https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-breitenbach/
I've held a variety of roles over the years that have included either directly managing someone, or, like right now, being more of a "coaching manager/mentor" (without the pesky personnel responsibilities). I've found it useful to give people who I'm new to coaching a quick introduction to me. I've seen a variety of posted files that looked very similar describing a manager's (or team lead's) style of managing, what they consider important, and some facts about them. I do love the idea behind it, but not the presentation. So here's my attempt at my own. Also, I consider this the content of my first face-to-face discussion with you as part of the overall orientation to our relationship. This is not intended to replace that conversation. Think of it more as a written or online record of that content for your reference. Finally, some of the thoughts below were written specifically for people that I am going to have a formal manager-type relationship with, so of course if that isn't the case with you, you can ignore those bits.
Really simple: I won't lie to you. There may be times when I can't say things because of legal restrictions or requests for confidentiality. But if you ask me a direct question, I will give you a direct answer. I expect the same of you. Which leads to the next value...
I've seen this referred to as DRI (Directly Responsible Individual), which is apparently an Apple concept. I'm not sure I'm fully on board with it in that context, since I've never worked there and don't know how it manifests. But what it means to me is two things. First, you own up to your mistakes. If something goes sideways, I want to hear about it from you. First. It is much easier to explain to a peer manager or higher up "Yes, I'm aware of what happened, here's what we did to fix it, here's what we're doing to prevent it from happening again" than "Gee... uh, not sure... I'll have to get back to you on that".
Second, it means you own your career and growth. Yes, I'm here to help, and make sure any opportunities the company is willing to sponsor are made available to you, but I can't force you to learn, grow or be invested in your development and long term success. YOU own that. I feel most comfortable interacting with people who are just as excited about technology, learning and their own growth as I am (or more)!
I have a very good friend and mentor who summarized being a manager into three things. He said "you have to be an umbrella, snowplow and toolshed". He lives in Minnesota, so it was snowplow instead of bulldozer, but you get the idea. "Get me the tools I need, clear the way for me and keep it from raining on me". I do think there is more to it than that, but those three things are essential, and I endeavor to excel at those things. I will be building strong (sometimes political) relationships around the company, so you don't have to, or helping facilitate your relationships with others when you do.
I think that being a technical manager, I bring more to the table than someone who isn't. I can be a technical mentor, especially for someone new to the job, but ultimately, I expect that you'll all eventually (or already) know quite a bit more about the technical aspects of your job than I do. That just goes with the territory. That doesn't mean I don't want you to come to me with technical problems. I'd rather not just list off a bunch of topics I think I can speak to. Instead I'll just say that I have a diverse background with a variety of technical domains, so don't be shy about using me as a sounding board for your thoughts and ideas, and I might also be able to steer you to resources that can help you further. A holdover from my own technical contributor roles is that I bring some fairly sharp problem solving skills to the table too, so let me exercise them once in a while!
- I try to be concise with words. That goes for all forms of communication. That means that I sometimes mull over my response to questions or problems before presenting my thoughts. Please grant me the time to respond when I'm ready.
- Spelling and grammar matter. If you ask me to review a document or email, you can expect that I'll nitpick about these things. I apologize up front. It is just the way my brain works. There are several things I'm a little obsessive about, and this is one of them.
- On the Insights scale, I'm blue-green. Briggs-Meyers, INTJ. If those things don't mean anything or matter to you, don't worry about it. If they do, maybe they give you some clues on how to interact with me. Personally, I find them to be useful guides, but certainly not an immutable contract with other people. Humans are complex, and don't often boil down to letters and numbers very well.
- Don't use the phrase "But that is the way we've always done it". Sometimes we need to challenge even the most tightly held practices to move forward.
Some companies I've worked for have a separate Employee Expectations document, so here are some quick guidelines:
- Put in your time. Yes, there are lots of ways to be flexible with it (flex time, WFH, comp time, etc.) but I will still expect that you are normally available during core hours to be available to your customers and peers. Be conscientious about letting others know when you can't/won't be available and mark your calendar as such. Give as much advance notice to me for planned and unplanned absences.
- Be responsive to communication. I'm not saying you have to be staring at your IM screen 24/7. Everyone develops their own cadence for this. I tend to use IM clients (Teams, Slack, etc.) over any others by preference for quick notes/reminders/etc. Keep your calendar up to date.
- Be professional. Be courteous and mindful in your treatment of others. I don't want to visit HR any more than you do. On the other side of that coin, if you feel someone else has behaved against those rules, come see me immediately. I will make sure your complaint is handled promptly, fairly and without retaliation.
- Be a sound financial steward for the company. Pretend it is your own money the company is spending. Question (politely) the rationale of something if you see the company taking an unreasonable expense or risk. Remember that you may not have all the information involved in the decision.
- Be an advocate for your users. Don't ignore the downstream impact of your work, even though you might be making things easier for yourself or your team.
- Meet (or exceed!) your commitments and deadlines. Let me know as soon as possible when you believe that dates will slip.
- I do NOT expect that we will always agree. In fact, I'd be more worried if we did. Be open to vigorous discussion and debate on topics and ideas, even if (or maybe especially if) they're firmly held. Commit bravely. Get on board once a decision is made. Learn from mistakes (yours and others).
I find them useful. They serve a variety of purposes, depending on the type of work you're currently doing and how involved I am in that work. I like to start with 30 minutes once a week. This can be modified over time if we find that isn't working. Although I do like to set a particular time every week, these meetings are almost the first to fall if I get over-committed on other things. I will always attempt to reschedule if I can, as opposed to outright cancellation. My agenda (generally) is:
- An opportunity for me to share anything from "upstream" that I think is important for you to know (management carry-down)
- I want to know if anything is blocking you from getting your job done (see snowplow comment above)
- Progress on your professional growth goals (and any new goals you want to strive toward)
Some other common topics that are fair game (coming from either of us):
- Concerns about your performance, compensation, benefits or behavior
- Concerns about my performance or behavior (I do appreciate feedback)
- Thoughts about company direction, products/services, and strategy
- Thoughts on anything that either of us are excited about that is going on recently. These may or may not be work related.
Final thought on these ... if you ever need to talk, but don't think it can wait until the next 1-1, don't hesitate at all to come to me at any time. If you can't find a spot on the calendar, reach out via other means. I don't think anyone has ever told that I am hard to reach. Email, IM and phone should all work. IM is probably where I am most responsive.
I'm sure more of this will come out as we get to know each other, but here are some biographicals:
- I'm happily married with two kids (girl and boy) and our two dogs, Shadow Moon and Night Skye. My wife is a pharmacist, and my kids are spoiled monsters who I usually manage to prevent from injuring each other. Shadow is a part cattle dog rescue that brings us joy (and sometimes destroyed dog toys or paper towel rolls) every day. Skye is new to the family, and we're still getting used to him and him to us. He's adorable, though, and just needs to learn which things are good chews and which aren't.
- I was born in Vienna, Austria, but grew up in the States. I've lived in New York, Florida, Ohio and Colorado. I'm pretty sure I've visited all the US states except Alaska, at least on a drive through.
- I graduated many years ago from Clarkson University with a dual major in Math and Comp.Sci. Perhaps ironically, I've never had employment as a developer.
- I've worked for a variety of companies, big and small. Citrix (Test Engineer), 2 different small internet providers (Sysadmin), Hunter Douglas (Systems Engineer), SUN (Technical Instructor and Data Center Architect), eBay (Technical Duty Officer and NOC Manager), Intrado/West Safety Services (Systems Engineer, Supervisor, Manager and Director) and now Ventera(Scrum Master). I even worked for the Psychic Discovery Network for a very short time, long ago. Ask me about it sometime over a beer.
- I am a gamer. Board games, PC, Console, RPG.
- I'm an avid reader. Primarily science fiction, alternative fiction and fantasy, but I'll read just about anything if the topic is good.
- Fan of: Star Wars, LEGO, Science, Photography, Astronomy, Maps, Books, Puzzles, Technology, Gastronomy, Craft Beer, and good Whiskey. Sometimes, more than one of those at once.
I used to have a section here with direct feedback from people who have worked from me in the past, but I realized that it was essentially just duplicating text that was now present in people's recommendations for me on LinkedIn. As such, I've included that link at the top of this document, so please go there to hear what some of the people I've worked with have to say about me!