The Making of a Manager
by Julie Zhuo · 2019
Facebook's youngest VP of Design writes the management book she wishes existed on her first day as a 25-year-old manager.
Worth reading? The best first book for someone who just got promoted into managing people and has no idea what the job actually is day to day. Zhuo writes from memory of being confused herself, which makes it land differently than theory-heavy leadership books. Read it in your first month as a manager. Skip it once you've got a year or two in -- Radical Candor and Multipliers go deeper on the specific skills this book only introduces.
| Full Title | The Making of a Manager: What to Do When Everyone Looks to You |
|---|---|
| Author | Julie Zhuo |
| Published | 2019 |
| Publisher | Portfolio |
| Category | Business & Money |
| Favorite quote | “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” |
The Verdict
Zhuo became a manager at Facebook at 25 with no idea what the job actually was, and this book is the guide she wishes someone had handed her. That origin shows: it’s less theory-heavy than most management books, and more “here’s what actually confused me and what I figured out.”
It covers the full first-year arc – running a 1-on-1 that isn’t a status update, giving feedback without dreading it, hiring, and the harder question of how you even know if you’re doing the job well when there’s no scoreboard.
Treat it as the onboarding manual, not the advanced course. Once you’ve got a year or two of managing under your belt, Radical Candor and Multipliers go deeper on the specific skills this book only introduces.
brand-new managers, especially first-time managers promoted out of an individual-contributor role
you're an experienced manager looking for advanced frameworks -- this is deliberately a beginner's book
Book Summary
Management is a belief that a team can achieve more together than any one person alone. The job isn't to be the best individual performer anymore; it's to improve the purpose, people, and process of a team so the whole group multiplies its output.
Zhuo writes candidly about not knowing what she was doing when she became a manager at 25, and structures the book around the actual confusions new managers hit: what to do in a 1-on-1, how to give feedback, how to hire, how to know if you're doing a good job at all.
Great managers find what's unique about each person on their team and build around it, rather than applying one management style to everyone. Trust and clear purpose do more than any specific technique.
Top 9 Lessons from The Making of a Manager
- Management means multiplying a team's output, not being the best individual performer.
- Your job is to improve purpose, people, and process -- not to do the work yourself.
- A new manager's confusion is normal; the job has almost no formal training.
- 1-on-1s exist for the report's agenda, not yours -- don't turn them into status updates.
- Discover what's unique about each person and build around it, not a one-size style.
- Inspire people to action instead of just telling them what to do.
- Hiring well matters more than managing well can compensate for.
- Resilient teams aren't mistake-free, they get stronger from the mistakes they make.
- Ask what your team needs from you before assuming what you'd want as an IC.
Top 4 Quotes from The Making of a Manager
"Your role as a manager is not to do the work yourself, even if you are the best at it, because that will only take you so far. Your role is to improve the purpose, people, and process of your team to get as high a multiplier effect on your collective outcome as you can."
Julie Zhuo, The Making of a Manager
"This is the crux of management: It is the belief that a team of people can achieve more than a single person going it alone."
Julie Zhuo, The Making of a Manager
"There is one quality that sets truly great managers apart from the rest: they discover what is unique about each person and then capitalize on it."
Julie Zhuo, The Making of a Manager
"At the end of the day, a resilient organization isn't one that never makes mistakes but rather one whose mistakes make it stronger over time."
Julie Zhuo, The Making of a Manager
Frequently Asked Questions
Is The Making of a Manager worth reading?
Yes, if you're new to managing people. It's the clearest, least jargon-heavy account of what the job actually involves day to day.
What is the main idea of The Making of a Manager?
Management is about multiplying a team's output by improving purpose, people, and process, not by being the best individual performer on the team.
How is this different from Radical Candor or Multipliers?
This is the onboarding book -- broader and gentler, covering the whole job. Radical Candor goes deep on feedback specifically, and Multipliers goes deep on getting more out of your team's thinking. Start here, then specialize.
Who should read The Making of a Manager?
First-time managers, especially those promoted straight out of an individual-contributor role with no formal training.
Ready to read it?
Get The Making of a Manager on Amazon
