The Manukan Two-Pager & Listening Tour
Draft what you want and don't want, then run structured listening-tour conversations to find your fit.
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~weeks to results
- Steps
- 4
- Confidence
- 92%
A two-part discovery process that feeds candidate market fit. First you write a simple two-page draft of what you want and don't want in a role (the 'Manukan two-pager'). Then you run a 'listening tour' of structured conversations with former colleagues, your broader network, and recruiters to test that draft against what the market actually wants and thinks you fit. The tour doubles as relationship-building: it turns contacts into invested 'listening posts' watching for roles for you.
Origin
Named by Phil Terry after Allison Manukan, a former Intuit GM turned CEO turned Harvard Business School professor, who co-created the template with him ~15 years ago while in transition. Developed inside Terry's paid product/CEO councils and now given away free.
Core principles
- 01Slow down at first to go fast — strategy before spraying applications
- 02Do it with others: share the draft with your council so their reactions surface wants you forgot
- 03The listening tour is market research where you are the product
- 04Ask advice, not for a job — people love giving perspective and become invested in you
- 05Not every conversation is a home run; you need your council to interpret duds and biased feedback
How to run it
- 1
Write the Manukan two-pager
Draft a simple two-page document of what you like and don't like in a role. It's a draft, not a final decision — younger people especially may not know exactly what they want yet.
Pro tip Share it with your council and watch their reactions jog your own memory: 'I also don't like those, I forgot' or 'that's really important to me and I left it out.'
- 2
Run three types of listening-tour conversations
Hold structured conversations: (a) reverse-exit interviews with former colleagues about your strengths and fit; (b) broader-network conversations built around the golden question; (c) recruiter conversations asking their advice on your fit.
Pro tip With recruiters, never barrage them with 'get me a job'; ask 'what do you think I'm a fit for?' — and if you're currently employed, always pick up when a recruiter calls to pre-build the relationship.
Watch out People are terrified of the tour, fearing harsh feedback; in reality helpful critique is occasional and most people enjoy helping.
- 3
Ask the golden question
In network conversations ask: 'If you were in my shoes, how would you approach this?' plus what they think you're a fit for and what they're seeing in the market. It opens the conversation and invites genuine perspective.
Pro tip This framing turns contacts into 'listening posts' — invested people who think of you and flag matching roles later.
- 4
Send monthly update notes
After ~10-15 conversations, and continuously, send a short update note every month to everyone you've talked to — even if it's just 'no news yet, still going, and I appreciate your help.'
Pro tip Do this even with no news; it keeps your network warm and thinking of you.
Watch out Failing to keep people updated is a named regret ('Phil told me to keep people updated and I didn't do it enough, don't make that mistake').
In the wild
A masked VP of product joined a product council, left insisting candidate market fit was wrong, then went and spoke to a bunch of VCs who told him 'we don't have any idea what to do with you — you have to tell us something really specific.'
→ He redid his positioning to be specific after the market forced the point.
Several women Terry worked with got unhelpful, sexist feedback on their tours — 'you're too poised' or 'not poised enough' — the kind of dud conversation the process warns about.
→ Illustrates why the council is needed to interpret and discard biased feedback.
Common mistakes
Skipping the draft and going straight to applying
Not deciding what you want and don't want ('most people don't do that when they get laid off') leaves you with no strategy to test.
Asking recruiters and contacts for a job instead of advice
'Get me a job' repels people; asking for their perspective and fit read invests them in your success.
Is it for you?
Best for
A job seeker who needs to convert vague ambitions into a testable positioning and simultaneously activate their network
Not ideal for
Someone unwilling to have candid conversations, or who will take every dud conversation personally without a council to buffer it
From the transcript
“that's the manukan two-pager named after Allison manukan who was a member of one of our product councils”
“we're going to go out and do a listy tour because guess what in the job search we're the product”
“what if you were in my shoes how would you approach this I call that the golden question”
“in the book I have three different kinds of structured listening toour conversations one I call reverse exed interviews”
“you got to send out an update Note every month to all of your network that you've talked to”
“when that recruiter calls pick up the phone even if you don't want the job”
From the episode
Land your dream job in today’s market: negotiation tactics, job search councils, and more
Phyl Terry (Author, “Never Search Alone”)