This document is just a starting point for people reporting to me (you). I’m looking forward to many conversations to get to know each other, but I thought it would be useful to put some things out there about how I think and how I work.
If you are interested in my professional life, you can check my LinkedIn profile.
I strongly believe that trust and feedback are essential to building high-performance teams, so a big part of what I do will be related directly or indirectly to that.
These are what I consider my priorities:
- Making sure that my team has a clear focus and goals, and that we deliver on these goals on time and with high quality.
- Making sure that everyone who reports to me is motivated and has everything they need to get things done.
- Making sure that our Engineering team is prepared to support the business strategy.
On a day-to-day basis, I’m not here to solve your problems, but to empower you to solve them. I’m quite opinionated, but I will really try not to give you my opinion unless you specifically ask for it. Instead, we will work together to identify the problem and the necessary actions to solve it, but unless it really falls into my space, you will be responsible for it. That doesn’t mean I do not care, I feel accountable for anything that affects anyone on my team. A big part of me being a manager is empowering the people who report to me and helping them learn how to be their own advocates.
In the medium and long term, I want to get to know you better and provide you with the opportunities that you need to achieve your professional goals.
I value feedback. We will decide the best way for me to give you feedback on your work.
Also, I will periodically ask you to give me feedback on the things I do, but feel free to give it to me at any time. Although I prefer face-to-face, I don’t really mind the way you do it, but please understand that it’s super important for me to know how you feel about the things that I do, so I prefer feedback badly delivered to not feedback at all. In fact, I hope we can work together if this is something you want to improve at.
Similarly, if you have feedback for a team member or colleague, I will ask you to deliver it to them directly, but of course I can help you figure out the best way to do it.
I like to have 1:1s with all my direct reports for at least 30 minutes, ideally 45, every week. These meetings are not to discuss project updates, although we can touch on that sometimes, but to talk about things that matter to you, and so it’s important that you prepare for the meeting.
We will use a shared document or tool so that we can plan an agenda and talking points prior to the meeting. At the end, I always update the document with the minutes and actions for you or me. It’s important that you read those minutes in case I misunderstood or missed anything important. Also, feel free to add your own comments.
I start to work very early, around 6 am, and try to finish my work day before 5 pm (CET times), but I might take multiple breaks during the day to exercise or recharge; I'll try to keep my Slack status updated to reflect what I’m doing.
Outside of those working hours, I might check my email or Slack, but unless it’s something urgent, I will defer it to the next day. Similarly, I try as much as I can not to send emails or Slack messages outside of normal working hours, but if I do, please remember that you don’t need to answer immediately unless it’s an emergency (in which case I will clearly communicate that).
I keep my calendar public and I try to have some space available every day in case we need to meet unexpectedly. If you need anything, feel free to Slack me or throw something on my calendar.
I’m very conscious about other people’s time, so I will try to communicate asynchronously when possible. If I think we really need a meeting, I will make sure that we have an agenda and a clear goal for the meeting. I also appreciate feedback after a meeting if you think I could have done better.
I don’t care about working hours, I care about outcomes. Please do your best to communicate when you are working and when you are not to the rest of the team to manage everyone's expectations. Beyond that, feel free to manage your time the way that allows you to be your most productive.
- I like to think in systems. I do my best to consider different parts of the system when I have to make a decision, and how they will be impacted. That being said, sometimes I prefer to act fast if I feel that the consequences of a bad decision are low risk.
- I trust by default. I really like the concept of trust battery and I always try to start a relationship with the battery at 75%. If the battery goes to 0%, it’s very difficult for me to recover from that.
- I believe in honest communication. If I say no, it means no; if I say yes, it means yes. I have problems when people behave differently. I understand this is a cultural thing and I try my best to adapt to everybody, but I still need to work on that.
- I always assume ignorance or incompetence over malice. I respect people that ask for help and own their failures, and I try to do that myself. I don’t like when people blame others to hide their mistakes or have a hidden agenda. Please give me feedback if you think what I’m doing is being perceived that way.
- I do care about the best solution. I’ll try to get everyone to share what they think about a problem, and I will happily change my mind if I think someone has a better approach to fix it.
- I’m an introvert. I function well in small meetings even with people I don’t know. In big meetings, or social events, I’m quiet.
- I'm extremely organized. I don't like chaos, so I try to make my communication clear and my ways of working predictable. If I say I will do something, I will. I expect the same from other people by default, and I can get somehow frustrated if that doesn't happen.
- According to CliftonStrengths I value “Execution”. A lot. I totally agree with it, and the inconvenience is that I naturally evaluate people only for what they deliver. I’m aware this is not ideal and I’m working on it. Please let me know if you see me doing that.
- Cycling. I have a Strava account to track what I do.
- I love nature and the mountains. I enjoy the quietness, the fresh air, and the open spaces. I’ve done a lot of hiking and I tried climbing, but I'm afraid of heights.
- I love to read, both fiction and non-fiction. I read 64 books last year (2023). You can check my goodreads account.