# Sebastian Froestl's Manager Readme **Engineering Manager at Atlassian** # Motivation for this document I got inspired by [this post](http://firstround.com/review/the-indispensable-document-for-the-modern-manager) and [SWSL](http://softwareleadweekly.com), a newsletter I follow, to write my personal README. I strongly believe in openness and transparency. Use this document as an intro to me. I've outlined how I like to work and what would make it most effective to work together. It's a living document. Please hold me accountable to my promises, and call out anything that might be missing from this document. Without your guidance, I won't be able to improve as a team lead. If you have any questions or like to talk about this content - more than happy to! (This document applies to me and should not be considered to apply for all managers at Atlassian.) # What you can expect of me? - Build an effective team that is successful and is guided in the right direction. - Attract, retain and grow world-class talent. - Support you to be successful and enjoy your work. I want to support you to improve your skills, grow your career, and believe in both our company's and our team's mission. (I try to follow the [Servant Leadership management philosophy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Servant_leadership)) - Provide regular feedback and growth conversations. I'll do my best to provide opportunities for all team members to grow and follow their interests # What do I value most? - Trust. - Honesty. - Feedback. - Proactivity. - Responsibility. (Own you project/ task or whatever, escalate and get help if stuck. Own it end to end. Got bad news? Tell me or others asap) - Continuous improvement, applying a [growth mindset](https://fs.blog/2015/03/carol-dweck-mindset). - GSD attitude and taking initiative. - Healthy conflict. - Seek first to understand. - [Be The Change You Seek](https://www.atlassian.com/company/values). - Please come with problems, but ideally you have already thought about some suggestions for solving them. # 1:1s - I'm big on 1:1s. I believe that these meetings are the single best tool for us to build a strong relationship. - 1:1s are _your time._ Please come prepared and set the agenda. What would you like to talk about? What’s going well? What's bugging you? What should we do differently? - I provide context from the greater org and help you work through problems you’re trying to solve. - 1:1s are not about work updates unless you want to talk about work updates. - I share any feedback I have for you (especially as it relates to career progression) if not done earlier already and I'll ask you for feedback for me. - I'm up to have an [awkward meeting](https://medium.com/@mrabkin/the-art-of-the-awkward-1-1-f4e1dcbd1c5c) from time to time. - Don’t save urgent matters for a 1:1! Just ping me on slack or drop by my desk. - We can go for a walk/ coffee or lunch for a 1:1 **Our first 1:1:** - Our first 1:1 will be a little funny, as we don’t know each other. That’s okay! Let’s take more time for understanding our backgrounds and get to know each other. - If you like I have a couple of questions that will make it easier for us to get to know each other: - Tell me about your history from as early on as you like until now (I’ll tell you mine!) - How do you want to receive feedback? # Feedback - I strongly believe that feedback is at the core of trust and respect - and therefor at the core of a healthy relationship. - Please give me a lot of feedback. - I will also give you a lot of feedback. - I want to provide feedback that is plainly obvious that I both care about you and that challenges you. Because I believe it will help you grow. - I see feedback as an opportunity to grow ALWAYS. (But we’re all humans and if I react differently, call me out on it. Or if you’re absolutely not comfortable giving me feedback yourself, I'd love for you to give it to one of the managers above me so they can anonymously relay it to me and I can work on it. (And work on the fact that you're not comfortable giving me that feedback yourself!) # Personality quirks - According to MBTI I fall into the personality type of [ENFJ](https://www.16personalities.com/enfj-personality). Feel free to read up on that personality type and, if you’re curious, do the test as well. - Sometimes I'm more focused on the big picture and less into the details, even when it would be important. It’s because I’m very eager to get going and faster to outcomes. I like to figure out things along the way instead of planning it very carefully. Sometimes more planning is important, call me out on it when that’s the case. - When giving feedback I might sometimes struggle to communicate negative and challenging feedback. I care strongly about people and their feelings, that makes it sometimes hard for me to deliver critical feedback. I’m working towards more directly challenging you, when I believe it is good for your growth. That’s never meant to be personal. And an invite for you to it likewise. - I love effective meetings because I attend a lot of them. (That’s a lie, I actually don’t love meetings) But I dislike it when people have their laptops open and are distracted. That’s why I insist on closed or absent laptops during meetings (except for note taking or as work material). It’s simply disrespectful to others if you’re slacking, emailing or coding away while someone is explaining something. And let’s be honest we’re all [bad at multitasking](https://hbr.org/2018/09/research-women-and-men-are-equally-bad-at-multitasking). Good meetings have: - Clear agenda with times - Clear purpose or goals - Right people attending - A parking lot - Look we just published [a blog post](https://www.atlassian.com/blog/teamwork/how-to-run-effective-meetings) about this topic. - Meeting Notes - I’m very passionate about value (whether it’s customer, business, team, environment, social, …), so expect to get asked things like: What value are we providing? How can we add more value? What value does that add? # My current top reading recommendations - [Deep Work – Cal Newport](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25744928-deep-work?from_search=true) - [The Obstacle is the Way – Ryan Holiday](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18668059-the-obstacle-is-the-way?from_search=true) - [Give and Take – Adam Grant](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16158498-give-and-take?from_search=true) - [Creativity Inc – Ed Catmull](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18077903-creativity-inc) - [A Guide to the Good Life – William B Irvine](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5617966-a-guide-to-the-good-life?from_search=true) - [Radical Candor - Kim Scott](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29939161-radical-candor?from_search=true) ## Thanks for reading! What did especially resonate with you? What do you disagree with? Please tell me in one of our 1:1s and let’s discuss! If you like this document, please write a readme for yourself as well!