First, Break All the Rules by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman

In the best-seller First, Break All the Rules, authors Buckingham and Coffman from the Gallup organization assert that great managers do four activities extremely well: select people, set expectations, motivate and develop. Their research (in-depth interviews with over 80,000 managers in more than 400 companies) supports the findings of Baltimore consultants Objective Management Group, which concludes that a top manager with at least eight revenue-producing reports in a growing organization will focus 80% of their time on the following activities: recruiting, accountability, motivation and coaching.