The Making of a Manager

Julie Zhuo’s “The Making of a Manager” is a refreshingly honest and practical guide about transitioning into management. As someone who has experienced the challenges of leading teams, I found her insights particularly relevant and actionable.

Key Concepts

A great team

• Process, Purpose, People
• As a manager, you need to focus on the above three things to build a great team

What Makes a Great Manager

• Your job is to get better outcomes from a group of people working together
• Success is measured by the success of your team
• Focus on building trust, setting clear context, and giving actionable feedback

The First Three Months

• Build trust with your team through 1:1s
• Learn as much as you can about the team’s work and processes
• Don’t rush to make changes - observe and understand first

Giving Feedback

1. Make feedback specific and actionable
2. Focus on observations, not interpretations
3. Make it a regular practice, not just during performance reviews
4. Balance positive and constructive feedback
5. Provide expectations and goals. Team members need to know what is expected of them and how they can achieve it.

Notable Quotes

“Your job as a manager is not to do the work yourself, even if you are the best at it, because that will only take you so far. Your job is to improve the purpose, people, and process of your team to get as high a multiplier effect on your collective outcome as you can.”

This quote fundamentally changed my view of management - it’s about leverage and enabling others, not being the best individual contributor.

On Decision Making

“The first big part of making good decisions is being clear about what you’re optimizing for.”

This reminds me of the importance of having clear principles and priorities when making decisions.

Personal Takeaways

1. Trust is Foundation: Building trust through consistent behavior and genuine care is crucial
2. Process Matters: Good processes make good outcomes repeatable and scalable
3. Feedback is a Gift: Regular, specific feedback is key to team growth. Esepcially for me, I need to embrace conflict and give hard feedback in real-time.
4. Context over Control: Providing clear context helps team make better decisions independently

Applications

As I continue to grow in my leadership role:

• Implement regular 1:1s with a clear structure
• Try to give feedback in real-time
• Focus on providing context and “why” behind decisions
• Encourage open communication
• Develop processes that scale with team growth

It is a pretty practical book for me to learn how to be a better manager.