them. Many of them regurgitate a lot of the same principles, albeit with slightly different variations on the theme. But when you mix insight and science you enter a rarefied altitude reserved for the giants in thought leadership. Strange that two of them would have the same first name? The lies resonate, because we all know these lies exist and create friction in the productivity machine. They impact the very fuel that makes things run, engagement. So it is fitting that the foremost expert in employee engagement in the world would bring us yet another octane booster to add to our tank. I am sure that this is a journey and not a destination, and can't wait to early order Malcolm's next book! Zeke Zoccoli EVP &CIO Addus Healthcare

Está lleno de reflexiones trascendentales.

Nice book to read. It validates what you are experiencing as a middle manager vs what you are being told.

Die Autoren stellen die konventionelle Weisheit und gängige Praktiken im heutigen Arbeitsumfeld in Frage und schlagen alternative Perspektiven vor, um Leistung und Engagement im Berufsleben zu verbessern.Zu den Mythen zählt z. B., dass Menschen Feedback benötigen, etc.Sehr erfrischende Darstellung und Aufarbeitung. Ganz klare Leseempfehlung.

Worth

Me gustó mucho este libro. Contradice algunos conceptos muy usados actualmente sobre management, y que tienen mucho sentido para los que trabajamos en este campo. Muchas veces lo que escuchamos sobre las diferentes teorías no parece aplicable en la vida real.