Just a day earlier, we had both been designers on the same team, sitting in our adjacent pods, working on our respective projects while lobbing rapid-fire design feedback across the aisle. I could see him through the windowed door of the conference room-the same one I had met my manager in previously-eyes glued to his phone. This is a terrible start, I thought to myself. I arrived five minutes past our scheduled time, in a rush and flustered by my lateness. I remember my first meeting with a direct report. I got along with everyone. Surely there was more to management than that. It was only later, walking out of the room, that I thought about the details of what she had said. I wasn’t about to turn down that kind of invitation. I mean, this was a promotion, wasn’t it? Everyone knows this conversation was the equivalent of Harry Potter getting a visit from Hagrid on a dark and stormy night, the first step in an adventurous and fulfilling career. All that I knew of management could be neatly summarized into two words, meetings and PROMOTION. I was twenty-five, working at a start-up. “We need another manager, and you get along with everyone. “Our team is growing,” my manager explained. We were sitting in a ten-person conference room, kitty-corner from each other.

It was unexpected, like going for your daily run and tripping over a pirate chest. I remember the meeting when my manager asked me to become a manager. 'synopsis' may belong to another edition of this title. Whether you're new to the job, a veteran leader, or looking to be promoted, this is the handbook you need to be the kind of manager you wish you had. * Where to look when you lose faith and lack the answers * How to build trust with your reports through not being a boss * When you should look past an awkward interview and hire someone anyway * How to tell a great manager from an average manager (illustrations included) The Making of a Manager is a modern field guide packed everyday examples and transformative insights, including: If you care enough to be reading this, then you care enough to be a great manager. Now, having managed dozens of teams spanning tens to hundreds of people, Julie knows the most important lesson of all: great managers are made, not born. How was she supposed to spin teamwork into value? How could she be a good steward of her reports' careers? What was the secret to leading with confidence in new and unexpected situations? She stared at a long list of logistics-from hiring to firing, from meeting to messaging, from planning to pitching-and faced a thousand questions and uncertainties. That's exactly how Julie Zhuo felt when she became a rookie manager at the age of 25.

Congratulations, you're a manager! After you pop the champagne, accept the shiny new title, and step into this thrilling next chapter of your career, the truth descends like a fog: you don't really know what you're doing.

The making of a manager book