I am a long timer @Docusign. This is a top down company and I have seen most of the leaders are just mouth piece to their bosses and didn't care for the team. Initially we were in denial of this mode of leadership and then we start accepting it as normal when you see the same thing everywhere. However, we had a new leader joining our team couple of months back and she was very different from the rest. She was technically strong, not afraid to raise tough questions and more importantly she cared for the team. She has accomplished and steered the team in right direction in spite of harsh treatment given to her by her boss. To highlight few - 1. When we had a team event, she insisted we get food for remote folks as well while her boss was saying no free food if they don't come to office. She defended us with her boss saying it was a way to thank the team and not considered as free food. 2. Our team is doing combined engineering with QAs turning into Devs. She presented a plan in her all hands that involved a steady transition starting with self learning, hands on session and then pair programming with devs. She listened to our feedback and addressed our concerns in a kind way. When she was asked to expedite the transition, she defended us saying we needed preparation before jumping into coding. She even helped move some QAs who were interested in server side programming. She was transparent, didn't make over promises and expressed real care. 3. There were extremely aggressive goals set my our previous leaders which she wanted to change to more practical and achievable goals. 4. She found big loop holes in our existing project plans and mitigated them and also finalized on the right architecture for one of the projects which was long pending. 5. Most important of all, she would ask us to stay away from laptop during vacations. She used to say, if we can't give you the vacation you need, then there is management problem. She discouraged pinging people after office hours unless there is an emergency. My initial thought was is she even real :) You find these leaders in theory and we saw one in person. She was also direct in giving feedback but she sounded kind. But she ran into conflict with her boss while she was supporting us. He didn't want to change the goals because it was set a year ago and wanted to keep it that way. Her attempt to support her views with google paper didn't help. She was asked to step down from the role was playing. She didn't budge. She asked for feedback from us and requested we share with her boss's boss. We all did. We shared both what she was best at and what she needed to improve on. Then she continued in her role. Then as part of re-org, we were asked to move under a different leader and we were all informed by her boss that she was not fit for the role as she was just mid-level. We didn't have any choice to tell our opinions. On top of that, she was asked to play an IC role reporting to the same manager who has been stressing her out last two months. I heard she has been trying other orgs and she didn't still land on her new project. I am not sure what lesson I learn from this experience. Can't a truly caring leader survive an authoritative environment? She has been tagged under performing when she actually led the team much better than the previous leaders. Not just me, my entire team now is afraid to speak openly with the fear of consequences. Job market is bad out there. I hope she finds a better place to work. What do you guys think? Update: Her boss is known for "My way or no way". Many who worked under him quit or moved to another org. He does not have great reputation around. To give more context. 365K #docusign @Docusign
Wow. So rare to hear that women don’t suck in management on this app. Real breath of fresh air. I recognize the majority will doubt, but this is where ppl can PROVE to be the “ally” they all claim to be. This doesn’t always include a viral social media post and a key to the city. Sometimes, doing the right thing requires REAL sacrifices. Not just virtual pat on backs. If this was the type of boss I had and I knew for a fact she was purposely being pushed out unfairly, I would sing it from the roof tops. I’m a firm believer in doing the right thing no matter how difficult it can be and I believe the Creator does reward those who take a stand. It would be scary but I’d be confident enough in my skills to find another job (if, IF it actually came to that.) my 2 cent.
“So rare to hear that women don’t suck in management” 😂 Damn
Sad reality
She was not skillful enough to get buyin from her boss. Good intentions, poor execution
I hate to be “that guy”… but how many male managers suck at one (or sometimes all) aspect of their job and DONT have these issues??? Does she really have to be superwoman in order to get bare minimum respect? Yal are saying she didn’t do enough so flippantly… I’m just lost as to why doing your job well somehow isnt good enough.
This
I would advocate for her
TLDR 🥱
Sad reality of managent is that top down >>>>>> bottom up for any company. The bottoms up part is just a pretend in most cases and managers are good at pretending. She seems like a rebel that was all about bottoms up and good for employees, alas no management wants that. The art is to make bottom up seem like top down, and not appear threatening at all.
I believe she was not just bottom up. She expected leaders to listen to her views and not ignore her point of view. Her boss is known for not listening and many quit under his leadership or moved to another org.
Unfortunate. I can't imagine working and being under the whim of just one person who can control your fate
This is why docusign has been going downhill 😭
OP, is DocuSign getting rid of the SDET role?
Yes
I believe I know this woman and she is awesome to work with
Seems she was really bad at managing up. Middle managers have to be good at both, managing their teams as well as senior leadership. She would be at best valued as an IC if she cannot manage up, which is what seems to have happened in her case.
Agreed. Gotta pick your battles
Expand on how to manage up appropriately?