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As a Junior Strategist, the most important thing my manager did for me was provide structure. Once we established a rapport and they were familiar with how I wanted to grow, she regularly asked me questions during our weekly meetings. This included taking the temp on how I was doing on projects and how I was feeling about them, what I was learning, if I felt I was working towards my goals, and how I was feeling generally as an employee. They always took notes and gave me guidance about how to approach the work, asked me probing questions that made me think deeper about situations I found myself in, and held spaces for difficult, empathetic conversations. They are often very frank and transparent about both easy and hard things to talk about, and will sometimes speak about things without their agency/manager hat on to give me honest advice.
They also made sure I was provided the right resources to learn more if they lacked the insight I was looking for such as introducing me to people within the agency, linking me to internal and external reading sources, and hosting work shares so that I could gain exposure to different practices of strategy.
I hope this helps!
Wild. As a junior strategist? You must be so blessed
Remember the things you needed and wanted as a more junior strategist and try to do the same for them. Also, get input from them to better understand what it is they need and want. Learn your management style and learn the type of manager they do their best work under. Good luck. It’s fun to watch them grow under your lead.
I found the books The Making of a Manager and Radical Candor helpful in improving management skills in general
Invest in them. Fight for adequate training programmes, to get them on exciting work and briefs, to challenge them, encourage them to get their thoughts out there are articulate them in debate. Get them curious about things in the agency, the clients and outside of the 4 walls of office.
I don't think there's a one-size-fits-all approach that I could really suggest. I think every employee needs something a little different. I really liked the book "Leading from the Middle" that my team read at my last job. It's about management more generally, but I think it has some really great tips that could apply to your situation
Make room for them! Think about what they might not know and give them opportunities to learn. You already know a lot of things you can share the wealth and step in when they need help.
It’s also your job to advocate for them. Naturally you’re going to be the one spending the most time with them esp compared with leadership and you should make sure you let leadership know how theyre doing :)
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Learn your strengths (what they can uniquely gain from you) but also your blind spots
Ask your employee what they need, and assess their areas of opportunity. Typically, you’ll be aligned, but if you’re not, it’s important to identify what support looks like.
Like with radical candor, I give feedback (good, bad, challenging) often to help my direct reports grow.