The Making of a Manager
What to Do When Everyone Looks to You
Book Edition Details
Summary
In the whirlwind of your career ascent, you find yourself clutching a managerial title and grappling with a sea of uncertainties. Julie Zhuo knows this all too well; at 25, she stood exactly where you are now, overwhelmed yet determined. "The Making of a Manager" is your indispensable companion, transforming chaos into clarity with its vivid insights and practical wisdom. Journey through the maze of management with Zhuo’s field-tested guidance, from hiring decisions that defy first impressions to cultivating unshakeable trust within your team. Here, the art of leadership unfolds not as an innate gift, but as a craft honed through experience. Whether you're stepping into your first leadership role or aiming to enhance your seasoned approach, this book promises to illuminate the path to becoming the manager you aspire to be—one thoughtful decision at a time.
Introduction
Picture this: you've just been promoted to manage your first team, or perhaps you're struggling with a group that seems impossible to motivate. The weight of responsibility feels overwhelming, and you're wondering if you have what it takes to truly lead others. Here's the truth that will transform your entire approach to leadership: exceptional management isn't an inherited gift reserved for a chosen few. It's a learnable craft that begins with understanding three fundamental pillars—purpose, people, and process—and grows through deliberate practice, authentic relationships, and the courage to embrace your own humanity while guiding others toward their best work.
Building Trust and Leading Small Teams
Trust forms the invisible foundation upon which all great management is built. Without it, even the most well-intentioned efforts crumble into ineffective gestures that fail to inspire real change or commitment from your team members. Julie discovered this lesson during one of her early management experiences when she sat across from a report who seemed increasingly distant and guarded. Despite her attempts to be supportive, she sensed something was wrong. The turning point came when she asked directly about their working relationship, and her report took a deep breath before sharing a difficult truth: "Sometimes I get the feeling that when I'm doing well, you're on my side and the two of us are great. But when I'm not doing as well, our relationship suffers, and I don't feel that you trust me as much." This single piece of feedback completely transformed Julie's understanding of what it meant to truly support someone. The conversation that followed became a masterclass in building authentic trust. Rather than becoming defensive, Julie listened deeply and acknowledged the validity of her report's perception. She realized that her support had been conditional, fluctuating based on performance rather than remaining steady as a foundation for growth. This revelation led her to fundamentally shift how she approached every relationship on her team, ensuring that her care and respect remained unwavering regardless of temporary setbacks or challenges. To build this kind of trust, start by creating space for honest conversations in your one-on-one meetings. Ask questions that invite vulnerability: "What's the most challenging thing you're working on right now?" or "How can I better support you?" Listen without immediately jumping to solutions, and share your own struggles and growth areas. When someone brings you a problem, thank them for their transparency before working together on solutions. Remember that trust is built through consistency over time. Show up reliably for your commitments, admit when you don't have answers, and demonstrate through your actions that you value each person's success above your own convenience. The strongest teams emerge when every member knows their manager genuinely cares about their growth and will stand by them through both triumphs and difficulties.
Mastering Feedback and Self-Management
Effective feedback represents one of management's most powerful tools, yet it requires both courage and skill to deliver in ways that truly inspire positive change and growth in others. Julie learned this lesson through a frustrating experience with a team member named George, who had a tendency to be long-winded in presentations. After giving him feedback about being more concise, she felt satisfied that she'd done her job as a manager. However, when George presented again a few weeks later, the same problem persisted. When she asked why he hadn't worked on simplifying his communication, George showed her how he had added a table of contents and reorganized his material. He genuinely thought he had addressed her concerns, but the fundamental issue remained unchanged. This experience taught Julie a crucial truth about feedback: it only matters if it actually helps people improve. George had heard her message but didn't understand what "being concise" meant in practical terms. The problem wasn't his motivation or intelligence—it was that her feedback lacked the specificity and clarity needed for meaningful action. She realized that pointing out problems isn't enough; effective feedback must create a clear path toward better performance. To give feedback that creates real change, focus on specific behaviors and outcomes rather than vague generalities. Instead of saying "be more strategic," describe exactly what strategic thinking looks like in your context. Paint a clear picture of success by using concrete examples, and when pointing out areas for improvement, explain not just what needs to change but why it matters and how to achieve it. Always follow up your feedback with suggested next steps, and check for understanding by asking the recipient to explain what they plan to do differently. Remember that the best feedback feels like a gift rather than criticism—it should leave people feeling empowered and equipped to grow, not defensive or confused about how to move forward.
Creating Systems That Scale
The transition from managing individuals to building scalable systems marks a critical evolution in leadership, requiring you to think beyond immediate problems toward creating frameworks that enable consistent success across your entire organization. When Julie's team grew beyond the size where everyone could fit comfortably in their regular critique meeting, she faced a moment that every scaling manager encounters. What had once been a simple, effective process suddenly became unwieldy and frustrating for everyone involved. With ten people wanting to present but time for only half that number, she realized that the old approaches wouldn't work anymore. Rather than forcing the existing system to accommodate more people, she stepped back to examine the fundamental purpose of their gatherings and redesigned the entire approach. The solution involved breaking the large group into smaller, more focused sessions while creating new mechanisms for sharing insights across the broader team. They developed documentation practices that captured the key learnings from each session and established rotating leadership so that different team members could guide discussions based on their expertise. This wasn't just about logistics—it was about creating systems that could grow and adapt as the team continued to expand. Begin by identifying the core outcomes you need from any process, then design flexible frameworks that can accommodate growth without losing effectiveness. Document your successful approaches so they can be replicated and improved over time. Create feedback loops that help you identify when systems are becoming strained, and establish clear criteria for when it's time to evolve or replace existing processes. Most importantly, involve your team in designing these systems. The people closest to the work often have the best insights into what will actually function in practice. When everyone contributes to creating the frameworks they'll use, you build both better systems and stronger buy-in for making them successful.
Growing Teams and Nurturing Culture
Culture isn't something you create once and preserve—it's a living, breathing aspect of your team that requires constant attention, intentional choices, and the courage to consistently embody the values you want to see flourish. Sheryl Sandberg demonstrated this principle through her relentless focus on "hard conversations" at Facebook. Rather than mentioning this concept once or twice, she wove it into the fabric of company culture by talking about it consistently across every forum—company meetings, Q&A sessions, casual dinners, and one-on-one conversations. She would ask people to raise their hands if they'd had a difficult conversation recently and share stories from her own experiences of working through conflict productively. This wasn't repetition for its own sake; it was strategic culture building through persistent, authentic messaging. The impact was profound and lasting. "Hard conversations" became part of Facebook's vocabulary and operating system. Employees learned to address tension directly rather than letting resentment fester, and the organization developed a reputation for transparency and direct communication. Sheryl's approach showed that culture isn't built through mission statements or posters on walls—it's created through the daily choices leaders make and the behaviors they consistently reward and reinforce. To shape your team's culture intentionally, start by identifying the three to five values that matter most to you and your organization's success. Then commit to talking about these values regularly, using different examples and contexts to make them memorable and actionable. Share your own struggles and growth in these areas, showing vulnerability and authenticity rather than perfection. Most critically, ensure that your actions align perfectly with your stated values. People watch leaders closely for signs of hypocrisy, and any disconnect between what you say and what you do will undermine trust faster than almost anything else. When you make mistakes, acknowledge them openly and use them as teaching moments for the entire team. The strongest cultures emerge when everyone understands that growth, not perfection, is the ultimate goal.
Summary
Management is fundamentally about multiplication—taking your own capabilities and multiplying them through the talents, energy, and commitment of others. As Julie learned throughout her journey, "Great managers are made, not born," and the path to exceptional leadership lies not in having all the answers but in cultivating the relationships, systems, and culture that enable extraordinary collective achievement. The most powerful insight is perhaps the simplest: when you genuinely care about helping others succeed and create environments where people can do their best work, remarkable outcomes naturally follow. Start today by having one authentic conversation with someone on your team, listening deeply to their challenges and aspirations, and offering your support in making their work more meaningful and impactful.
Related Books
Download PDF & EPUB
To save this Black List summary for later, download the free PDF and EPUB. You can print it out, or read offline at your convenience.
By Julie Zhuo
