Issue #400 (Things That Don't Bother Me As Your Manager) 10/12/26
Some people in leadership roles can be extremely difficult to work with, even if they are sometimes effective over the long haul. I appreciate, however, seeing someone in management be a refreshing change from the dictatorial and difficult types.
On X, Emma Bostian, an Engineering Manager at Spotify, shares 13 things that don’t bother me as your manager.
The whole list works a lot like an anti-leadership manifesto, showing respect, dignity, and understanding for those she manages.
A few examples include:
- Disagreeing with me publicly
- Not responding to my Slack right away,
- Asking "Why are we doing this?"
- Telling me you're interviewing for another role
But I'll let you check out the full thread for the whole list, plus her thoughts on each one. These are definitely expressions you don't expect to hear from a superior that you answer to. A nice change from toxic work environments that a lot of us have had to deal with.
Now on to this week's hand-picked productivity links!
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Hister — An open source, private search engine (with Chrome extension) for the pages you visit and files you keep, indexing full contents so you can find info again from the web UI, terminal, or an AI assistant connected through MCP.
Nuatus — A private, browser-based tool that collapses your days (calendar, tasks, shopping list, news, etc.) into a single private glance, the same on every device.
Pause: A Breathing Break for Busy Days — Between meetings, messages, and to-dos, take a moment to breathe. Try three guided deep breaths with Pause on iPhone: about 73 seconds, no login needed. sponsor
Rewind — A Chrome extension that turns your Chrome bookmarks into a visual timeline, with instant search, thumbnails, and date browsing.
LeaderCues — A personal workspace for engineering managers and team leads to remember follow-ups, prepare for 1-1s, and notice problems early.
Viewer.Online — A private, simple web-based, drag-and-drop tool for desktop, tablet, and mobile, that lets you preview files online, with support for images, documents, spreadsheets, presentations, audio, and video.
CareerLift.ai — A single platform that offers an AI-powered career toolkit that includes mock interviews, a resume and cover letter builder with ATS analysis, smart job search, and more.
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Can You Futureproof Your Career by Choosing an AI-Resistant Degree? — Some tips here divided into categories (engineering, research/development, arts/entertainment, etc.), from an expert on graduate employment.
Doing Everyone Else's Job — "I find it very useful to be able to do everyone else’s job – it helps you learn how they work and what they need, and it helps even more when you need their job done, but they won’t do it themselves."
The One Options Trade I Make Every Week — A single 0-day options trade, handed to you with the strike, the entry price, and the exit already mapped. Grab this week's free report to see how it works before the next signal drops. sponsor
Middle Management Roles Are Also A Trap — Similar to a six year old article from the same author, this one looking at the core aspects of middle management and why they're insufficient to make you a great executive.
How to Help Someone Change: The Samurai Guide to Giving Feedback — Some thought-provoking quotes from Japanese samurai turned Zen priest Yamamoto Tsunetomo (1659–1719).
Local-First vs. Cloud Note-Taking: Choose Where Your Notes Should Live — If you're not sure what tool to pick for note-taking, it might first help to know the pros and cons of local vs. cloud.
Remote Workers Report the Highest Well-Being in Study of 7,700 Employees — According to a new study, which analyzed data from 7,704 employees at a large healthcare organization, remote workers reported the highest levels of well-being, while those who worked entirely onsite reported the lowest.
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