Zhou overestimates how enchanted her peers - or those interested in management - are with social media, and dresses her practical lessons in far too many silicon valley anecdotes. And though yes, technology (adjacent) businesses are taking the present and future, not everyone finds stories about Facebook's early beginnings all that magical, and the very vast majority of us don't benefit from 'on days when you don't feel so great, just remember that blog post you wrote the other week may change someone's life'. It is clear from the way she shares her lessons that she is banking on the people 'reading' (listening) being highly interested in social media and silicon valley. But these points are difficult to distil because they are so heavily wrapped in Zhou's unrelatable autobiographical stories. The book on occasion does make valuable points towards this. The title of this book suggests it was written to help new managers from Zhou's experience. If you’re looking to be promoted or in your first decade of management, this is your go-to guide.Īuthor loses her points in autobiography. Don’t offer critical feedback in a ‘compliment sandwich’ - there’s a better way!.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 hide thorny problems from your own manager you’re better off seeking help quickly and honestly.Here, she offers practical, accessible advice like: This is the audiobook she wishes she'd had on day one. It took her years to find her way, but now she’s offering you the shortcut to success. Like most first-time managers, she wasn’t given any formal training and had no resources to turn to for help. Her coworkers 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.

She was just 25 and had barely any experience being managed, let alone managing others. She felt like she’d won the golden ticket - until reality came crashing in. Good managers are made, not born.įacebook VP Julie Zhuo remembers the moment when she was asked to lead a team. Random House presents the audiobook edition of The Making of a Manager by Julie Zhuo.

The making of a manager by julie zhuo