Dear SaaStr: What Is The Smartest Thing a Boss Has Ever Said To You?

“You need to manage people.”

I went fairly far, fairly quickly as an individual contributor. Even one that had several folks “reporting” to him. But I hadn’t really managed a team. One that I didn’t really want to manage. One that didn’t really need to do everything I told them to do. One that performed functions and did things I didn’t really understand.

Put differently, I had been a team lead, and I had managed outside resources — but I had not been a true manager of employees.

I had a boss that gave me that shot. He handed me a functional area I didn’t really want to manage (HR). He said I needed the experience to grow.

At first, I turned it down. I didn’t want to do it.

Then I slept on it, and 2 days later said he was right, and would appreciate the opportunity.

Management is a set of skills. It is not an innate skill, even if perhaps some of leadership is. You gotta learn. The earlier you learn, the better a shot you have at becoming a Director, a VP, and a CEO.  And a better founder.

More here:

The 7 Best Pieces of Business Advice I Was Ever Given

(manager image from here)

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