Monday, August 5, 2019

读书笔记 - The Making of a Manager


This is a book written by Julie Zhuo to help new managers get on the right track about what to do when everyone looks to you. Julie talks about almost every aspect as a manager in daily work, including leading a small team, giving feedback, managing self, having meetings, hiring, growth, achievements, and culture.

Great managers are made, not born
  • This is how anything in life goes: You try something. You figure out what worked and what didn't. You file away lessons for the future. And then you get better. Rinse, repeat.
  • You need to understand the whys of management, because only when you've bought into the whys can you truly be effective in the hows.
  • Much of the daily work of managers - giving feedback, creating a healthy culture, planning for the future - is universal. 
  • Good design at its core is about understanding people and their needs in order to create the best possible tools for them.
What is management?
  • Your job, as a manager, is to get better outcomes from a group of people working together.
  • The crux of management is the belief that a team of people can achieve more than a single person going it alone.
  • Looks at the team's present outcomes, asks whether we've set up for great outcomes in the future
  • Purpose, people, process. (why, who, how)
  • If you are wondering whether you can be a great manager, ask yourself these three questions
    • Do I find it more motivating to achieve a particular outcome or to play a specific role?
    • Do I like talking with people?
    • Can I provide stability for an emotionally challenging situation?
  • Manager is a specific role, leadership is the particular skill of being able to guide and influence other people. A great manager must certainly be a leader.
Your first three months
  • Every day feels like a week.
  • There is so much to learn and you feel overwhelmed.
  • Your path to manager probably took one of the four routes: apprentice, pioneer, new boss, successor
    • It's tricky to balance your individual contributor commitments with management.
    • As new boss in a new environment, you need to invest in building new relationship.
    • You feel pressure to do things exactly like your former manager. Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.
Leading a small team
  • Everything always goes back to people.
  • What gets in the way of good work?
    • People don't know how to do good work
    • People know how, but they aren't motivated
  • A manager's job is to get better outcomes from a group of people working together through influencing purpose, people and process.
  • Trust is the most important ingredient. 
    • You must trust people, or life becomes impossible.
    • Earn trust with your reports, managing is caring.
  • Strive to be human, not a boss
    • Would you work for your manager again?
  • Be honest and transparent about your report's performance
    • The job of a manager is to turn on person's particular talent into performance
  •  Admit your own mistakes and growth areas
  • No asshole rule (someone who makes other people feel worse about themselves, or specifically targets people less powerful than him/her)
  • You don't always have to make it work
  • Make people moves quickly
The art of feedback
  • Feedback is a gift.
  • The best feedback is the one inspired you to change your behavior, which resulted in your life getting better.
  • Praise is often more motivating than criticism. (You don't always have to start with a problem)
  • The four most common ways to inspire a change in behavior
    • Set clear expectations at the beginning
    • Give task-specific feedback as frequently as you can
    • Share behavioral feedback thoughtfully and regularly
    • Collect 360-degree feedback for maximum objectivity
  • Every major disappointment is a failure to set expectations
  • Your feedback only counts if it makes things better
  • Delivering critical feedback or bad news
Managing yourself
  • Get to brutal honesty with yourself
  • Understand yourself at your best and worst
  • Finding your confidence when you are in the pit
    • Close your eyes and visualize
    • Ask for help from people you can be real with
    • celebrate the little wins
    • practice self-care by establishing boundaries
  • Learning to be twice as good
    • Ask for feedback
    • Treat your manager as a coach
    • Make a mentor out of everyone
    • Set aside time to reflect and set goals
    • Take advantage of formal training
  • Try to double your leadership capacity every year 
  • CEO role: hiring exceptional leaders, building self-reliant teams, establishing a clear vision, and communicating well.
Amazing meetings
  • What is a great outcome for your meeting?
    • Making a decision
    • Sharing information
    • Providing feedback
    • Generating ideas
    • Strengthening relationships
  • Invite the right people
  • Give people a chance to come prepared
  • Make it safe for people to contribute
    • Be explicit about the norms you want to set
    • Change up your meeting format to favor participation
    • manage equal airtime
    • Get feedback about your meeting
  • Some meetings don't need you and some don't need to exist at all
Hiring well
  • Design your team intentionally
  • Hiring is your responsibility
    • Describe your ideal candidate as precisely as you can
    • Develop a sourcing strategy
    • Deliver an amazing interview experience
    • Show candidates how much you want them
  • Hiring is a gamble, but make smart bets
    • Would you hire this person again if the role was open? 
  • Do your research when hiring leaders
  • Take the long view with top talent 
Making things happen
  • Start with a concrete vision
    • Craft a plan based on your team's strength
    • Focus on doing a few things well
    • Define who is responsible for what
    • Break down a big goal into smaller pieces
  • Excerpts
    • Plans are worthless, but planning is everything
    • There is no such thing as "finished".
    • 80/20 rule: majority of results come from a minority of the causes
    • The key is to identify which things matter the most
    • Put effort into a few important things 
    • Effort doesn't count, results are what matter.
    • Innovation is saying no to 1000 things.
    • Treat big projects like a series of smaller projects.
    • Every task has a who and a by when.
    • Portfolio approach for team resource, 1/3 team focusing on near, medium and long term goal
    • Communicate a clear vision and foster a deep sense of purpose within the team.
    • Do you have the right people on the right problems?
Leading a growing team
  • Direct to indirect management (empowering your leaders is a necessity)
  • Context switching all day, every day (every day feels like a week)
  • The skills that matter become more and more people-centric (delegating work to reports)
  • Giving people big problems is a sign of trust (believe your report is capable of solving the problem)
  • Two heads, one shared vision (what are the biggest priorities right now for the team?)
  • What to do when a manager struggles (What's going to make the team more successful over the next few years?)
  • Aim to put yourself out of a job (constantly looking for ways to replace yourself in the job you are currently doing)
    • Identifying and communicating what matters
    • Hiring top talent
    • Resolving conflicts within your group
Nurturing culture
  • Know the kind of team you want to be a part of
    • Understanding your current team
    • Understanding your aspirations
    • Understanding the difference
    • What's unique about your team?
    • What are the best and worst parts of your job?
    • Nothing is somebody else's problem. 
  • Never stop talking about what's important
  • Always walk the walk
    • Talk the talk, walk the walk, build the trust from your reports
    • Talking about your values makes you a more authentic and inspiring leader 
    • Asking for feedbacks
    • Why you choose to build these five features instead of the one that the customers are asking for? 
  • Create the right incentives
  • Invent traditions that celebrate your values

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