Manager Training
To help set up first-time managers for success in Apple's Cloud Services organization, this onboarding program was designed to help newly hired and newly promoted people leaders navigate their roles with clarity and confidence. It combined essential training, practical resources, and peer connection opportunities to build foundational skills, reinforce Apple’s leadership expectations, and foster a strong sense of community from the start.
Note: Details have been adapted for confidentiality.
Pathway to People Management
Great individual contributors don’t automatically become great people managers, but that’s often the leap we ask them to make. In Apple Cloud Services (ACS), managers typically arrive via two paths: they’re promoted from within after demonstrating strong individual performance, or they’re hired externally into leadership roles. In both cases, people management requires a shift in mindset and skill set. While some capabilities like communication and execution transfer easily, others must be intentionally developed.
Without the right support, new managers often face a steep learning curve. A thoughtful onboarding experience can significantly accelerate their effectiveness, help them internalize the right leadership behaviors, and ultimately build stronger, more engaged teams.
Manager Essentials: Setting the Foundation
To set managers up for success, the ACS Manager Essentials program focuses on three foundational pillars: Group Forums, Learn via Inspiration, and People Leadership Skills. This program is designed to complement existing manager development offerings across Apple while anchoring new managers in ACS-specific culture, expectations, and support.
Group Forums
Peer connection and shared wisdom
Group Forums provide managers with a built-in cohort community—peers they can lean on for real-time problem-solving, honest reflections, and shared learning. These 55-minute Friday lunch sessions are lightly structured and facilitated by leaders across Apple. Each forum focuses on a key theme relevant to the manager experience, providing space for discussion, story sharing, and crowd-sourced advice. Topics may include giving feedback, navigating career conversations, or leading through change.
Learn via Inspiration
Leadership insights from those who’ve been there
Our speaker series invites senior Apple leaders, like Johny Srouji or John Giannandrea, to share their career journeys, lessons learned, and philosophies on people leadership. These sessions are designed to inspire and connect new managers to the broader Apple leadership community, helping them see what leadership looks like in different corners of the organization.
People Leadership Skills
Practical tools for day-to-day management
The final pillar focuses on building the day-to-day skills needed to lead teams effectively. From performance reviews to career development conversations, this curated collection of resources helps managers navigate the practical realities of people leadership. A dedicated Manager Portal on the ACS Confluence site will serve as a go-to hub for tools, templates, and timely updates.
Post-Program Engagement
Completion of the ACS Manager Essential Skills program is just the beginning. Graduates are encouraged to stay connected with their cohort through regular peer check-ins and optional participation in a dedicated Slack channel created to provide an ongoing support network to share insights, solve problems, and build community.
Alumni will also be invited to participate in future program kickoffs, offering them the opportunity to share their experiences and inspire incoming managers. Additionally, this first cohort will serve as a foundational feedback group to help evaluate and evolve the program over time. We’ll set the expectation early that their periodic input will be essential to our continuous improvement efforts.
Success Metrics
Graduates will be invited to participate in 1:1 interviews upon completion of the program to gather deeper insights into the program’s impact, especially while the experience is still fresh. One to two quarters post-completion, participants will be surveyed to assess whether the program effectively equipped them with the skills, knowledge, and confidence needed for successful people management.
Insights gathered through surveys and interviews will shape future iterations of the program. In time, we may also consider incorporating manager performance reviews as a complementary metric of impact.
Note
This manager training program is here to give you a sense of how I think and approach my work. I appreciate you respecting the time and thought behind it by not copying, sharing, or reusing it without my written permission.