About

Marcus Buckingham is the author of two of the best-selling business books of all time, has three of Harvard Business Review’s most circulated, industry-changing cover articles, and has been the subject of in-depth profiles in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Forbes, Fortune, Fast Company, The Today Show, and The Oprah Winfrey Show.

After spending two decades studying excellence at the Gallup Organization and co-creating the StrengthsFinder tool, he built his own Coaching + Education firm, The Marcus Buckingham Company. As CEO, he quickly turned it into a Human Capital Management company working with some of the world’s largest organizations. TMBC was sold to ADP in 2017.

Known as the world’s most prominent researcher on strengths, love and leadership at work, Marcus’s data-based discoveries are unlocking the best in each of us and defining the future of how we work.

He is the author of ten business books, and his latest bestselling release —Love + Work - is now the core of his mission. He is dedicating the next decade to helping individuals and organizations to unlock and focus the most powerful force in business: love.

30M
Strengths Assessments

Over 30 million people have taken the strengths assessment created or co-created by him, StandOut and StrengthsFinder, and discovered the source of their unique strengths.

5M
Readers Across 10 Books

Marcus’s books and articles have radically reshaped the world’s approach to work and performance. Ground-breaking and foundational concepts such as ‘People leave managers, not companies,’ ‘The best leaders focus on strengths and manage around weaknesses,’ ‘Employee engagement drives customer loyalty,’ ‘People crave attention, not feedback,’ ‘Humans cannot reliably rate other humans’ and ‘Love is the most powerful force in business’ were all first introduced in one of Marcus’s books or articles.

250K
Keynote Speech Audience Members

Over the last thirty years Marcus has delivered more than a thousand keynote speeches to global high-achiever and leadership audiences.

Influence & Achievements

Cambridge Departure
Marcus leaves Cambridge University to join the Gallup Organization
1987
Gallup Organization
Marcus studies under Dr Don Clifton in the creation of validated psychometric tools to measure human strengths, employee engagement, and customer loyalty
1987 – 1999
First Break All the Rules
Marcus summarizes Gallup research into great managers in %%First, Break All the Rules%%
1999
StrengthsFinder System
Marcus and Dr. Don Clifton create the StrengthsFinder system and publish %%Now, Discover Your Strengths%%
2001
Gallup Departure
Dr Don Clifton dies. Marcus leaves Gallup.
2003
Trombone Player Wanted
Marcus creates the video series %%Trombone Player Wanted%%
2006
The Marcus Buckingham Company
Marcus founds The Marcus Buckingham Company
2007
The Drucker Institute
Marcus joins the board of the Drucker Institute
2007
Go, Put Your Strengths to Work
Marcus publishes %%Go, Put Your Strengths to Work%%
2007
StandOut Assessment
Marcus creates the StandOut assessment
2010
StandOut Platform
Marcus creates the StandOut platform
2013
StandOut 2.0
Marcus publishes %%StandOut 2.0%%
2015
Rethinking Performance Rankings
Marcus publishes the HBR cover article %%Rethinking Performance Rankings%%
2016
ADP Acquisition
ADP buys the StandOut platform
2017
Nine Lies About Work
Marcus publishes %%Nine Lies About Work%%
2019
The Feedback Fallacy
Marcus publishes the HBR cover article %%The Feedback Fallacy%%
2019
HBR Advisory Board
Marcus joins the HBR editorial advisory board
2020
Love + Work
Marcus publishes %%Love + Work%%
2022
Designing Work People Love
Marcus publishes the HBR cover article %%Designing Work People Love%%
2022
The Buckingham Institute
Marcus creates the Buckingham Institute
2023
Design Love In
Marcus launches Design Love In
2024

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