# Layton Gilbraith's Manager Readme **Software Engineering Manager at Rivian** # Motivation for this document This short intro is meant to provide you with some basics about me and how as a coworker,  you can depend on me. I hope to set your expectations, and outline the ways I find most effective to work with others (i.e. you). This document is a work in progress, just like me. # My role I’m not just here to ship code. It’s my responsibility to retain our talent (that’s you). It’s also my job to invest in you and provide the tools/opportunities to help you succeed. This includes helping define what success means for you. # My Principles ## **Candour/Direct conversations** - I believe this is essential to effective and cohesive teamwork - This gives me a strong,  **strong**  bias towards honesty and transparency - This can often be fairly direct (but it will never be personal) - If I think you can do better at something, I will try to challenge you directly and appropriately - As a leader, I care personally about you, not just your results - If you think i’ve done something that hurts my ability to retain you, telling me is doing me a  **HUGE**  favour. I want to find the cause and I want to resolve it. ## **Challenge is healthy** - I am not _“chief decision maker”_ - I’m here to facilitate discussions and help us get to the right answer - I will have thoughts and opinions on your work. And I really want yours on mine - I want you to feel safe debating me and disagreeing with me - I am interested in  **what**  is right, not who is right - Together we keep the bar for quality high and make each other the best version of ourselves - If you have feedback for me, I want to hear it and talk about it ## **You only fail when you give up** - Missing your goals or not hitting your deadline is not something to fear - It tells us that we can be better and is a great reason to experiment - Making a genuine effort is far more important than succeeding - The key is to keep an open mind and constantly try new things to find what works for you - If you think you are failing, let's talk about it and make sure that the goal is fair and manageable - We learn our best lessons when we make mistakes # My Expectations - **For you to be vocal.**  I crave honest feedback, and will always prefer more communication from you than less. And any time is a good time to chat (seriously, any time). - **For you to be open to feedback.**  Just as I expect you to be vocal in your feedback for me, I expect you to be receptive to my feedback for you (and to also tell me if you think I'm not delivering it well).  - **For you to be on time.**  I do my best to honour my calendar. Please do the same. - **For you to be a team player.**  We're all here to building towards something amazing together. Hold yourself accountable to the promises you make and share the burden. The problems are ours, not yours and mine. - **For you to take pride in your work.**  Act like an owner, starting from the initial idea to full implementation. Remember that your legacy is only as strong as others' ability to understand and appreciate it. - **For you to have fun**. I'm all about working hard and playing hard. If you have an idea on how to make work fun or blow off steam with the team, let's do it! ## I will always make time - Even if my calendar looks intimidatingly busy, let me know via Slack or in person that you want to talk - I’ll make the time for you, and defer something else - This is  **NOT**  something you should feel guilty about, it’s what i’m paid for, and it’s much better than sitting in meetings anyway ## Ask and you shall receive - I am not always the best at giving feedback in the moment and I don’t like to tell you how to do things, but I will never shirk a direct request for feedback - The company can ask me not tell you certain things, but it cannot ask me to lie. I am committed to being 100% honest. I will always do my best to answer your questions and tell you if I can’t - If you are unhappy about anything, talk to me about it and we will find solutions together - Sometimes there may not be solutions but I can at least be a good listener ## Share with me - I’m interested in knowing you as a person not just as a colleague - My favourite phrase is _ **“** Have you got a minute. . . **”** _  (and  **“** Hey! There’s beer in the fridge **”** ), I’m always happy to help you - . . .and my second favourite _ **“** Oops, I think I messed up **”** _. . . with an important difference. . . - . . . I want to hear about it straight away. If you or something _ **“** messed up **”** _, I’m not interested in scolding. Let’s do the right thing, fix it and learn from it. I can and will make mistakes too. - If you’re open and honest with me, I will be able to support you and go to bat for you when you need it. # 1:1s - **1-on-1s are for you, not me**  - They are not for status updates. I’m not checking up on you. They are dedicated time for me to listen, discuss your ideas/plans, or to help coach you. - **Come prepared**  - Think about what you want to talk about before the meeting. - **Discretion by default**  - Anything said in these meetings is in confidence unless you give me express permission to share it. - We will start out with monthly 1:1s as a guaranteed minimum. if you want more, i.e. weekly/daily, ask and you shall receive. This can change at any time you want, to meet your needs. - If it’s urgent don’t wait for the next 1-on-1.  **Ask me the same day!** # ## Caveat Take this document with a grain of salt:  **I**   **wrote it****!** I have never experienced having me as a manager. If you’re reading this and something here seems off, open a pull request, write me a note, or (probably more comfortably) bring it up to me in a 1:1 or over Slack.