Hi, I’m Dan Kuyper.  I look forward to working with you and getting to know you better.  This document is not meant as a replacement for that process. It’s intended to bootstrap your knowledge about my values, expectations, and things that are important to me because:

• Humans take time to get to know
• I’m a human
• You might be wondering a bit about me

Also, this is a living document.  Expect content to change as I learn and grow.  I don’t expect to be the same person a year from now because of my experiences and would assume the same for you. If you refer back to this document and want to call BS on me, please do. That’s part of my growth process. I’m here to enable amazing work for you and the team by:

• Providing context, clarity, and advocacy for you and the team
• Attracting, retaining, and growing world-class talent (that’s you)
• Fostering a culture of safety for diversity in thought and opinion leading to collaboration on shared goals, team objectives, and desired product outcomes

If I’m doing anything that gets in the way of this, please let me know – that would be doing the team and me a huge favor (see my notes on feedback) Your contribution is:

• Giving your best every day to do excellent work
• Supporting the team if we agree to try new things or take risks and upholding the safe space I’m trying to create when members express thoughts, opinions, or concerns
• Being accountable by taking ownership and following through

If I perceive your contribution hindering OR helping the team, I’ll provide you clear and timely feedback to help unleash your potential by:

• Being explicit on what good looks like
• Getting in sync with you on that standard
• Describing my experience – “What I experienced was…”
• Asking what you experienced
• Discussing the gap between the standard and what happened

This feedback model:

• Is rooted in safety and based on genuinely caring about your growth and development
• Applies to both constructive and positive feedback
  • Constructive feedback is often the kindest thing to do because it is instrumental in growth and development
  • Positive feedback matters a lot because it can help you get clear on your strengths and gifts
• Assumes you want to unleash your potential. If this isn’t true, we need to understand what engages you and see how or where we can best leverage those skills and interests

You can help unleash my potential as the best team leader possible by providing me feedback – please do. Building a great working relationship with you through daily interactions, activities, and 1:1s is high priority for me.  My calendar may be jam-packed, but please know this about my availability regarding you:

• Very few things are more important than talking to you if you want to talk to me
• Catch me in-person, via messaging, or put something on my calendar
• If my calendar is full, send me a message, and I’ll shuffle things to make time for you

I’m a big believer in 1:1s as a way to build our relationship. I want to start with high frequency (i.e.: weekly), high length (i.e.: 60 minutes), and work with you to figure out when/if/how to taper back.  1:1s are priority engagements for me.  I won’t move them unless necessary and will come prepared to focus on you. We’ll spend some time on shared goals, team objectives, desired product outcomes, and your part influencing and impacting those. I’ll also have questions about your growth and development to explore if we have time. However, 1:1s are primarily a chance for you to discuss what’s on your mind.  You don’t have to prepare anything in advance but will get more out of our time if you do.  1:1s are not for status updates unless you want them to be. There are a few core personal values I have:

• Strive for excellence in what you do and who you are. Always work to get better
• Work smart and hard now so you can make time for yourself, others (family, friends, community), and life outside of work
• Don’t gossip or complain – figure out a solution instead. Frustration is natural and even good at times but should translate to growth and positive actions
• Have integrity in what you do and how you treat others
• You don’t have to be serious to get serious work done

Glad to be here and have the opportunity to work with you. I’m interested in what you value, your goals, and getting to know you better.  That takes time, and I look forward to the process.

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