The Making of a Manager cover art

The Making of a Manager

What to Do When Everyone Looks to You

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The Making of a Manager

By: Julie Zhuo
Narrated by: Karissa Vacker
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About this listen

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of The Making of a Manager written by Julie Zhuo, read by Karissa Vackers.

No idea what you're doing? No problem. Good managers are made, not born.


Facebook VP Julie Zhuo remembers the moment when she was asked to lead a team. She felt like she’d won the golden ticket, until reality came crashing in. She was just 25 and had barely any experience being managed, let alone managing others.

Her co-workers became her employees overnight, and she faced a series of anxiety-inducing firsts, including agonising over whether to hire an interviewee; seeking the respect of reports who were cleverer than her; and having to fire someone she liked. Like most first-time managers, she wasn’t given any formal training, and had no resources to turn to for help. It took her years to find her way, but now she’s offering you the short-cut to success.

This is the book she wishes she had on day one. Here, she offers practical, accessible advice like:

· Don’t hide thorny problems from your own manager; you’re better off seeking help quickly and honestly
· Before you fire someone for failure to collaborate, figure out if the problem is temperamental or just a lack of training or coaching
· Don’t offer critical feedback in a ‘compliment sandwich’ – there’s a better way!

If you’re looking to be promoted or in your first decade of management, this is your go-to-guide.

Career Success Leadership Management Management & Leadership Motivation & Self-Improvement Time Management & Productivity Career Business Employment

Critic Reviews

Every business book I read as a consultant and later a CEO was written by a man. Julie brings an entirely fresh perspective on leadership as a brilliant hacker, first-generation American, and young mother. This book is everything Silicon Valley appreciates in Julie: humble, inspiring, and whip-smart.

All stars
Most relevant
Lots of stories resonated with me in my journey as a manager. it's helpful to listen to Julie's lessons in her trials and errors, and most of the lessons hold true in real world management. Each person's unique quality impacts your management style. Not all good managers are the same, yet the things we experience and love are all similar. It is overall a journey of growth in understanding oneself and understanding all others around us.

Very helpful for new to mid level managers

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So many great tips on managing, motivating, and coordinating teams, with great examples and case studies thrown in to highlight some of the theory. Based on the authors experience as a young new manager of a small team, growing into a passionate and experienced manager of many at Facebook. Great book.

So relevant!

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Loved this book. As a new leader, this book helped my understand that what I was going through was normal and gave me tips on how to better harness that energy. I immediately used tools to give feedback and the process was much better. Great story from someone who went through the ranks.

Reaffirming

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Good book. Has lots of little management lessons. Some of the tips seemed obvious having already worked under managers for a long time.

Narration was good but didn't feel as authentic or easy to follow as the actual author.

Good overall

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A well written guide that helps frame the real pain points of what makes a manager, that resulted in it feeling relatable and understanding although I'm a manager on a much smaller scale. It also provided some good insights into how to solve many of the problems.

Tangible tips

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