Leaders README

Why this exists

This is a guide to working with me - what I value, how I operate, and what you can expect from me. Writing it forced me to examine how I actually lead, and that thinking was worth more than the document itself. What you’re reading is the honest output, public on purpose, and never finished. If something here doesn’t match what you experience working with me, tell me - correcting this document is feedback I will always take.

Intro

Hi. I’m Andru Manuel-Che.

My life in this organisation started with Annalise.ai, which later merged with Harrison.ai. Before this, I was at another small startup called Reejig, and before that at Monster.com (a subsidiary of Randstad). So I’ve been at large corporates as well as Series A/B startups. If we go even further back, I worked as a clinical practice manager in a chiropractic and physiotherapy clinic whilst I was studying to be a Chiropractor myself. Software engineering was a career pivot I made.

In that time, I’ve always considered myself a full-stack software engineer, although I did a little detour into devops and cloud engineering. I’ve always worn multiple hats, regardless of the team I’ve been in. I’ve since become a systems architect, but I still love getting my hands dirty on the tools and building, breaking, and fixing software and infrastructure.

When I’m not working, you will likely find me watching or playing the sports I grew up with - rugby league, cricket, athletics, baseball, Formula 1 racing/go karting, basketball, cycling, or golf. I try to always do this with my son, and occasionally my wife when she’s up for it. As a family, we also love camping and getting outdoors to go to parks, hiking, and biking. When we’re not outside, we love reading books and watching movies or history documentaries. We also try to find time in our busy lives to go on road trips around Australia, and when our savings allows, go overseas. We love trying different foods, visiting fascinating cultures that are not our own, but also connecting with the culture where we were born.

What is my role?

I’m currently a player-coach and squad lead for the Harrison Open Platform Squad. I report directly to our CEO Aengus.

I lead a diverse team of 10+ Full Stack Software Engineers, Platform/DevOps Engineers, Product Managers/Owners, and a UX researcher. Leading a high-performing, high-agency team like this is a privilege, and I don’t take it for granted.

Our squad works on the Harrison Open Platform, particularly its non-medical device components. That gives us a broad scope: healthcare systems integration, reporting systems, workflow management, administrative portals, post-market surveillance, and analytics.

When I work

I don’t have a fixed work-hours pattern - I’ve never enjoyed a strict 9 to 5. My working hours are roughly 8am to 5pm Sydney time (which shifts with daylight savings over the New South Wales summer), Monday to Friday. When problems arise outside those hours, or I have scheduled commitments, I will often work beyond them. It is important to me, though, to protect 6pm to 8pm every night for time with my son and wife.

I do not expect you to follow my hours or my pattern. I do expect you to be available during the team’s core working hours - which we’ll discuss and agree on together.

I love the flexibility of our organisation and industry, and I expect you to be flexible too. That includes stepping out to attend to personal matters or taking a break when things get intense, as long as you communicate it. Your mental and physical health is as important to me as my own. It also means taking time off during your usual hours when you’ve been asked to work outside them - time in lieu. We’re here to work and support each other as a squad, not to clock in and out.

I will do my best not to contact you outside your working hours. The exceptions are emergencies: a production incident I cannot solve myself, or when you are the only person with information I need to unblock something critical.

You are free to contact me at any time. I might not be able to respond immediately, but I will let you know and we’ll schedule something for later that day. In an emergency, text or call my mobile (the number is in my Slack profile and email signature). If it’s seriously urgent, I will attend to it immediately; if it isn’t, I’ll tell you and we’ll schedule time.

If I have truly taken time off, don’t apply my rules to my delegate; ask them what they prefer.

Where I work

As with most of us, I love working from home. I live over an hour away from our Sydney office, so it does take me some time to come in. I’m more than happy to come in when it’s necessary; it’s just good to know in advance so I can plan with my wife. I do enjoy the social and personal side of working together in person, so sometimes, I will ask the Sydney and interstate teams to come in for key events.

As I said, I like to be flexible, so it’s not that rare you’ll find I work from all sorts of places - on walks, in parks, at coffee shops, on beaches, whilst travelling overseas, or at a camping site. You will always find me online on Slack because it travels with me on my phone. I do not expect or encourage you to have Slack on your phone, but I do expect responses within reason during your work hours.

How I like to communicate

I value clear, effective communication more highly than technical proficiency. That might sound backwards from someone who still loves being on the tools, but I’ve seen far more go wrong from unclear or late communication than from any gap in technical skill. Communicate well and you’ll build trust with me quickly.

Use the clearest language that carries the idea. We’re a cross-functional squad - engineers, product, and UX - and the quickest way to be misunderstood is to assume everyone shares your vocabulary. I care a lot about building a ubiquitous language in the domain-driven design sense: one agreed set of terms for our domain that means the same thing to everyone, and that we use consistently in conversation, in tickets, and in code. When a term matters, we name it once and use it everywhere; when it doesn’t, don’t hide behind jargon.

Unless there’s an emergency, I will always make time to talk with you. I prefer talking in meetings where possible. Talk to me when the problem is still fuzzy - ambiguity is easier to untangle out loud. Write it down when we need a decision, a record, or alignment other people will rely on. If something is urgent, don’t wait for your next scheduled meeting - ping me and we’ll chat as soon as possible.

The medium you choose signals how urgent something is. I read them, from most urgent to least, as in person, then a call, then a text, then Slack, then email. If you’d rank them differently, tell me and I’ll use your ranking with you. Otherwise I’ll assume this one - so a call from you lands as more pressing than a Slack message. The ladder is for everyday urgency; an emergency is narrower - a production incident or a hard block - and that’s when a call or text to my mobile is the right move.

What you can expect back from me: during my work day I’ll acknowledge a direct message the same day, even if it’s only to say I can’t get to it properly yet and when I will. If I’ve gone quiet and you need me, nudge me - a follow-up is never annoying, it’s helpful. And being online isn’t the same as being available: a green dot next to my name isn’t a promise of an instant reply, and it isn’t a pattern I expect you to copy.

Keeping each other informed

It’s hard to over-communicate with me. If you’re ever debating whether to include me on something, include me - I’d rather have context I don’t need than miss something I needed. Tell me about problems early, while they’re still small; as soon as it’s reasonable, an async message on Slack or a text is enough to put it on my radar. To be clear, “include me” is about direction, not permission - decisions with wide blast radius, cross-team dependencies, a change of scope or risk. The day-to-day how is yours; you don’t need to run it past me.

A quick “got it” or “on it” on a written message tells me things are moving. That’s all I need.
If I mark something “FYI”, there’s nothing for you to do and no need to reply.

One-on-ones

My default cadence is a monthly 1-on-1 with each direct report. The cadence is yours to change: if you feel you need fortnightly time with me, say so. The monthly rhythm is our protected time for your growth and the bigger picture; for anything day-to-day, don’t wait for it - reach me through the channels above.

You lead your own 1-on-1. It’s your meeting and your agenda - send me your topics in advance so I can come prepared.
It is not a project status update. We have other rituals for status; this time is for you.

How to read me

Sometimes I’ll ask a lot of questions - not to interrogate you, but to challenge an assumption or bring another perspective into view. Some people find this uncomfortable, as though they’re being put on the defensive. That isn’t the intent: I’m trying to get us to the best answer together, and I usually go into a conversation assuming I’m the one who’s wrong or missing context. Use the same questioning back on me whenever you like - I care far more that we reach the right conclusion than who got us there.

Feedback

I follow Kim Scott’s Radical Candor: care personally, challenge directly. The two halves only work together - challenging you without caring is just aggression, and caring without challenging is the failure I most want to avoid: being “nice” by withholding the thing you need to hear. If I’m giving you hard feedback, it’s because I’m invested in you, not despite it.

How I give it:

In the moment, or as close to it as I can get - often a quick call or message straight after a meeting, because our squad is distributed and the corridor pull-aside doesn’t happen on its own.
Praise in public, criticism in private.
Concrete and forward-looking: what happened, the impact it had, and at least one path forward. How you act on it stays yours.
Never saved up. Nothing in a performance review should ever be news to you. Our 1-on-1s are open to feedback in both directions, but if something is ready now, don’t hold it for a meeting.

I’m fine receiving criticism the same way: in the moment and in either direction, without ceremony. Candour is measured at the listener’s ear, not the speaker’s mouth - if my feedback didn’t land as caring, it wasn’t candid enough, and I want to know.

None of this works without psychological safety, and building that is my job, not yours. You should be able to disagree with me, challenge my thinking, or tell me I’ve got something wrong without weighing up the risk of doing it - it’s something I deliberately optimise for in how I run our 1-on-1s and team rituals. Psychological safety isn’t the absence of hard conversations; it’s what makes them possible. If giving me feedback ever feels unsafe or costly, that is itself the most important feedback you can give me.

What’s important to me

These are the philosophies I lead by. If you understand them, most of my decisions will make sense - and when one doesn’t, call it out.

Purpose. I need to know the why behind what I’m doing; without it, I find it hard to engage. That isn’t stubbornness - the why is how I calibrate effort and make trade-offs. You’ll always get the why from me too, and if I ever ask you to do something without explaining it, ask me. That’s on me, not you.
Adding value. If I can’t see how something adds value or contributes to the mission, I struggle to find it worthwhile - and I’ll say so. Expect me to ask what a piece of work changes for our customers or the team. If the honest answer is nothing, we should stop doing it, no matter how long we’ve been doing it.
Action over planning. I optimise for action, not planning. A plan is useful when it gets us moving; beyond that, I’d rather ship a first iteration, learn from it, and adjust than keep refining a document. Perfect information never arrives, and momentum teaches faster than analysis. When we do plan, we plan just enough to start safely.
Autonomy and agency. I like the autonomy and space to deliver, and I want the same for you: be your own agent, and work the way that suits you best. I’ll be explicit about the outcome and the constraints, then get out of the way on the how. The flip side of autonomy is keeping each other informed - that’s what lets me give you room without either of us being surprised.
Systems thinking. If we have to do something regularly, it’s worth investing upfront effort in a tool or platform that makes it easier every time after. I apply this to my own work too - most of my leadership rituals are systems I’ve built and keep refining. The question I keep coming back to: are we solving this one instance, or the class of problem?
Growth mindset. I believe capability is built, not fixed - mine and yours. I judge people by their trajectory and how they respond to a challenge, not by their title or years served. Getting something wrong is part of learning it; what matters is what you do next. Expect me to invest in your growth and put stretch in front of you - and expect to see me working on my own gaps just as openly.
Transparency and openness. I work openly and honestly. My role means I sometimes know sensitive information I can’t share, but as much as possible I’ll be open with you about why we’re doing things, what I’m thinking, what I’m working on, and where I’m headed. I won’t hide behind my title. I expect the same openness from you: disagree with me, and bring up the things on your mind.
Team sport. I’ve always been a team sport person - you’ll have seen the list above. Team sport taught me that the team wins, not individuals; that every role matters, big or small; and that you pass to the player in the better position. When the squad plays like that and we succeed together, it’s my favourite feeling in the world.
Not taking myself too seriously. I’m pretty laid back and chilled. I like having fun at work, and I believe in bringing my whole self to it - what you see is who I am. The work is serious; I don’t have to be. I want the same for you: come as yourself, not as a work persona.

My failure modes and what I’m working on

Nobody leads without rough edges. These are mine - named so you can recognise them, call them out, and hold me to the work I’m doing on them. This list will grow as I learn; if you see a failure mode that isn’t here, that’s feedback I want.

I move fast by default. My bias for action has a shadow side: I can set a pace that steamrolls, jump to a decision while others are still thinking, or fill a silence someone else needed. I’m deliberately working on slowing down - building more than one gear and widening the gap between stimulus and response, so that speed becomes a choice rather than a reflex. If my pace is running you over, say “slow down”. You won’t offend me; you’ll be helping me practise.