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Welcome to ManagerStories.co!
Hi, I’m Damian 👋. A proud dad, an Engineering Leader and a coffee addict. Join me as I share real live stories, thoughts and tips on being a tech leader and manager, based on my 10+ years of leadership experience. Grab a cup of good coffee ☕️ and let's start! 🚀 Follow me on:

6 January 2025 by Damian Sosnowski

Why Do We Need a Blameless Culture?

In a world where our reptilian brains instinctively seek to blame, a blameless culture is a vital aspect of efficient organisations. Let's dive into the pitfalls of blame culture, from escalating toxicity to fear-driven silence. By leading by example, creating habits of open failure sharing, and focusing on systemic fixes you can shape the blameless culture that transforms mistakes into learning opportunities and fosters a resilient and transparent organisation.

#leadership #teams #people

Newsletter for Engineering Leaders

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Top Performers or Underachievers - Who Defines Your Culture?

14 December 2024 by Damian Sosnowski

The way you manage people in your team defines its culture. Your focus and attention help people thrive and grow, while lack of it hinders their progress. Should you devote your limited time to elevating your top performers and setting a high bar for excellence? Or should you focus on supporting your low performers, ensuring no one is left behind? Will you foster a culture where 10x engineers thrive and others either rise to the challenge or exit? Or will you cultivate a more inclusive environment, helping those who struggle to improve and potentially uncovering hidden talents?

#teams #people

Be Careful With The Blameless Culture

27 November 2024 by Damian Sosnowski

Blameless culture sounds great on paper - who wouldn't want a workplace where mistakes are learning opportunities rather than witch hunts? But here's the catch: when done wrong, this well-intentioned approach can backfire badly. Lack of accountability and a culture of avoidance will push your company down the slippery slope, degrading your product and burning people along the way. A proper blameless culture is not easy to build as it requires a solid foundation of discipline and relentless pursuit of constant improvement.

#leadership #teams #people

FAQ on How to Run Effective 1-1 Meetings

12 July 2024 by Damian Sosnowski

1:1 meetings are among the most popular managerial processes and people hold strong opinions on how to run those. No wonder that after I published my article on How To Run Effective 1:1 Meetings, many people reached out to discuss it. There is no one-size-fits-all solution for anything and 1:1s are no exception. So I've decided to summarise the most frequent and interesting questions in this short follow-up article.

#people #howtos

How To Run Effective Skip-Level Meetings

8 June 2024 by Damian Sosnowski

Skip-level meetings are one of the most powerful tools for breaking leadership isolation. If done well, they allow you to gather priceless information about your teams' daily work and create relationships with people on the frontlines. But if done wrong, can backfire badly. Your actions can be easily perceived as a witch hunt and shatter the delicate trust between you, your managers and their reports. It's a delicate situation that needs to be played carefully. Let's explore how!

#people #howtos

Escape the Ivory Tower. How to Avoid Leaders Isolation

11 May 2024 by Damian Sosnowski

As a senior leader, you have a serious problem. You are out of touch. You are sitting on top of an Ivory Tower, too far from the frontline, isolated by your authority and extended communication lines. You are missing important bits of information, and without those, you are making mistakes. There is a way to escape the Ivory Tower and break the bubble. But it won’t be easy and you will have to get your hands dirty.

#leadership #people

How To Run Effective 1:1 Meetings

27 April 2024 by Damian Sosnowski

Face-to-face meetings are one of the most important management tools. Yet they are rarely done well. Nearly half of employees rate their 1:1 experience as sub-optimal, and many managers struggle with low team member engagement and low value from these meetings. Yet, when done well, 1:1s can make a team's work more efficient, build trust and improve employee well-being and engagement. Based on my years of experience as an engineering manager, I've written this opinionated guide to preparing and running 1:1s as a manager. If you feel your 1:1s are not where they should be, give it a try!

#people #howtos

Embracing Hierarchy. The Goods and the Bads of Organisational Structures

16 April 2024 by Damian Sosnowski

From natural ecosystems to corporate banks, hierarchy is a crucial element of a successful system. Good hierarchy makes the organisation resilient and adaptable. Bad will drive it into oblivion. Smart leaders should embrace the hierarchy and be able to shape it proactively. Let’s dive deep into the topic of what is a hierarchy, how it shapes the organisation and how it can harm it when things go wrong.

#thoughts #teams

Rethinking Workspaces: The Local First Revolution

8 April 2024 by Damian Sosnowski

Conventional office work is dead, but the remote work revolution did not deliver on its promises and is now facing a backslash. What if there was a better way? A solution that will remove the painful pitfalls of the monolithic office and cure the loneliness of remote work. A new, dynamic, local-first office model that fosters a sense of belonging, collaboration and helps local communities. Too good to be true?

#thoughts #people