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

by Julie Zhuo

MANAGER’S JOB IS TO . . . build a team that works well together, support members in reaching their career goals, and create processes to get work done smoothly and efficiently.

Your job, as a manager, is to get better outcomes from a group of people working together.

The first big part of your job as a manager is to ensure that your team knows what success looks like and cares about achieving it.

For managers, important processes to master include running effective meetings, future proofing against past mistakes, planning for tomorrow, and nurturing a healthy culture.

Your role 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 role 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.

the best outcomes come from inspiring people to action, not telling them what to do.

the feedback inspired you to change your behavior, which resulted in your life getting better.

“Does this feedback resonate with you? Why or why not?”