Marcus Buckingham: Best-selling author and researcher on strengths and engagement; spent 17 years at Gallup co-creating StrengthsFinder, now heads the ADP Research Institute and wrote 'Love and Work'.
What this episode covers
Marcus Buckingham tells Stephen Bartlett how he overcame a severe childhood stammer by pretending to speak to 400 people, an unlock that revealed his love of public speaking. He argues each person has a unique neural wiring, that strengths are activities that strengthen you (not just what you're good at), and that you cannot rewire your brain to become someone else. Drawing on decades of Gallup and ADP research, he shows employee engagement hinges on person-work fit and trusting your team leader, and that companies have as many cultures as they have teams. He critiques feedback, performance reviews, and promoting people out of roles they love, and shares how he had panic attacks running Gallup's Disney account in a loveless role. He closes with research on what makes romantic relationships work: rose-tinted glasses, generous explanations, and weaving a partner's quirks into red threads.
The guest's own work
Love and Work
Marcus Buckingham
“why did you call the book love and work why the word love in particular”— Marcus Buckingham
First, Break All the Rules
Marcus Buckingham
“so your first book is called first break all the rules and you really highlight the importance of employee satisfaction”— Marcus Buckingham
Also referenced (named, not recommended)
Eloqua
Oracle
“somebody who's really good at creating emails that people open you might go eloqua we'll teach you eloqua we'll teach you that competency”— Marcus Buckingham
Big reveals from this episode
- Buckingham cured his lifelong stammer in a week by pretending he was talking to 400 people whenever he spoke to one.
- A strength is any activity that strengthens you and a weakness is any that weakens you, regardless of how good you are at it.
- Companies do not have one culture; they have as many cultures as they have teams, with huge variation team to team.
- The best managers don't give feedback; they give their reaction, because no one knows the truth about you better than you.
- Buckingham had years of panic attacks running Gallup's Disney account because the role forced him to manage others' emotions, work he loathed.
- The Mayo Clinic threshold: doctors and nurses need at least 20% of their activities to be things they love to avoid burnout.
- Research on happy marriages: the best partners rate you high on everything (rose-tinted glasses), seek the most generous explanation, and never weaponize your weaknesses.
Worth remembering
- Gallup was founded by George Gallup, inventor of polling; a carefully selected representative sample of 10,000 predicts better than 100,000 skewed people.
- The most empathetic people all answer 'how do you know you're listening well?' with: when the other person keeps talking.
- The best salespeople react with anger when doubted ('it pisses me off'), while the best teachers welcome a student's doubt.
- In US hospitals the average span of control is one nurse supervisor to 60 nurses, leaving no real teams.
- Nurses are the least resilient profession and teachers second, despite both having the clearest sense of purpose.
- The oldest known human art, a ~44,000-year-old cave mural in Sulawesi, depicts a team of differently-talented hunters as half-human half-animal figures.
- People in a flow state share the same brain chemicals as romantic love: vasopressin, oxytocin, norepinephrine, plus anandamide for wonder and awe.
- 73% of Americans say they could maneuver their job to fit them better, but only 18% actually use their strengths every day.