Expectation vs. Reality: Great managers are made, not born.

I will share with you some concepts that completely changed my understanding of management. Most of them come from the amazing book "The making of a manager" by Julie Zhuo. 

A manual with practices, teachings and learnings she has gained on her way to becoming the manager of Facebook's design team, which I recommend to any professional interested in the subject.

From the early stages of my career, I was eager and curious about management and leadership. But not all managers feel that way, and many of them find themselves having to take on that role. 

For either of these two cases, whether someone who wants to embark on management or someone who isn't very enthusiastic about it, I will leave you with a series of tips and lessons that I have learned, and that could work as a guide to apply on a daily basis. 

But let's start from the beginning 

What is management? 

A manager's job isn’t only about having meetings all day long, sharing feedback about what is or isn’t going well, or figuring out who should be promoted. 

Our actual job is about building a team that works well together, create a positive work environment, support the team in reaching their career goals, and generate processes to get the work done smoothly and efficiently. 

Not only do we have to take care of the basic day-to-day work, but we also have to think and work on the long-term goals and activities for the team. 

And the most important aspect of management is the belief that a team can achieve more than a single person on their own. This is the main concept we must keep in mind: You don't have to do/be the best at/or even know how to do everything.

Our job as a manager is to get better outcomes from a group of people working together!

Then, a great manager’s team will consistently achieve great outcomes. But, great results aren’t the only thing that matters. I would say it's only half of it.

The other half is based on the strength and satisfaction of the team

3 Essential concepts of management:

that should not be forgotten on a daily basis 

💪Purpose

The purpose is the outcome your team is trying to accomplish, otherwise known as the {why of our work}

The first big part of the job as a manager is to ensure that your team knows what success looks like and cares about achieving it. Getting everyone to understand and believe in your team's purpose. 

👩‍💻People

Otherwise known as the {who}. Are members of the team set up to succeed? Do they have the right skills? Are they motivated to do great things? 

⭐Process

This part describes how the team works together and individually. 

We need to establish common values within our team for making decisions and responding to problems. For managers, important processes to master include running effective meetings, planning for tomorrow, and nurturing a healthy culture. 

💡A word of advice:

The best outcomes come from inspiring people to action, not telling them what to do.

Are leadership and management the same thing? 

Something that I have wondered about a lot, and that sometimes seems to be not very well defined, is the difference between leadership and management. 

“Leadership is the particular skill of being able to guide and influence other people.”

Now, a manager who doesn’t know how to influence others isn't going to be particularly effective at improving the team's outcomes. So to be a great manager, you certainly have to be a leader. 

A leader, on the other hand, doesn’t have to be a manager. Anyone can exhibit skills of leadership, regardless of their role. Leadership is a quality rather than a job. We are all leaders and followers at different points in our lives. 

Pieces of advice and conclusion:

One way to take care of people and share goals is to have instances to talk.

Discuss top priorities: What are the most critical outcomes and how can we help them tackle these challenges? 

Calibrate what “great” looks like: Are we in sync about goals or expectations?

Share feedback: What feedback can we give that will help the other person, and what can they tell us to make us more effective as a manager?

Reflect on how things are going: What makes our team satisfied, what have they learned recently and what does he or she want to learn going forward?

You can be someone's manager, but if that person doesn't trust or respect you, you will have limited ability to influence him or her.

In the early days as a manager, what matters most is transitioning gracefully into the role, and nailing the essentials of leading a small team. Only when you have built trust with your team you will have earned the credibility to help them achieve more together. 

With a small team, maintaining a shared sense of purpose is straightforward. You don't get many crossed wires when your team can still fit around one table. That leaves people and processes to focus on. And of those two, people are by far the most important. 

In my experience as a manager at CreateThrive, I realized that we should not be afraid to make decisions that we know will be good for the team and its development. As managers, we have to be the ones who take care of the team the most. But the biggest surprise I've had is that they also take care of us as managers and continue to teach us things every day.

And a last word of advice, let's be genuine and empathize with the people on the team. That will allow us to bring out their best version, to keep them motivated.

After all, they are people with dreams, aspirations and problems as well. As managers, we have to be their references and their rock of support 💪