Turn strong individual contributors into managers who know how to lead your team.

Your first managers were probably promoted because they were great at their jobs, not because anyone taught them how to manage people.

Now they’re expected to give feedback, run effective 1:1s, set expectations, address performance issues, develop employees, navigate difficult conversations, and know when something needs to come to you.

Without a shared foundation, every manager starts figuring it out for themselves.

The Manager Enablement Sprint lets us define what good management should look like at your company, teach your managers the fundamentals, and support them as they start putting those skills into practice.

What We'll Build Together

1. Define What Good Management Looks Like at Your Company

We’ll start with a deep-dive conversation about the company you’re building and how you want people to be managed within it.

Together, we’ll work through questions like:

• What should employees be able to expect from their manager?

• What are managers responsible for?

• How do you want managers to communicate and give feedback?

• How much autonomy should managers have?

• How should performance concerns be handled?

• What needs to be documented?

• When should something come to you?

• What belongs with the manager versus leadership or People?

• Which management behaviors matter most to the culture you’re building?

I’m not coming in with someone else’s management philosophy and asking you to adopt it.

I’m helping you take what good management means to you and turn it into something your managers can understand, practice, and eventually pass on to the next generation of managers.

2. Manager 101 Training

Once we’ve established that foundation, I’ll turn it into practical Manager 101 training for your team.

Depending on what your managers need, we can deliver this as one focused session or split it into two parts.

We’ll cover the situations new managers actually encounter:

• Setting clear expectations

• Running useful 1:1s

• Giving feedback early

• Having difficult conversations

• Recognizing strong performance

• Supporting employee development

• Addressing performance concerns

• Documenting appropriately

• Knowing when to escalate

• Moving from peer to manager

We’ll work through realistic situations your managers are likely to face—not generic management theory.

The goal is for managers to leave knowing not just what you expect from them, but how to do it.

3. Manager Office Hours

Training gives managers a foundation.

Then they have to go manage.

For the week following training, I’ll hold several dedicated evening office-hour sessions where managers can bring the real situations, questions, and conversations they’re navigating.

We can work through things like:

How do I give this feedback without making it bigger than it needs to be?

Is this something I should handle myself or bring to you?

How should I approach someone who keeps missing expectations?

What should I document after this conversation?

How do I manage someone who used to be my peer?

It gives your managers somewhere to pressure-test their thinking while the training is still fresh—and helps them build confidence handling these situations themselves.

4. Your Manager Guide

When our sprint ends, you’ll have something that stays with the company.

I’ll turn what we established together into a practical Manager Guide your managers can continue referencing after I’m gone.

Depending on what we identify as most important, your guide may include:

• Your manager principles and expectations

• Manager responsibilities

• 1:1 guidance and templates

• Feedback frameworks

• Difficult-conversation guidance

• Performance conversation tools

• Documentation expectations

• Recognition and development practices

• Manager decision guides

• Escalation guidance

• When to involve leadership or People

• New-manager checklist

It becomes a resource for the managers you have today—and a starting point for the next person you promote.

Why Build This Now?

When the company is small, you can personally fill in a lot of the management gaps.

You can coach managers behind the scenes. Step into difficult employee situations. Clarify expectations one conversation at a time. Correct inconsistent decisions as they happen.

That works for a while.

But as the company grows, inconsistent management becomes an inconsistent employee experience.

One team gets frequent feedback while another gets none. One manager addresses performance problems quickly while another lets them linger. Managers escalate different things. Employees get different answers. And you remain the unofficial management help desk.

We’re building the foundation before those inconsistencies become part of how the company operates.

Best For

Series A and early Series B startups that have started promoting strong ICs into management but haven't yet established formal manager infrastructure.

This is especially useful if:

• Your managers are learning through trial and error

• You’re repeatedly coaching managers through people issues

• Different teams are being managed very differently

• New managers aren't sure what they own

• Feedback and performance issues aren't being addressed early

• You expect to add more managers as the company grows

You don't need a corporate leadership development program.

You need your managers to understand what good management looks like.

Investment

$3,000–$6,000

Your sprint can include:

• 1:1 founder management deep dive

• Company-specific management framework

• Manager 101 training, delivered in one or two parts

• One week of manager office hours

• Customized Manager Guide

Final pricing depends on the number of managers, training scope, and level of customization.