The Making of a Manager: What to Do When Everyone Looks to You

by Julie Zhuo

“Plans are worthless, but planning is everything,”

It’s not our core competency, and we’ll probably end up spending double the time for 80 percent the quality of what a specialized team could do.

Just like you wouldn’t send an army’s cavalry on a spying mission, you shouldn’t create a plan that doesn’t match what your team is well suited for.

The plan that is smartest for your team is the one that acknowledges your relative strengths and weaknesses.

Focus on Doing a Few Things Well

“Few people take objectives really seriously. They put average effort into too many things, rather than superior thought and effort into a few important things. People who achieve the most are selective as well as determined.”

When forming a new team, managers try to hire the leaders or “anchors” before the rest of the group.

Prioritization is key, and it’s an essential managerial skill.

“If I could only achieve one goal, which would it be?”

Effort doesn’t count; results are what matter.

“People think focus means saying yes to the thing you’ve got to focus on. But that’s not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully. I’m actually as proud of the things we haven’t done as the things I have done. Innovation is saying no to 1,000 things.”

When ownership isn’t clear, things slip through the cracks.

“Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.”

if you divide your plan up into smaller chunks and focus on your next milestone—finishing the task at hand, preparing for that next meeting, getting

Treat big projects like a series of smaller projects.

Worry about what’s in front of you—don’t worry yet about what’s months or years ahead. Then work with your team to set realistic and ambitious target dates for each milestone.

Ask people to set and publicly commit to their weekly goals—this

The most frustrating will be the ones where you don’t learn anything because it’s not clear whether the issue is with strategy or execution.

Executing well means that you pick a reasonable direction, move quickly to learn what works and what doesn’t, and make adjustments to get to your desired outcome.

Lists of projects or tasks are prioritized from most to least important, with the higher-up items receiving more time and attention. There is an efficient process for decision-making that everyone understands and trusts. The team moves quickly, especially with reversible decisions.

The team is resilient and constantly seeking to learn.

North Star that guides every team’s decision-making.

start by understanding the bigger picture. What problems are you hoping to solve with what you’re doing? How do you imagine people will get value out of your work? Based on that, what are the most important priorities for the team now?

Take a Portfolio Approach

“Which option moves us closer toward the future that we want?”

how important it was to communicate a clear vision and to foster a deep sense of purpose within his team.

debriefs

You invite the team to come together for an hour or two to reflect on what happened. What went well, what didn’t go well, and what would the team do differently next time?

outcome wasn’t good, debriefs help you avoid the same mistakes in the future.

Instead, consider it an opportunity to mine the experience for future lessons. To

language that takes collective accountability instead of pointing fingers

a resilient organization isn’t one that never makes mistakes but rather one whose mistakes make it stronger over time.

a playbook that lays out in clear detail what all the right steps are given the current variables.

how to run a team meeting, how to close a new hire, how to complete a project on time and on budget.

crowdsourcing technique,

How to Submit a Highlight for the Weekly Digest.

“No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it is not the same river and he is not the same man.” Every challenge is like crossing such a river. Investigate the stepping-stones, the currents, the hidden eddies. And then, once you make your plan, take that first step to get to the other side.

“I may be totally wrong here, so tell me if you disagree. My opinion is . . .” You can also ask directly for advice: “If you were me, what would you do in this situation?”

scanning through my calendar every morning and preparing for each meeting, developing a robust note-taking and task-management system, finding pockets for reflection at the end of every week.

You can’t do everything, so you must prioritize.

Perfectionism is not an option.

hiring exceptional leaders, building self-reliant teams, establishing a clear vision, and communicating well.

When things get rocky, your team feels like the Wild West, a place with no rules because there’s no sheriff in town.

Delegating well is far from an exact science, but there are a few guiding principles that we’ll explore next.

the most talented employees aren’t looking for special treatment or “easy” projects. They want to be challenged. There is no greater sign of trust than handing your report an intricately tangled knot that you believe she can pull apart, even if you’re not sure how.

What are the biggest priorities right now for our team?

you and your reports should discuss how everyone can do their part to ensure things go smoothly.

what matters to you when it comes to team building? Does he understand what you expect of him as a coach for his own reports? Do you see eye to eye on which of his team members are knocking it out of the park and which aren’t meeting expectations?

“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood,

divide the work, and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.”