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

by Julie Zhuo

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.”

“Most decisions should probably be made with somewhere around 70% of the information you wish you had. If you wait for 90%, in most cases, you’re probably being slow.”

Every task has a who and a by when.

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?

cultivation of such playbooks: how to run a team meeting, how to close a new hire, how to complete a project on time and on budget.

Success becomes more and more about mastering a few key skills: hiring exceptional leaders, building self-reliant teams, establishing a clear vision, and communicating well.

our collective capabilities extend far beyond what any one of us could have achieved.

To create a shared vision of what’s important, ask yourself two things. The first is, What are the biggest priorities right now for our team? Then, talk about those with your reports and discuss how they might play a role.

Are we aligned in how we think about people, purpose, and process?

Does he understand what you expect of him as a coach for his own reports?

“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.”

the end goal of management is to get better outcomes.

the most important question was, What’s going to make the team more successful over the next few years?

growing great teams means that you are constantly looking for ways to replace yourself in the job you are currently doing.

“Try to double your leadership capacity every year.”

The rule of thumb for delegation goes like this: spend your time and energy on the intersection of 1) what’s most important to the organization and 2) what you’re uniquely able to do better than anyone else.

“What’s unique about your team?” “What are the best and worst parts of your job?” “How are decisions made?” “If you could change one thing about the way the company works, what would that be?”

Culture describes the norms and values that govern how things get done.

Even if you’re not the CEO, your actions reinforce what the company values.

The key is to find the intersection between what your team does well and what you hope the team values.

What are the first three adjectives that come to mind when describing the personality of your team?

What moments made you feel most proud to be a part of your team? Why?

What does your team do better than the majority of othe...

If you picked five random members of your team and individually asked each person, “What does our tea...

How similar is your team’s culture to the broader organ...

When people complain about how things work, what are the top three things that they bring up?

UNDERSTANDING YOUR ASPIRATIONS Describe the top five adjectives you’d want an external observer to use to describe your team’s culture. Why those? Now imagine those five adjectives sitting on a double-edged sword. What do you imagine are the pitfalls that come from ruthless adherence to those qualities? Are those acceptable to you? Make a list of the aspects of culture that you admire about other teams or organizations. Why do you admire them? What downsides does that team tolerate as a result?

Make a list of the aspects of culture that you wouldn’t want to emulate from other teams or companies. Why not?

If you say something is important to you and you’d like the rest of your team to care about it, be the first person to live that value.

have a frank discussion about what we should value and why.

gigantic “customer love” stuffed teddy bear awarded to the person who went above and beyond to help a customer in the past month