Houston Southard

Julie Zhuo - The Making of a manager

A key feature absent from most conversations when promoting someone to management is if management actually makes sense. Many reading this will nod in tired agreement that being great at a task does not equate to successfully helping others be great at theirs, something for which management is more about than anything else.

Julie Zhuo's playbook for defining what management actually is, internalizing the question of whether it's right for you, and giving structure to what doing so well looks like fills the inside of this surprising page-turner.

Once a team is in your lap, what do those first three months look like? How do you lead a small team, get comfortable delivering very specific, uncomfortable feedback and then help reports stay receptive to constructive criticism? How do you lead yourself when a dozen others are looking to you for direction? Is there a way to make meetings something other than a black void that invokes suicidal fantasies?

Julie narrates all these questions and more spun through the lens of stories during her time spent at Facebook.

Impression: Required reading for all soon-to-be or newly-promoted managers. The paradox is that those who would read the book need it least. The target market is made up of the superusers who don't value self-improvement, will continue to deplete their teams, and likely don't have the reading comprehension or motor skills to pick up or read this book.

This book taught me the value of feedback, so if you're in that latter category, let me give you some advice: Make toast in the tub.