My Management Philosophy

Last updated: Oct 2022

When I start to manage a new team member, I often get asked about my management philosophy, how they would meet “my expectations”. Although I believe I have been given pretty consistent messages across different team members, my thoughts may be given by pieces, and may be in different order under different circumstances. I figure it is best if I can write them down so I can just share this article. Team members could just comprehend them in a more logical order.

Why did I become a manager?

“With great power comes great responsibility.” — Uncle Ben

I am super grateful my first couple of bosses at Plateau Systems were both great leaders. They taught me so much, both professionally (how to be a great engineer) and personally (how to treat others, to inspire, and equally importantly how to have fun 😁).

They are my inspiration and role models as a leader:

They created a trustful and psychological safe environment.
They were super technical and were always available to teach me.
They empowered me with delegation and gave me room to grow (instead of micromanaging).
They cared about my career development, grooming me with bigger and bigger challenges.
They showed me we could have fun in our professional life as well.

My objective as a leader

“Every French soldier carries a marshal’s baton in his knapsack.” — Napoleon Bonaparte

I aspire to be a transformational leader. To ensure people in my organization have the opportunity to transform themselves, the company, and the world.

Principles

Trust is the foundation for a high performing team, nurtured by Empathy and Transparency.
I practice a Growth Mindset. I will always have your best interests at heart and try to align business priority with your growth.
I believe delegation is the ultimate empowerment. Yet, “Trust, but verify”.
I believe in Continuous Improvement and strive to establish feedback loops.
I believe our professional lives can and should be fun.

On our work as a team

Focus: We do our best work when we are deeply focused. Let’s all be focused based on our OKRs and annual strategy!
User Obsessed: Your “impact” is ultimately measured by what that means to your customers or users. Build something that will wow them.
Working Backwards: Dream big, have a goal, and solve it backwards and iteratively.
First Principles Thinking: Breakdown the problem into fundamental pieces and challenge assumptions.
Bias for Action: As long as a decision is “reversible”, bias for action.
KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid): It takes more effort to simplify. Don't be lazy—simplify user interfaces and architecture.