This Manager README is meant to serve as an onboarding document to my management style and general philosophies I hold. This is a living document and is intended to evolve over time. I welcome your feedback and look forward to working with you!
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I care about getting shit done, not about "butt in the seat time". Flexibility is important to me, and I will trust you with a high degree of autonomy. In return, I expect you to focus on results, and raising issues as soon as you find them.
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I expect you to be the one moving projects forward. As a manager, I am here to help and support you with any roadblocks, questions, or escalations you may require assistance with, but ultimately (if I have enabled you correctly) you are responsible for moving the needle.
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I strive to create an environment where interruptions are minimal (most of the interrupts are routed to me), and context switching is avoided as much as possible. As a consequence, I expect this to enable you to have prolonged focus on project work.
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Solicit initial feedback early and ship often. I have found early, light-weight reviews and iterating rapidly on small chunks of work to be beneficial to successful outcomes.
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Assume good intent. This is especially true when dealing with anyone in a remote capacity where face-to-face contact is not a regular occurence.
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I expect a strong culture of knowledge sharing in teams I manage. Everyone should be familiar with all technologies and processes the team supports. Some individuals will have deeper knowledge in certain areas, but everyone should be familiar with the basics of everything the team is responsible for.
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Make minimal assumptions with people, code, cultural norms, etc. Always trust but verify, and never be afraid to ask questions!
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Don't assume people who speak with confidence are necessarily right. Check (and re-check) your assumptions with multiple people.
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I highly value transparency and strive to be open, honest and approachable. I want you to feel comfortable asking me anything work-related. There are some things I may not be able to share, but I am committed to never lying to you.
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I follow the servant leadership philosophy. I am here to empower you to achieve both your goals and the team’s objectives, but you are in the driver’s seat!
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You can expect me to have a recurring 1:1 with you. This meeting is not intended for status updates, and is meant to cover bigger-picture items like career development, strategizing on goals, or anything generally of substance. That said, this meeting is for you, and we’ll discuss whatever you like.
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Work/life balance is extremely important to me personally, and something I take very seriously with anyone I manage. If you find that your workload requires you to consistently put in extra time during off-hours, then something is wrong. Please raise this immediately and we'll work together to take corrective action.
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I aim to foster a culture of experimentation and the desire to “fail forward”. Some of the greatest periods of growth and development happen as a result of rapidly iterating through experimentation and learning from failures. If you're not making at least some mistakes, you're not pushing yourself hard enough.
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Sometimes I make mistakes. If you see me violating any of the principals laid out in this document, please tell me immediately and hold me accountable. I value feedback (especially the critical kind), and am always looking for ways to improve.
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I follow disagree and commit. Occasionally disagreements will happen. When they do, open debate is encouraged. However, once a decision has been made, everyone must commit to it and move on.
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An "us vs. them" mentality (with different teams/orgs/groups/whatever) will absolutely not be tolerated. We are all in this together, and are much stronger when we approach things collaboratively rather than combatively.
- I've written a few things about my philosophies, but an important component of my job is adapting to your needs and philosophies. I look forward to getting to know you better, and learning more about what you expect from me as a manager!
While constructing this document, I thought a lot about what things I valued (and didn't value) as a manager, in addition to looking to other managers for inspiration. The Manager READMEs which most heavily influenced my own are listed below: