People commonly make the mistake of thinking that managing people is about meeting revenue targets or sales goals. That’s the product of good management—but how you get there is what really counts.
As a manager, you have to understand all of the small quirks and big ambitions that drive your people. You have to augment their strengths and help them improve their weaknesses.
In today’s data-driven world, we’re used to solving problems by digging into the data. If you want to ramp up user growth, you might analyze different marketing channels to see where your users are coming from. If you’re identifying a churn problem in your product, you want to find out how people are engaging with your product.
But management is something that’s less quantitative, and often more elusive. You won’t become a great manager by staring at spreadsheets all day—you have to put in the time and effort with your people. Luckily, as with any other craft, management skills can be learned, if you’re willing to put the time in.
