# Sebastian Kline's Manager Readme

**Senior Engineering Manager at Nelnet**

# Motivation for this document

Anything worth doing is worth doing together. I'm always expanding my network to include those who share a common interest at the intersection of people and tech. Let's learn from each other and find something to collaborate on together!

Let's connect; grab some time on my calendar: [https://calendly.com/sebastian...](https://calendly.com/sebastiankline/intro-call)

# Management Style

I prioritize building relationships to create opportunities for my organization. Caring for the organization and its members is my primary focus.

## Team & Culture

- Software is a team sport. Pairing, code reviews, and non-working time for team bonding are ways to build community. Making use of tools like Donut.com can build genuine connections without forcing fun. This LinkedIn post sums it up quite well: [read here.](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/sebastian-kline_leadership-culture-peoplemanagement-activity-7175865833418633218-dzOX?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop)
- People first, then product, then customer. Remember to schedule mental health days and vacations and communicate them to foster collaboration.
- Leaning on relationships with Sales and Customer Support helps spread customer stories and fosters cross-team collaboration.
- Judgment isn't cool - lead with curiosity, ask questions, advocate for your needs but be respectful of others.
- Career frameworks, mentorship, and internships are vital for fostering growth. I find skill gaps and develop programs to ensure my organization evolves with the future.

## Doing the work

- Prioritize precision and clarity in product development by defining business cases, understanding user pain points, and aligning on feature capabilities upfront, before development begins.
- Teams share the responsibility of mitigating risks in software delivery to ensure the lowest risk to the customer. QA plays a strategic role by proactively developing test automation to surface bugs early and ensure alignment with stakeholder requirements.
- Engineering time is valuable. Evidence Based Planning and a mix of Scrum, Agile, and Kanban help align engineering investment with organizational goals. View my project management approach here: [https://docs.google.com/presen...](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/15_-jq8YrZOydyQPxSjhs9yZqtjAS2FLtpauGRtcyX5w/edit?usp=sharing)
- User experience is more than aesthetics; it's about understanding our users' mental models and building experiences to match. The entire organization should advocate for experiences that resonate with our target customers.

## **KPIs**

You improve what you measure. I am a huge fan of Franklin Covey's 4 DX philosophy: [https://www.franklincovey.com/...](https://www.franklincovey.com/the-4-disciplines/)

I use these to measure the organization and myself:

- Tenure.
- Diversity of the team.
- Pay Equity & Comp Bands.
- Platform Uptime
- On Plan vs Off Plan percentage.
- Critical issues in the last 8wks.
- Automated Code Coverage.
- Employee vs Customer detected bugs.
- Accuracy of Planning & Missed Requirements.

# 1:1's are key

Trust is key to how I run my organization because I prefer decentralized decision making, sharing of information up and down the reporting chain, and increasing the autonomy of those who I'm responsible for. I _rarely_ miss a 1:1.

The first time we have a 1:1 I'll likely cover these questions: [https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi...](https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/cwhjkatcyqjr7k7hsbh4z/Questions_for_our_First_one_to_one.pdf?rlkey=77abuvdglpu1sgdkxi6rqcivl&dl=0) I'll adjust based on what I learn from that discussion.

After that, we'll meet 30 mins every week for the first 3 months. That's to provide fast resolution to topics you may bring and more chances to build trust early. Ideally, after 3 months, I'll provide you with a performance review, that we will both fill out and align around. If you're a new hire, I use a 30/60/90-day Trello board to help you stay on top of progress and clearly outline my expectations for performance during that time.

## I get the most out of 1:1's when...

You drive the agenda and occasionally I will bring my own topics. I offer insights on team dynamics, organizational trends, and growth opportunities. Together, we'll collaborate on your plans and approaches, aligning with organizational and professional goals. We actively review team performance, finding challenges and successes. As you need it, I'm happy to listen and talk about life as well, sharing what you're comfortable with - I'll reciprocate. 

## I don't get value from 1:1's when...

Lack of team ownership or accountability is shown, the focus is on project status updates, and when complaining is not followed with reflection and action.

# What it's like to work with me

**"** _Achieving Influencer"_

Defining success and clearly understanding the goal post is important to me. I communicate goals to those around me. For big decisions, I often need time to think and process because it allows me to think about the future and develop questions, I may need to answer to get there. Once I have a vision for the future that's clear to me, I spring into action and want to get there quickly, and first if possible.

## Things I may need help with:

- I can get frustrated when I have a desire to win, but something out of my control prevents me from winning. I often call this the "performance vortex". I turn to my leader proactively to help me look at things differently.
- When I don't believe my contributions are valued, it's hard for me to stay motivated, and in turn motivate my organization. 
- Strategy is good, however, I can miss the _tiny_ details because I'm so focused on ensuring the direction we're headed is the proper one. I try not to miss details, but when I do, be kind to point them out, I'll be grateful you did.

I am always improving myself and will continue to work on these.

# Life Long Learner

People, products, and customers are not stationary; they're always evolving. I read books and listen to podcasts to keep up my skills.

## Books that have influenced me:

- Selling the Dream by Guy Kawasaki.
- The 4 Disciplines of Execution: Achieving Your Wildly Important Goals by Chris McChesney, Sean Covey, Jim Huling, Scott Thele, and Beverly Walker.
- Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy Seals Lead and Win by Jocko Willink, Leif Babin.
- Resilient Management by Laura Hogan.
- Art of the Start by Guy Kawasaki.
- NO EGO: How Leaders Can Cut the Cost of Workplace Drama, End Entitlement, and Drive Big Results by Cy Wakeman.  
- The Sprint Book by Jake Knapp.  
- How I Built This by Guy Raz.
- The Art of War by Sun Tzu.
- Conversations with Things by Diana Deibel & Rebecca Evanhoe.

## Leaders I draw inspiration from:

- [Simon Sinek](https://simonsinek.com/ "https://simonsinek.com/")
- [Cy Wakeman](https://www.realitybasedleadership.com/ "https://www.realitybasedleadership.com/")
- [Jay Shetty](https://jayshetty.me/ "https://jayshetty.me/")
- [Jocko Willink](https://www.drift.com/blog/jocko-willink-extreme-ownership/ "https://www.drift.com/blog/jocko-willink-extreme-ownership/")
- [Ed Mylett](https://www.edmylett.com/ "https://www.edmylett.com/")
- [Brene Brown](https://brenebrown.com/ "https://brenebrown.com/")

# Resources & Other Links

Evidence Based Planning: [https://docs.google.com/presen...](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/15_-jq8YrZOydyQPxSjhs9yZqtjAS2FLtpauGRtcyX5w/edit?usp=sharing)

First 1:1 Template: [https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi...](https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/cwhjkatcyqjr7k7hsbh4z/Questions_for_our_First_one_to_one.pdf?rlkey=77abuvdglpu1sgdkxi6rqcivl&dl=0)

# Let's Connect!

Since you've made it this far, we should probably grab a virtual or in-person coffee. Let's see what opportunities we can create for ourselves or our teams.  **Schedule 30 mins here** : [https://calendly.com/sebastian...](https://calendly.com/sebastiankline/intro-call)