The leader's user manual

Because people are not UX-friendly.

Good leaders will have at least one initial conversation with new direct reports about who they are and how to work well together. Because of this, I developed a “Sergio’s User Manual” a few years ago, which I update occasionally, especially when starting a new role. My goal was to clarify what I was about so direct reports would have an easier time working with me. Every new report gets this small doc before our first one-on-one, and then we discuss it too to see how to best adapt to the follower’s work style.

One caveat: this is not an excuse to be an a**hole. It shouldn’t be, “Oh, it’s in my manual; deal with it.” It should not be an excuse for managers ’ bad behavior. It’s an alignment tool and should help direct reports to collaborate more effectively with you.

What to include in the leader’s user manual

These are the typical things one would include:

1. Intro

2. Communication preferences

3. Working hours

4. Leadership style

5. Expectations

6. Any extra stuff or quirks

Here is one example from when I worked as the head of product at a fintech: Sergio’s user manual.

01. Intro

Start by briefly explaining the user manual and why you created it.

Example:

This document is a guide to help you understand my working style, preferences, and expectations. My goal is to make our collaboration smoother and more effective by being transparent about how I operate.

02. Communication preferences

Detail how you prefer to communicate. Do you like quick Slack messages, or do you prefer detailed emails? Do you like face-to-face conversations, or do you thrive in written communication? If you challenge something, does it mean you are against it or you are just going for a devil’s advocate style? Do you have communication quirks?

Example:

1. Async > sync: when it makes sense, I prefer async comms (e.g. having pre-reads, video to watch at 2x, Slack message, etc). Long discussions are better to finish in a sync meeting though.

2. Slack is not sync: I do not expect an immediate response when I message you - unless I say it is urgent. But if you take more than a day, it's nice to say something like "saw it, will reply on X date" or just  👀.

3. Default to public: unless it's private, say what you have to say in the most relevant Slack channel, not in DMs.

4. Start with the why: if I don't understand why you are doing something, I won't care much about it.

5. Answering questions: when I ask a question, try first to answer it and then explain later. If you explain first, I might not listen well because I am thinking "where is the answer to my question?"

6. Transparency: I am super transparent and expect you to be too. Don't BS or hide stuff. If it is not a secret (e.g. a business thing I am not allowed to tell you), I won't hide it from you. Communicate early and often.

7. I hate email: if you want to annoy me, send me emails when a Slack message would do.

8. You can change meeting times: All my meetings have a "guests can modify event." If something comes up, you can just look at my calendar and move the meeting yourself. I will do the same.

03. Working hours

Clarify your working hours and availability. This will help your team know when they can reach you and when you need uninterrupted time. This is especially relevant for teams with distributed people.

Example:

I typically work from 9 AM to 5 PM Berlin time. I reserve the first hour of my day for focused work, so I might not respond to messages until after 10 AM.

I have a small kid, so 5 PM to 8 PM Berlin time is her time and I am generally completely unavailable.

04. Leadership style

Explain your leadership style. Are you hands-on, or do you prefer to give your team more autonomy? How do you handle decision-making and problem-solving?

Example:

1. I care, but I challenge: every leader should be measured by their weakest follower. A lot of my job is to help you grow. I really care about your well-being and career, but that doesn't mean I will be soft. I will give you hard feedback, and I expect that you offer it back too.

2. 1:1s are yours: the follower is the owner of the 1:1. This means you are responsible for making the most of it. Add your agenda items to our shared Notion (if you don't, I will assume you came unprepared and are wasting both our times). I will use whatever time is left over for my agenda items. If no time is left over, I might schedule a special meeting to cover my points.

3. You are in charge of your development and career. I see my job as supporting you in your growth, but I can't do it for you. The heavy lifting comes from you.

05. Expectations

Outline what you expect from your team members. This could include work quality, communication standards, or how you handle deadlines. If you manage individual contributors and leaders, you can have different expectations for each group.

Example:

1. Measure and report product changes' outcomes: as a team, you need to deliver. But I am not interested in your output, I am interested in the outcomes your team achieves. Measure what your product changes should achieve and proactively report if you have achieved them and what you have learned.

2. Talk to users often: if you are a PM and you haven't interacted with a real user in more than 2 weeks, you are not doing your job to the fullest. 

3. Number of iterations > quality of iterations: don't aim for perfection, aim for increasing the speed of feedback and iteration. This will lead to better product outcomes.

4. Validate hypotheses, not ideas: the best way to increase iteration speed is not to validate a whole idea, but to decompose it to the riskiest assumptions and validate those.

5. Balance the art AND the science of PMing: I am very data-driven, but if you only lean on data (the science part) you will only optimize things to a local maximum. You also will be too slow (100% certainty is too expensive most of the time). But if you rely too much on intuition (the art), you will be more often wrong than not - and that's a lot of wasted resources. Try to be balanced.

06. Any extra stuff or quirks

Feel free to add any information that might help your team better understand you. This could be personal quirks, pet peeves, or anything else you think is relevant.

Closing thoughts

Creating a leader's user manual fosters transparency and builds a more cohesive team. It's not about being self-important or demanding; it's about ensuring everyone is on the same page and can work together effectively.

Sharing your working style and preferences gives your team the tools they need to interact with you more effectively. In turn, this can lead to better communication, fewer misunderstandings, and a more harmonious work environment.

So, take some time to reflect on how you work best and put it down on paper. Share it with your team and encourage them to do the same. You might be surprised at how much smoother things run when everyone knows the game's rules.

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