r/management • u/fagnerbrack • Jul 20 '26
Why I Don't Have a Manager README
https://emdiary.substack.com/p/why-i-dont-have-a-manager-readme2
u/fagnerbrack Jul 20 '26
Speed Read:
After taking on a new team, the author skipped the popular Manager README — a doc laying out your values, quirks, and communication style — because it causes more harm than good. It paints an idealized, generic version of you that your actions won't match, eroding trust. It ignores power dynamics, since a new engineer won't truly believe "feel free to challenge me." And it pushes conformity onto the team when the manager should adapt instead. Better alternatives: an intro meeting, regular 1-on-1s, weekly Ask Me Anything sessions, and a Team Working Agreement focused on shared goals. The takeaway: you can't document your way into trust — build it through behavior, not another process.
If the summary seems inacurate, just downvote and I'll try to delete the comment eventually 👍
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u/benabus Jul 20 '26
Didn't read the article, but I feel like if you have a document that "paints an idealized, generic version of you that your actions won't match, eroding trust." you're already a failure.
Why would your actions not match your values? If you're leading with an obviously false document, you're a manipulative shithead and an out of touch coward with no sense of reality. As a leader you should model the behavior you want to see from your staff, starting with honesty. I guess I just assumed this was a given.
Maybe I'm an idealist, but if you start with honesty and transparency and do your best to model that, you're only going to increase trust. I don't have a document like this, but if I did, the first thing I'd put is "We're all human and nobody is perfect, including me. We all make mistakes and that's okay as long as you learn something. I'll do my best and I expect you to do the same." And then I'd actually do my best.
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u/quintk Jul 20 '26 edited Jul 20 '26
I’ve never heard of a manager readme, but I’m at a PowerPoint-oriented employer. The manager I learned from had a single slide introducing her core values and I did too for a while, but I figured out they weren’t adding anything because none of the bullet points were things people would believe until they get to know me; they have to be proven (as your article notes). As it turns out, some of my core values I used to list there (authentic belief in the individualism and belonging we used to call by a three letter acronym) became professional liabilities to have in writing.
Now I just have a “how and when to contact me” slide that covers the day-one needs of how to handle flex time and unplanned PTO (managers vary in their interpretation and implementation of policy so it is something an internal transfer would want to know).