Introduction

So, you’re here. Why is that? Think about it. Perhaps you’re interested in becoming a manager in the future. Maybe you’ve been promoted into a new role and are looking for advice on how to get started. You may have already been a manager for some time and are looking for a guide to help you become better at your job. No matter where you are in your career, this book is for you. Yes, you.

The technology industry is facing a skills crisis. This isn’t because we don’t know how to write software or how to scale our infrastructure. We’ve been getting a lot better at that. Instead, it’s because we don’t know how to manage people. Computers don’t create software, people do. We need to make more people succeed. Good managers can solve this problem. You can be a great one.

This book intends to help address the skills crisis by giving you the hands-on, practical management advice that you need. There’s no business fluff or leadership bravado here. You’ll find no anecdotes about the military, no heroics, no cheesy metaphors, and no talk of Stanford. This book is about the tools that you need—the actual skills to do the job. In the same way that you would turn to a book to learn a new programming language, this book is here to help you learn how to be a world-class manager.