# Lucas Ferreira's Manager Readme

**Senior Front End Developer at Shopify**

Hello fellow reader, 

This README summarizes some of my values, expectations and rituals as a manager. Hopefully this will help you understand a little bit more about me :)

# What I expect from you

1. **Communication:** This does not necessarily mean you need to talk to everyone all the time, but it's important to be visibly present and engaged. Share the work you did with your team, ask for help when you're blocked, help someone that asks for it. There are many ways to show you're doing your job.
2. **Be yourself:**  I'll always encourage you to be an honest and authentic version of yourself. Avoid forcing yourself to be someone you don't want to be just because you're at your job.
3. **Respect:** Well, I believe that's basic for every human being. Treat everyone with respect and courtesy.
4. **Humility:** Be open minded and listen to what others have to say, avoid [ad-hominem](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ad_hominem) at all costs and don't take constructive feedback personally.
5. **Proactivity:** A certain level of independence on the job is beneficial for everyone, so try to slowly achieve this by taking ownership for your path and by acting on things yourself. This can be hard in the beginning, but it gets better with time and as you gain context.

# What you can expect from me

1. **Trust battery:** I follow the [Trust Battery principle](https://sketchplanations.com/the-trust-battery), so you can expect to start with our Trust Battery at 50%.
2. **No micromanagement:** I avoid [micromanagement](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micromanagement) as much as I can, but in some very rare cases I'll try to keep a closer eye on those that are not making enough progress or where our Trust Battery is compromised.

# The first meeting™

Whenever I have a new report, one ritual I like to do is "The first meeting™". It's probably one of the most important meetings we'll ever have, so I usually block my calendar for at least 1 hour just for this. We may not (and we probably won't) take that much time, but I prefer to have the freedom of not worrying about timing to make sure we only leave the meeting when there are no topics left to cover.

Some topics we may discuss include:

1. **Expectations:** What we can expect from each other on our journey in the short and long term.
2. **Team:** We will talk about the team structure, members and some of the work we do.
3. **Projects:** Here we can discuss the projects our team is working on and which one you can potentially join.

# 1:1s

I'm a huge fan of 1:1s, and think every manager should do them. Without dedicated time to talk privately with your report, it'll be really hard to understand their needs, provide support and keep a solid feedback loop about each other.

If you’ve never had a 1:1 before and need some guidance, [this article provides a good overview](https://wavelength.asana.com/workstyle-what-is-a-1-1/). But don't worry, you’ll get the sense of it with time :)

When it comes to 1:1 cadence, flexibility is key. I tend to use our first conversation to discuss this, but I often start with weekly 1:1's of 30 minutes each, which is usually a nice baseline for us to begin with. But please keep in mind that you are my highest priority, so my calendar will always be open for you, so if you need some time outside of our regular 1:1 schedule, don't hesitate to book extra time!

The 1:1 agenda is open for both of us, so you should always try to add topics to it and I'll try to do the same! This meeting is useful and important to both of us, so we should aim to maintain a collaborative spirit.

# Personality quirks

1. I am not a morning person at all.
2. I love karaoke and I definitely don't sing well, so prepare your ears in case we have this activity at any social event.
3. My social energy is a flaky system, there will be days when I'll be super talky and days when I’ll be more quiet. This can vary based on many, many factors that sometimes even I don't understand.