What can you expect from me? (Transparency)

Positive Attitude: I strive to create and encourage a happy working harmony as a team.

Collaborative: Solutions in isolation don't benefit from external perspectives. Collaboration makes solutions stronger, better and gives teams alignment and purpose.

Present: No matter the scenario, you will have my undivided attention when you need it. No cell phone, no laptop distractions.

Authentic: I bring my whole self to work. The person you see at the office is the same person outside the office.

Consistent: No matter the scenario or the forum, you can be sure that there will be no surprises from me when possible.

Generous: I will go above and beyond to make sure you have everything you need to be successful.

Why is Positivity Important?

• I want you to perform at your very best every day. To do that, we need a positive environment to work in and that starts with me.
• Positive work environments foster creativity, innovation and psychological safety.
• You spend most of your awake hours at work. Let's make them fun and as gratifying as possible, together!

Why is Collaboration Important?

• The best solutions come from fully integrated, cooperative working environments.
• Collaboration fosters alignment between groups and individuals.
• Collaboration fosters open environments where ideas are welcomed and diversity of thought is promoted.

Why is being Present Important?

• Every team needs their head to be an active listener and present in all conversations.
• Distractions need to be at a minimum when in meetings or one on one interactions. No cell phones, no laptops when possible.
• Being present helps build trust and authentic relationships between individuals.

Why is Authenticity Important?

• Authenticity builds trust. This trust allows the team to build bonds and foster safety as initiatives begin.
• I will always have your best interests at the forefront of my conversations and decisions. Without authenticity and trust, this is unachievable or unbelievable.
• Authenticity creates safety that allows others to share their ideas and opinions.

Why is Consistency Important?

• There is so much that happens in a day at a company. To create efficiencies and increase clarity, consistency in communication and decision making are a top priority.
• Being consistent reduces uncertainty. This is crucial in building psychologically safe environments as uncertainty often breeds anxiety.
• Communication consistency reduces most negative surprises that may occur. There may be external pressures that prevent me from being able to achieve this, but my goal is to not have any surprises as it pertains to your performance and initiatives.
• Consistency fosters initiative. If you already know my answer because of consistency, your question has an answer and can be acted upon without unnecessary waiting.

Why is being Generous Important?

• Everyone needs various degrees of help at different times. It is important to ensure people know that I am willing to step up and help.
• At the same time, I do my best to ensure I don't overstep boundaries. You will always have my full support in doing whatever is necessary to make you successful and happy.

How do we achieve this together? (Rules of the road)

Loosely Held "Rules"

Psychological Safety

Authentic Relationships

Holding Me Accountable

Holding You Accountable

Loosely Held "Rules"

• I deeply believe in "flow" of thought. In open office spaces, it is very difficult to guard flow. I will do everything I can to protect engineering flow. Within our own team, however, it is okay to raise a timely issue or an emergency but let's do our best to allow team members to concentrate. This rule does not apply to me. Disrupt me at will.
• Before asking anyone for help, try to solve your issue for a minimum of 15 minutes. When describing what you need help with, this gives you a basis as to what you tried.
• The sooner you reach out to me with issues, the sooner I go to work on a solution for you.
• I love staff meetings/retrospectives. It is a time for us to get together and reflect on issues. Participation is not mandatory, but I would love it if you spoke up about problems or solutions.
• I do my best to ensure you have all the tools (laptop, conferences, etc) you need to be successful at your job.

Psychological Safety

• In order to innovate, we need to remove some of the stigma around failure. Any mistake that happens will not result in punitive action on my part. Mistakes are essential to learning and growth.
• Outages and bugs will happen. It is important to document issues so others can learn from their peers. We should celebrate these events as a means to reduce tension and increase cooperation.
• I will never second guess or question your ability. You were hired here because of your skills. What I will do is continue to push you and understand where you want to grow so as to best support you.
• I do my best to create space for people to grow into. These spaces are going to be different for everyone as no one person has identical interests or career goals.
• I will never criticize you in public. I will often praise you in public, but constructive criticism is strictly held for one on one interactions.

Authentic Relationships

• Everything we do is predicated on trust. To build trust, we have start being authentic with one another.
• Building authenticity is not just a one time event. It happens continuously and can be achieved through one-on-ones, staff meetings, collaboration and more.
• Expect explicit, direct feedback from me during one on one sessions. One-on-Ones are my venue to help you grow by providing the feedback you need.
• I don't expect everyone to become friends on the team. I do expect a baseline of respect where we can have respectful dialgoue. It's ok to be outside of your comfort zone. It is not okay to demean, belittle, stereotype, or gaslight a fellow team member.

Holding Me Accountable

• I am not perfect. I have blindspots. Please let me know when you feel I am either not doing something or doing something incorrectly. The sooner, the better.
• I am receptive to feedback. I am continually learning across the spectrum of engineering and management. As you get comfortable working with me, please supply me with feedback however you are comfortable doing so.
• I will be asking for feedback in every single 1-1. It is ok to not have feedback for me, but I won't stop asking :)

Holding You Accountable

• I supply you feedback during our 1-1 sessions to help you grow and hold you accountable. This feedback is always constructive and positive with a goal of helping you grow as a professional.
• Holding you accountable does not have to be punitive. Everything should be focused on learning and growth. If you feel something is punitive, please speak up quickly.
• Most importantly, you should be holding yourself accountable for issues that arise. Mistakes are a part of life and they will always happen. We need to learn from them and react to them appropriately.

That's All Folks!

This is not an all encompassing document of my core values and beliefs, but it is enough of a guide to help you understand my motivations. Ultimately, I go to work for YOU, the employee. My success will always be measured by your success. As such, expect me to do everything in my power to grow you into better engineers and leaders.

If you have any questions or comments, please reach out!

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Big Thank Yous!

I want to thank those individuals who took the time to read this document and provide me feedback. Thank you Zach Cotter, Brendan Moy and Janice Smith.