Great memo (an actual paper memo originally) from Norm Meyrowitz, the best leader of tech and product people I’ve ever worked with. Clear, generous, inspiring.

Fairly long, but thoughtful post, with good ideas about how to move yourself away from micromanagement. And yes: “In the end, it all comes down to two-way trust”.

Shane Snow puts together a series of “you need both of these conflicting points of view” charts for leadership. “willing to change” vs “willing to fight”; “personal support” vs “intellectual conflict” etc. The subtleties lie in which choice to make, and when.

Excellent set of True Things that anybody who has managed for any length of time knows, but are very infrequently discussed. Keep it around for first time managers.

“Pretty good” management vs great management explained in ten sketches, by Julie Zhou. Probably the third time I’ve posted this. Print it out, stick it on a wall somewhere people who are managing for the first time can see it.

Loved this. Managers are people. It’ll take two minutes to read. Check it out.

One on ones are daunting if you haven’t done them before. And a first time manager needs to start doing them. This will help, a ton.

Rands with a typically pithy and helpful list, originally gleaned from twitter.

The case for OKRs, in a short post. Explained, of course, by somebody who’s job is now VC.

Provocative title. But he does put his finger on an issue with OKRs: like every other planning mechanism they are brittle, so need to be be well-defined but relatively loosely held. (Truth in advertising: the author is also selling his expertise).

New edition of the first books to “demystify” meditation and mindfulness, this is still a vital, practical classic. Yes it’s got a strange title, and, no, your life is probably not a catastrophe, but it’s got more wisdom per Kindle pixel than anything else you will read this summer.

A favorite of mine - a management book that avoids coming to any conclusions about how to actually manage, whilst looping around through Coleridge, Shakespeare and a few dozen others to illuminate how working in the corporate world is just part of the human condition.

A typically clear, creative and helpful post from Lara Hogan. How many leadership styles are there? Try her color coding. Or, with her encouragement, make up your own taxonomy. Good stuff.

Liked this. “Moments” are powerful things - hey, we shipped! We hired that fantastic person! I got a raise! Perhaps you can deliberately create “moments” - defined as “a short experience that is both memorable and meaningful”. Interesting. Check it out.

Useful breakdown of how to delegate effectively. Easy read. Helpful.

“Too much writing about delegation ignores the realities. One reality is that delegation is not a single act, it’s a whole series of connected acts”

This seems mis-titled to me. Should be “You know you should delegate, but you don’t. Here are some possible reasons why”. Overwhelmed because you’re not delegating (you know who you are)? It’s short - give it a read.

“Yet if you were really honest with yourself, you might realize that this situation is really about CONTROL, FEAR, and an ASSUMPTION”

“Pull” motivation - people are working because they are aligned with what they value - is more powerful than “Push” motivation - people are working because of deadlines, crises, carrots. So how do you find what is “pulling” people?

“Don’t perpetuate the myth that you need to drive productivity through pressure and constant motion” and “Helping someone discover their intrinsic motivation is a lifelong gift”

OKRs are great! But software gets built through iteration, which means the O-part (the Objectives) might change. Huh. How to square one with the other? Take a read.

This is specifically about communicating an employee survey, but has a lot of great general advice for presenting a case. Data is dry, people are not.

“Data should play a supporting, not leading role in your story”

I’m sure I’ve posted this before, but it’s worth re-reading multiple times. An overview of Kurt Vonnegut’s “story shapes”. The typical business story is “man in a hole” (in my opinion, anyway). Once you see that, making killer presentations gets a lot easier. Use it!