Bit of a lecture but I don't see this mentioned anywhere: Most people don't know what to manage means because most of what's written on it is about the How(s),

Bit of a lecture but I don't see this mentioned anywhere: Most people don't know what to manage means because most of what's written on it is about the How(s), and not the What or the Why of it. When it clicks that to manage means to extract value from, a lot of how to do that falls into place. The value from people can be in terms of work, tasks completed, commitments to outcomes, growth of a persons skills and the quality and efficiency of their work, etc. Lots of possibilities. Whereas managing things usually means assets and money, and it's analogous, but not related to the OPs question. Often people use the word "managing" as a black box to mean they'll make decisions about it, usually later or when they have to, but that's not really extracting value from something. Being a gatekeeper or critic isn't managing either. Your job is to be a proxy for the desire for the value your team generates, and the better you understand (and in turn, appreciate) the value it provides, the better manager you're going to be. When you get a lot of value out of people, they feel valued, and it's a positive cycle. If you don't get a lot of value out of them, you treat them like shit and they notice that as well. A manager of people understands the value their team provides outward, and finds ways of getting that value out of the members using various tools like mentoring, examples, incentives, clear vision and alignment, service and esteem maintainance, acknowledgment and appreciation, among others. Once you have this frame of mind about extracting value, you have most of what you need to manage well.