Manager Readme

This isn't a parable of the prototypical art of management or leadership style, but rather a confession of who I am. I write it to bring transparency for those I work closely with; a microscope into how I operate. Like all things wise and wonderful, I will evolve. So will my values and opinions. This will hence be a living document as I grow.

My Values

I have one and only one core value - fairness.

Being fair doesn't always imply being nice; this throws people off. Sometimes fair means picking the fight, not choosing the politically expedient path. Sometimes it means delivering news no one wants to hear. The bar I hold for fairness is the same whether you are the highest performer on the team or the one struggling.

Over the years I've learned that it helps to break this one value down into a handful. They all stem from the same root.

• Fairness - Do the right thing, always. Integrity.

• Trust - Autonomy. Empowerment. Coaching and mentoring.

• Empathy - Build relationships. People over policy.

• Excellence - Enable best work of your career.

Trust and Excellence are the two that stand out when I'm building teams.

My Beliefs

• Trust. I have the team's back. The team has my back. Without that, nothing else on this page works.

• Best work of your career. If you work for me, I want you to do the best work of your career with me. Let excellence inspire you. If it ain't happening, one of us isn't pulling weight. Hold me accountable.

• No competition. I'm allergic to principles of management borrowed from war or sports. The incentive of success at the cost of someone's defeat is diametrically opposed to the doctrine of one mission, one company, one team.

• Celebrate every being. "The evil that men do lives after them; The good is oft interred with their bones". It doesn't have to be so. I treat all with respect. Not just the high performer.

• All relationships are personal. The pursuit of genuine connections is the number one quest in human existence. It's what elicits happy hormones. I like to get to know everyone personally, else it becomes a transaction.

• Engineering is a mindset. Despise the prosaic, the mundane, the brute force. Engineering is a creative process. Don't trivialize the craft to the mere act of writing code. Seek inspiration. Live the lifestyle. Get high on your own supply.

• Failure is natural. We will ship things that don't work. We will make calls that look wrong in hindsight. The job is to learn fast and stay forward-leaning, not to never miss.

• Frameworks often fail. Every person is different. Every problem is different. All wheels have been invented, but that doesn't mean every wheel fits every cart. I treat the playbook as input, not gospel.

• Team over individual. Company over team. When trade-offs surface, this is the order I default to.

• Hard conversations sooner. Waiting for the perfect moment is the most expensive thing a manager can do.

• Coach for the future, not on the past. I'm interested in where you're trying to go, not in cataloguing where you've been.

My Leadership Style

Great leaders wear several hats and adapt their style as the situation warrants. So do I. My leadership style is adaptive.

My default is a blend of visionary and coach. I find this style suited to most scenarios - building a new team, climbing out of a crisis, executing a pivot, scaling a mountain. I spend a lot of effort crystallizing problems and setting direction. I plant myself in a 1-2 year timeframe and paint what the goal state looks like. You'll hear me speak in outcomes, and when I'm not, I'll be asking questions to guide you to see the same vision as me.

At the organizational level, I operate as a servant leader. You'll see me empowering individuals, fostering community, resolving conflict, and building strong relationships.

On process and autonomy, I'm laissez-faire. I get out of the way. I'm not your accountability measure. True accountability comes from within; I'm here to motivate you to want it.

My Personal Work Style

• Loud listener. I'll tell you what I think. I might be wrong.

• Loosely held strong opinions. I reserve the right to change my mind if the evidence suggests so.

• No babysitting. I won't track your vacation days or chase you for status updates. The trade-off is that you bring problems to me before they catch fire.

• I take my work personally. I don't disconnect.

• Comfortable risks compound. Groups of teams taking comfortable risks compound over time into uncomfortable risks - what we'd otherwise call big bold bets. I am willing to make those bets.

What I'm Good At

• Building community. I get a lot of joy from gathering people into something larger than the work itself. The teams I have built tend to outlast my involvement in them.

• Listening and empathy. This is much of why the servant model works for me. Most friction between people is a lack of relationship. Most lack of relationship is a lack of mutual understanding. I look for that first, before I look for fault.

• Strategy and direction. Give me a messy problem. I'll crystallize what matters and bring others along.

• Curiosity. I'm drawn to the why and the how. I love learning.

• Reading the room. I tend to pick up the unspoken.

• Calm under fire. Incidents, code yellows, crises. I'm more deliberate in such moments.

Where I Fall Short

• Timeliness. I work best against a looming deadline. The earlier in the runway you ask, the less crisp my answer will be.

• Reminders help me. Especially on the small administrative things. Nudge me - I won't be offended.

• Subordination. I push back on authority more than is always wise. I am working on it, and I appreciate being told plainly when it is costing me.

Tell me where I'm not living up to it.