The real guide to management & leadership

Here's the thing nobody tells you about management: it's a completely different job from the one you were good at before they promoted you. The skills that made you a great individual contributor — deep focus, technical excellence, doing everything yourself — will actively hurt you as a manager.

I've been there. I've managed teams, managed up, dealt with executives who confused "nice" with "good," and learned most of my lessons the hard way. Now I help other people learn them slightly less painfully.

This page collects everything I've written about management and leadership. Whether you just got promoted and you're panicking, or you've been managing for years and something feels off — start here.

Just became a manager?

Welcome to the deep end. Don't panic — you're not supposed to know everything yet.

• First-time manager survival guide — Everything I wish someone had told me the week I became a manager. Start here.
• Dear Peter: Why'd they make me a manager? — Imposter syndrome is normal. Here's what to do with it.

Dealing with a bad manager

This is the most common thing folks come to me with — and the most important to get right:

• How to deal with a bad manager — When your boss is the problem, you need a strategy. Here's one.
• Dear Peter: My boss is a "Nice Guy," so why am I miserable? — "Nice" and "good" aren't the same thing. This distinction matters.

Building and growing your team

Management isn't just about you — it's about making the people around you better:

• Beyond lip service: what real mentorship looks like — Stop treating mentorship like flossing and start treating it like the most important work you do.
• Matchmaker, matchmaker — The art of putting the right people in the right roles.

The fun ones

• Gandalf and the Golden Girls — Leadership lessons from Middle Earth's most patient mentor.
• Dark Lord Sauron MBA — What happens when management goes very, very wrong.

Want to get better at this?

Managing people well is a skill, and skills can be coached. Here's how we work together →