As your manager, I will do all I can to make it possible for you to succeed professionally. That means I will strive to do at least the following…
Provide you with the tools to do your job
Coach and mentor you in career development
Bring you information from the rest of GitLab
Shield you from outside pressures
Set clear expectations for you & give clear feedback
Be available for you to lean on me
Give you many opportunities to stand on your own two feet
I Expect…
honesty, integrity and professionalism
that you share and will act in accordance with GitLab's Values
understanding of GitLab's business and goals
full participation
creative thinking
ownership – of your career, of your actions
teamwork – support each other
Do your fair share of work
Ask for help, and be available to help
Be reliable and timely
adherence to team and company policies & processes
respect for each other, our company, and our customers
for all of us to have fun
I Believe…
in the individual
in the team
in the customer
in doing what's right
that communication is at the heart of all of our successes and most of our failures
that customer support and service can be a competitive differentiator for GitLab
in time off
Working with Me
Need something from me? No need to schedule a meeting in advance. Just contact me on Slack or send me an email.
I appreciate when people get to the point quickly instead of working around to it slowly. It's not that I'm in a hurry; I just like to get to the heart of the matter.
Similarly, I tend to be pretty direct and straightforward. If it's too much for you, please just let me know and I'll do my best to adjust.
I seek only useful, beneficial change - pretty much never change for the sake of change.
I want to be the most helpful, useful, supportive manager I can be for each person on my team. So please tell me:
what I'm doing well, and should therefore keep doing
what I can do better
what I should start doing
what I should stop doing
I try very hard to write or say exactly what I mean, with no hidden agenda or secrets. If there's information you want but that I can't give you, I'll let you know. But I won't make stuff up, and I won't make you guess. So you shouldn't need to read between the lines.
Personal History
B.A. in Computer Studies from Northwestern U. (Go Wildcats!)
M.S. in Computer Science from U. Wisconsin
Moved to Colorado in 1989 to start my career
Remarried in 2012 to Kim, an amazing woman who's taught middle school choir for many years and is a beautiful singer specializing in choral music
Personal Interests
American Football - Denver Broncos season ticket holder, and a big fan of my alma mater, Northwestern
Cooking and baking
Travel - favorite places so far are New Orleans, San Francisco, Tuscany (Italy) and Kauai, Hawaii
Movies, plays, musicals and music
Crossword puzzles, other word puzzles, number puzzles
Reading and writing
Professional History
10 years in HP's Graphics Software Lab as a software engineer and a software development process engineer
8 years at Rational Software (IBM) building and leading the Premium Support team
7 more years at HP as an enterprise support manager and then a support team manager
4+ years at LogRhythm as a support engineer and support manager
