Your guide to this site
New Here? Welcome.
This site is built for people like you — newly promoted managers, small business owners hiring for the first time, and experienced managers who never got the training they deserved. Here's how to get the most out of it.
Pick Your Path
Different situation? Different starting point.
What brings you here?
Pick the one that fits best.
Where are you in the transition?
What feels most urgent right now?
What's the biggest challenge right now?
Pick the one that keeps you up at night.
Start with these
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Free · Weekly · 52 Weeks
Want a Complete Program?
52 Weeks to Better Manager is a free year-long program that sends you one focused lesson per week. You start at Week 1, no matter when you join. One hour a week — that's all it takes.
The Full Reading Path
Prefer structure? Read these 10 articles in order for the complete first-time manager curriculum.
- 1 Start with the big picture
The First-Time Manager's Complete Guide: From Day One to Confident Leader
- 2 Your first week
New Manager Checklist: 15 Things to Do in Your First Week
- 3 Plan the first 90 days
Your First 90 Days as a Manager: A Week-by-Week Action Plan
- 4 Master your first meeting
How to Run Your First 1-on-1 Meeting: A Step-by-Step Guide
- 5 Learn to give feedback
How to Give Feedback for the First Time Without Destroying Morale
- 6 Handle hard conversations
How to Have Difficult Conversations as a New Manager (Without Making It Worse)
- 7 Build real trust
How to Build Trust With Your Team When You're the New Boss
- 8 Navigate the peer-to-boss shift
Yesterday You Were Their Colleague, Today You're Their Boss — Now What?
- 9 Avoid the common traps
10 Mistakes Every First-Time Manager Makes (And How to Avoid Them)
- 10 Make your first hire
How to Hire Your First Employee: A Step-by-Step Guide for Small Business Owners
Who's Behind This?
I'm George. I was a first-time manager once — overwhelmed, underprepared, making every mistake in the book. No mentor, no playbook, no one to ask. I figured it out the hard way so I could build the resource I wish I'd had.
Every article on this site comes from real experience — not theory, not textbooks. Just honest advice from someone who's been exactly where you are.
Read my full story →Have a Specific Question?
Can't find what you're looking for? Ask me directly. I read every question and respond personally.