palgon / manager

Manager README

I am not one to talk a lot about myself, but I think it’s important to understand who you are going to spend a lot of your time with over the coming days, weeks, months and years. The following is a brief insight into me, my role, what you can expect from me, and my expectations for you.

About Me

What would a README about me as a manager be without a little background about me, the human?

How I became to be an Engineering Manager

My childhood mostly consisted of taking things apart to figure out how they worked so I was naturally destined to be an engineer. The challenge was putting things back together without having any pieces left over. This problem solving nature is what continues to drive me even today. While majority of my career has been spent on leading teams to solve technical problems, I have come to appreciate and enjoy supporting and fostering engineering teams to overcome challenges of their own.

On a Personal Note

I lived most of my life in Florida and moved to Austin in the summer of 2011. While I was used to the heat, I was not used to triple digits with no rain in sight. Luckily, that summer was an anomaly, and I plan on calling Austin home for the foreseeable future. When not working, I find time to enjoy some of my hobbies:

• Fitness – I typically start out the day with my morning workout at Orangetheory; I am a medium-long distance runner with plans for my first half marathon at Disney World in 2019
• Home Improvement – It’s that childhood nature in me to solve problems with my hands
• College Football – An avid Florida Gators fan, but I appreciate a good game regardless of the teams playing

My Role

At a high level, I believe I work for you; not the other way around. As such, my goals are to attract and retain top talent (such as yourself), advocate for you and facilitate a working environment where you feel empowered and can grow your career while delivering business value. I aim to coach and mentor you to lead a successful career.

What to Expect of Me

• Honesty and transparency - I believe there’s more to be lost than gained by hiding things. Therefore, I aim to be as transparent as possible. While the company may require that I do not disclose certain things, I am committed to being honest with you.
• Context – I want you to feel empowered to come up with the best solution for a given problem. In order to do so, I believe it’s essential for you to understand the ‘why’ and not just the ‘what’. With that additional knowledge, I suspect you will have ideas on how best to solve the problem. I value using data to determine the right approach, so I encourage you to test out your ideas. Challenge the norm and don’t be afraid of failure; we learn the most through experiencing failures.
• 1:1s – You can expect at least 30 minutes weekly and we can adjust as you see fit. We can have 1:1s in whatever environment works best for you: walks outside, over coffee, breakout room, etc. During these meetings, I don’t expect to discuss project status unless you want to. Instead, I’d prefer to focus on your goals, accomplishments, challenges and where you are headed. I tend to use these sessions as opportunities for feedback, coaching and mentoring.
• Feedback – An important component of growing is to know how you are doing, and my goal is to provide it consistently and often (not just during 1:1s). I tend to praise publicly, but I’ve learned that not everyone appreciates this, so feel free to let me know if it’s not for you.
• Availability – Don’t feel limited to just our 1:1s. I work for you, remember? In my opinion, your time is more valuable than my time so I will do my best to make time for you. For quick questions, feel free to interrupt me. If I’m in the middle of something, I may defer until later. If it’s urgent, please let me know. If it’s something you’d like to schedule dedicated time for, I keep my calendar up to date so feel free to book time on it. If you can’t find available time, let me know and I’m sure there’s a meeting or two we can move around.

What I Expect of You

• Communication – I prefer over communicating in lieu of not enough communication. I attempt to pick up on subtle cues and read between the lines, but my mind reading skills still need some development. Don’t hesitate to let me know where I can help; I’m available via chat, e-mail, text or phone. If there’s somewhere you need to be, just let me and the team know.
• Feedback – Now that you know what you can expect of me, definitely call me out on it if I’m not living up to the expectations I set out for you. Additionally, if there’s an expectation you have for me that I haven’t laid out above, feel free to let me know. I treat all feedback, positive and negative, as essential. Just as you need to grow in your career, I need to grow as a manager too. I believe a key component of this growth is through feedback from the people I serve.

In Conclusion

Enough about me, the reason I am here is to learn more about you and how best I can serve you. I look forward fulfilling your needs to help you be successful here and beyond.