# Daniel Mackey's Manager Readme **Sr. Engineering Manager at Stord** # Intro Hello, I'm Daniel Mackey. My pronouns are he/him/his. My friends call me "Mackey", so you should call me "Mackey". I'll respond to "Daniel", but there might be a slight delay before I recognize it. I will most likely give you a confused and weird look if you call me "Dan" though. This is my Manager README, which I hope will give you some insight into who I am, how I operate, and what you can expect from me. There might be gaps in this document or in how we work together, so please point them out. If there's one thing you take away from reading, it is this: **I need your input, feedback, and support in order for this to be a successful relationship.** I, in turn, promise you I'll do the same for you. # # My role As a people leader, I am here to ensure our team is successful and happy while working on the most important things to support our customers, improve our products, and deliver value for our business. More specifically: 1. **I am here to ensure you find both success and fulfillment in your role. I want you to improve your technical skills, grow your career, and enjoy your work.** 2. **I am here to ensure we are getting the direction and support we need from other teams and that other teams get what they need from us.** 3. **I am here to build stuff alongside you and to help deliver the work that is asked of us in the best possible way.** These are roughly in order of importance. As a manager, my [primary function is to be a multiplier](https://hbr.org/2010/05/managing-yourself-bringing-out-the-best-in-your-people). I am here to remove roadblocks, provide context and priorities, and work to help you accomplish your goals. If you are struggling or unhappy, then our team is struggling or unhappy. Should we find ourselves in that situation, writing code will not be my priority. Lastly, my job will not be to tell you exactly what to do or how to do it. I have thoughts and philosophies that I've gained over the years, as do you. Each person's perspective and experience enriches and enhances our team's output if acknowledged and encouraged. By allowing space for these differences to be discussed, I believe we will end up with a more holistic solution than if it was dictated from above. # # If you're new here... Welcome! First and foremost, it will take you time to get into a groove. In my own experience, it can take up to the first 90 days to feel comfortable with your role and team. **Lean into this discomfort.**  Reach out to folks, ask lots of questions, go to meetings, review PRs, and pair early and often. A new pair of eyes can provide a fresh perspective on things we have become numb to, so point them out when you see them. Work to build professional relationships amongst the larger team. I will do my best to introduce you to folks who can be allies and partners during your first couple of weeks. **Consider this a priority.** Nurturing these bonds will help you to widen your perspective on what we're building and how it impacts the larger picture.  One of the working relationships we'll need to define is the one between you and me, which I hope this document will accelerate. # # What you can expect of me - **Build a healthy team culture** - I believe all successful teams grow from a culture of [psychological safety](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhoLuui9gX8) and support. I will foster an environment that allows for mistakes without blame and encourages curiosity and learning. - **Provide guidance and perspective**  - I will have a larger context and field of view and will do my best to provide that information and insight to you. - **Cheer and encourage**  - I will promote your successes and shield your struggles. Tell me when things are going well and when they aren't. - **Firefight and support**  - If you need help, I will give you a hand. If you make a mistake, I'm here to help you with it. But I am not a mind-reader, so it's on you to tell me the support you need. - **Build alongside you ** - I will be in the trenches with you, writing requirements, reviewing briefs, and troubleshooting issues. # What I expect of you - **You follow the [Platinum Rule](https://www.inc.com/peter-economy/how-the-platinum-rule-trumps-the-golden-rule-every-time.html) -** I believe in treating others the way **they** would like to be treated. I expect you to do the same. - **You remember that you are good at your job**  - If you weren't, you wouldn't be here. If I'm asking you many questions, it's because I'm trying to gather context or helping you round out some thinking, not because I don't trust your judgment. - **You communicate early and often** - Writing, talking, documenting - all of these provide me and the larger team with the information we need to operate effectively. I'll never complain about over-communication. - **You feel safe debating me -**  I strongly believe in fostering psychological safety within our teams. This means providing a space in which disagreements can be discussed productively, with facts and reason, and in good faith. I can have strong opinions held weakly. If you have a solid case and can prove it, I'll adjust and work towards a solution. - **You tell me how I'm doing**  - I need your feedback. I can adapt and adjust my style to fit what works best for you, but only if I know what's working or not.  # How we'll work together ## 1:1s - **We will have regularly scheduled 1:1,**  and I will make myself available for ad-hoc sessions when there is something that we should discuss before our next scheduled session. - **This is not a status meeting** for you to tell me what you're working on or for me to tell you what you should be working on. The goal is to provide a space for us to talk about your professional development, what's bugging you, or where I can help you with context, guidance, or space. - **When the 1:1 feels over, but there is still time on the clock** , I'll have some topics or questions in my back pocket for us to discuss. There is a method to the madness, and it is all in service of building a working relationship and understanding each other - I will always have a Zoom/Meets video conference attached to our meeting, but I am open to a change in modality if you feel the need to do voice over a huddle or phone call. Let me know, and we'll go from there. ## ## My availability - My core working hours are from 9am central to 5pm central. I am occasionally online in the evening or weekends to catch up or get ahead on things. I might queue up emails for the next day, or ask a question after hours - **this does not mean I require or expect an immediate response ** (unless I say it's urgent in the subject/message). - Depending on the urgency, certain communication methods work better than others. - **High** : Call me - **Medium-High** : Text me - **Medium (default)**: Slack me - **Low** : Email me - While my calendar might look full, don't hesitate to reach out or book time. Ping me in Slack if you need to have a quick meetup, or just book the meeting - I'll let you know if we need to adjust. I'll do my best to keep my schedule up to date. # My principles - [**People First**](https://medium.com/seek-blog/4-steps-to-people-first-management-ed480591fb5c) - I believe that happy, informed, and productive humans build fantastic software. I will be as transparent and open about what I know and think as possible. I will encourage you to focus on your own professional development and will provide support and opportunities where appropriate. - **Software as a Craft** - I will index highly on code quality, testing, clarity in code and documentation, refactoring over rebuilding, communication skills, and teamwork. I'm a firm believer in "[the scout's rule of leaving things better than you found them](https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/97-things-every/9780596809515/ch08.html)", "[therapeutic refactoring](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4dlF0kcThQ)" and "[paying down debt first](https://blog.codinghorror.com/paying-down-your-technical-debt/)". - **Leadership is everywhere** -  I define a leader as “a person who is able to influence another person” - it’s that simple, that universal, and has nothing to do with “management.” But [leadership is also about ownership, accountability, and taking responsibility](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljqra3BcqWM). # Personality, nuances, and other things... - I'm a late-diagnosed ADHDer, and I'm spending a good chunk of amount of time reflecting on my strengths and struggles with this new lens, which has been both empowering and demoralizing. Evangelizing neurodiversity in the workplace has become a new side-project of mine, hoping to remove the stigma, provide awareness and resources, and help everyone be their best self at work. - I love brainstorming and thinking on my feet. I sometimes need to talk things through in ad-hoc sessions to round out my thinking. This might be frustrating at times, as it will look as though I'm changing my mind (which I am) as I exercise those thoughts. Please let me know if this becomes too jarring, and I'll tune it back. - When you ask, “Do you have 5 minutes?” in Slack or email, please add the topic you’d like to discuss; otherwise, I’ll think, “Do you have 5 minutes for me to tell you that I’m thinking of quitting.” -- we’re biased for bad news, and I’m no different. - Humans are complex beings, and diverse personalities and experiences defy narrow categorization. That said, I have found value in various assessments and methodologies that help me understand what might motivate folks I work with to better relate to their thought process. In that spirit, I'll share my "letters" so that you might understand what might be going on in my head. I encourage you to read up on those profiles, and if you're so inclined, share yours with me. - Myers Briggs: [ISTP](https://www.16personalities.com/istp-personality) - DiSC: [Di](https://www.crystalknows.com/disc/di-id-personality-type) - TKI: [Collaborating](http://www.kilmanndiagnostics.com/blog/2011/jun/17/most-complex-and-least-understood-mode-collaborating) - I drink a lot of iced lattes. Yes, all year. Yes, even in a polar vortex. I will most likely ask you if you want to join me when I go to get some. Feel free to say no. I will not try not to be hurt ;) # # Acknowledgments There are a lot of great resources and examples out there for Manager READMEs that helped me put my own thoughts into words. Below is a list of folks from whom I selfishly and shamelessly lifted ideas, phrases, and formats. - [Dennis Sherman](https://managerreadme.com/readme/desherma) - [Todd Larsen](https://www.remotebranch.org/posts/my-user-manual) - [Oren Ellenbogen](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sx5ssYb_xMrmwPpyjD5xP7RvQ7cHweDYlRGn2SXztKw/edit) - [Molly White](https://github.com/molly/manager-README) - [Michael Lopp](http://randsinrepose.com/archives/how-to-rands/) - [Ben Morris](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1LGL7fh5zWx8XqHRBra51LcMIHCUluqrdXZ_-XBTXqlg/edit#slide=id.g23dc7fe4e1_2_85) - [Aaron Lerch](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1F2PWxQ-sKJ1uAlrhU9ULXOVmH-CW6dw_ufMzbFLAWHA/edit#slide=id.p)