Dave Delaney's useful advice for your development as a manager

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to convey useful and practical advice on one's development as a manager from the perspective of a successful entrepreneur. Design/methodology/approach – Based on lessons learned from founding and leading a $300 million business. Findings – Beware of the transition from school to business. Take jobs that offer real experience. Showing up is 90 percent of the battle. If you are not in a job that you consider to be as much fun as what you do when you are not working, then you should go and try to find that job. The best decisions you make will be the mistakes you avoid. If it doesn't make sense it can't last. When you are explaining you are losing. Hire people who care. Break down barriers to communication. Embrace humor. You can't lead when your pants are too tight. Never ignore the last mile problem. Big egos destroy companies. Originality/value – Valuable for managers at every stage of their development, and especially for those just entering the work force.