Solutions Architects People Leader Shadow Program

Overview

The SA leadership shadow program is a 2-week immersion to experience the skills required to become an SA people leader structured around the four fundamental rules of Solutions Architecture leadership, referred to as the 3+1 Rules of Sales Engineering Leadership: Manage yourself, Develop and serve your people, Run your organization as a business, and Serve and delight your customers.

Program Goals

• Experience firsthand how SA leaders embody and execute the 3+1 rules framework
• Understand leadership decision-making processes through direct observation
• Contribute to key initiatives while learning leadership principles
• Foster transparency, diversity, inclusion, and belonging
• Develop future SA leaders who can excel across all four rules

Participating in the Program

Eligibility

Candidates must:

1. Complete their Individual Growth Plan (IGP)
2. Review their IGP with their manager and discuss leadership aspirations
3. Review the SA Manager Operating Rhythm and discuss this with your manager

How to Apply

1. Create a merge request to add yourself to the rotation schedule
2. Assign your manager and ask them to approve and merge the merge request
3. Coordinate shadowing arrangements through your manager

Rotation Schedule

Program Preparation

Confidentiality

As a shadow, you’ll have access to confidential information. Specifically, if you chose to shadow an SA leader outside of your Geo (AMER, APJ, EMEA), you will require compliance with the Designated Insiders process for a period of time. Even after this period is complete, the program’s success depends on continually maintaining this trust beyond the duration of the shadow. If you are shadowing an SA leader in your same Geo, there is no need to be added to grow through a specific Designated Insiders process.

💡 NOTE: the DI review process happens quarterly and DI access lasts at least a quarter (subject to Legal Team evaluation), so the SA Shadow will be added to the DI list for an entire quarter as a minimum. To make sure everything is done in transparency and respect of rules for Gitlab and GitLab employyes, the SA Manager will need to open an SA Shadow onboarding/offboarding issue using this template. The SA Shadown onboarding/offboarding issue has to be opened a quarter in advance from the SA joining the SA Leader Shadow program.

Getting Ready for Your Shadowing Experience

Ensure you’ve made necessary preparations before beginning.

Take time to review your calendar and confirm you can fully commit to this development opportunity. Verify that your current workload allows for dedicated shadowing time, and arrange coverage for any essential deals under your responsibility. Before starting, have a detailed conversation with your assigned manager to get clarity on the shadowing schedule and expectations.

To provide you with diverse leadership exposure, you’ll be matched with a leader outside your direct reporting line. This intentional pairing allows you to observe and learn from different management approaches and leadership styles.

The SA leader you will shadow will maximise your exposure to a diverse set of activities, however some of them may not be available during your shadowing and this is up to the shadowing SA leader discretion.

Program Focus

The shadow experience leading up to, during, and after the 2-week shadow is organized around the 3+1 rules framework:

Rule 0: Manage Yourself

• Develop SMART goals for your shadow experience
• Schedule preparatory coffee chats with SA leaders
• Create a personal leadership development plan
• Identify key areas for growth and mentorship
• Build a 30-60-90 day transition plan for potential leadership roles

Rule 1: Develop and Serve Your People

• Participate in SA 1:1 meetings
• Join hiring manager/panel interviews
• Complete Interview Training
• Practice giving feedback through ride alongs
• Learn team development and retention strategies
• Get TeamOps Certified

Rule 2: Run Your Organization as a Business

• Observe Geo SA deal review sessions
• Analyze regional performance data
• Contribute to QBR preparation and presentations
• Attend sales forecasting calls
• Study resource allocation and capacity planning
• Learn business metrics and KPIs

Rule 3: Serve and Delight Your Customers

• Shadow customer-facing leadership activities
• Learn escalation management processes
• Understand customer success metrics
• Observe strategic account planning
• Study customer satisfaction initiatives

Skills Development

Suggested Reading

• Amp It Up
• Creativity Inc
• Crucial Conversations
• Empathy: Why it matters
• Give and Take
• Hidden Potential
• High Output Management
• How To Win Friends and Influence People
• Leaders Eat Last
• Multipliers
• Necessary Endings
• Radical Candor
• Team Topologies
• The Art of Leadership
• The Challenger Sale
• The Chimp Paradox
• The Culture Map
• The Five Dysfunctions of a Team
• The Ideal Team Player
• The Leader Lab: Core Skills to Become a Great Manager, Faster
• The Leader Who Had No Title
• The Making of a Manager
• The Qualified Sales Leader
• The Sales Engineering Manager’s Handbook
• The Speed of Trust
• The Tao of Coaching
• Think Again
• Tribes

Share Your Leadership Journey: Have you read a book, article, or resource that significantly influenced your development as a leader? We welcome your contributions - please submit an MR to add your transformative reading recommendations to this page.

Other Shadow Programs

• CEO Shadow Program
• CFO Shadow Program

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