CEO Shadow Program

Overview

This is an overview of the CEO Shadow Program. Please feel free to contact the Chief of Staff or Executive Business Partner to the CEO with any questions, comments, feedback, or concerns.

The CEO Shadow Program is a 2-week, temporary rotation for all eligible employees where they are provided the opportunity to learn about the various functions of Sourcegraph from the perspective of the CEO. As part of the rotation, the CEO Shadow can expect to:

  • Interact with every function of the business.
  • Act as a “thoughtful sounding board” to the CEO.
  • Engage external stakeholders / connections (board members, banks, other CEOs, etc.)

Goal and intention of the program

The CEO Shadow will give eligible employees an up-close look at the day-to-day life of the Sourcegraph CEO, Sourcegraph’s business strategies at work, and decision-making at the top. This rotation, if done right, should increase transparency and visibility into how Sourcegraph is run while better enabling the CEO Shadow to work cross-functionally and better align their core work to company strategies.

In addition, this program is designed to humanize the CEO (and the executive team) so that teammates are more confident and comfortable collaborating and providing direct feedback to the CEO and exec team after the rotation is over.

What the CEO shadow program is NOT

The CEO Shadow program is not a professional or leadership development program. Being a CEO Shadow is not related to your performance (though, you must meet the eligibility criteria). Lastly, the CEO shadow program is not “extra work” on top of your core work. CEO Shadow rotations should be treated as paid leave by their department and the teammate.

Typical responsibilities

As the Shadow CEO, you will have unprecedented access to the CEO / exec team and be exposed to confidential and proprietary information. CEO Shadows must honor the confidentiality of content, topics, and information being discussed.

Additionally, CEO Shadows are expected to do more than just “tag along”. The expectation is the CEO Shadow will meaningfully contribute to conversations, meetings, and content development as they are able.

Examples of typical tasks and responsibilities of a CEO Shadow:

  • Provide a “bottoms-up” perspective as you openly, thoughtfully, and respectfully observe, challenge, and collaborate with the CEO and exec team on company business.
  • Update and manage the weekly exec team agenda
  • Help craft weekly priorities for the CEO
  • Take notes (as directed) and following up on action items, decisions, etc. from the meetings you attend
  • Record an external-facing video / blog post on their experience to help with recruitment, company brand, etc. (CEO Shadow Content)
  • Train / enable new CEO Shadows for their upcoming rotation.

Eligibility & Participation

Eligibility

All Sourcegraph teammates in good standing (not on a performance plan) are eligible for the CEO Shadow Program.

Participation

As a CEO Shadow, you are expected to be in-person with the CEO for 2 weeks. Allowances will be made for those who can’t do 2 weeks. If you can only be in-person for 1 week, please make sure you stipulate this when you apply.

This program is a break from our async culture, but given the goal and intention of the program, the CEO Shadow program is an exception. As such, efforts will be made to ensure this program is as inclusive as possible. Please reach out to the Chief of Staff or Executive Business Partner to the CEO if you have extenuating circumstances that are keeping you from participating and we’ll see what can be done to accommodate.

Participation in the CEO Shadow Program is not additive work to your day job. Participating in the CEO Shadow program means you are taking a 2-week leave from your core job and responsibilites to focus on being a CEO Shadow. Participation in the CEO Shadow program will not draw down from your available PTO as you will still be working, but in a different capacity.

How to apply

  1. Work with your manager to find a rotation (see available dates here) that can be accommodated by your team.
  2. Put your name in the yellow cell to claim a rotation slot in the aforementioned document.
  3. Go to the #ceo-shadow slack channel and @ mention the Executive Business Partner to the CEO
  4. You will receive confirmation of your rotation date from the EBP to the CEO within 24-48 hours.

Cadence and Flow

The CEO Shadow program will run in 2-week cycles. The new Shadow CEO will reach out to the existing Shadow CEO on the 2nd Wednesday of the existing rotation (the week before the start of the new rotation) to begin the handover.

Travel & Expenses

The CEO Shadow Program is designed to provide a unique and compelling opportunity to any and all Sourcegraph teammates. It’s aim is to be as inclusive as possible so any and all travel-related expenses (detailed below) will be covered by the program and not draw down from your [individual travel budget](lways be relative. Replace this URL with ”../../benefits-pay-perks/benefits-perks/travel.md#3-individual-travel.md).

Lodging

Lodging during the CEO shadow program is provided by the company and will only cover for the “active” shadowing period. It is expected that CEO Shadows will stay the weekend between their first and second week. If you are traveling within the United States, lodging will be covered for that weekend only.

If the CEO Shadow is traveling from outside the United States, accommodations will be extended to include the weekend prior to your scheduled rotation to allow for CEO Shadows to adjust to the new time zone, get settled into a new country, etc.

Lodging is booked in accordance with our company travel policy. We use TripActions.

Airfare

Airfare is booked in accordance with our company travel policy. We use TripActions.

Transportation to / from the airport

At San Francisco International airport (SFO), all rideshare apps (Uber, Lyft, etc) pick up on level 5 of the parking structure. Taxis pick up on the Arrivals/Baggage Claim Level for all terminals. The BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit / our local metro / train) also runs from SFO to San Francisco.

Expensing meals

CEO Shadows should follow our company travel policy in regards to food and dining.

Childcare

Childcare is covered during the active shadowing period and will be reimbursed via your expense report.

Required Business Travel

The CEO shadow will accompany the CEO on any and all business travel.

Off-sites and Board Meetings

The CEO Shadow will not participate in Exec Team Off-site or Board meetings. Should a rotation fall over one of those events, the CEO Shadow rotation will split the weeks to fall before and after the off-sites / board meetings.

Blog post / interview

Part of your job as a CEO Shadow is to create a blog post / interview about your time as the CEO Shadow.

When is your content due?

Your content must be completed within 1 week of the completion of your rotation.

How is content submitted?

All content must be completed within 1 week of your CEO Shadow rotation. When it is ready, upload to the CEO Shadow Content google drive and @ mention Amie Rotherham, Director of Global Communications.

What can you write / discuss?

You can write or interview about anyone or anything you want. All content will be shared, unabridged, with the company and stored in the CEO Shadow Content drive folder after submission.

Some content will be selected for external use (with your approval, of course) by the communications team. If they believe your content should be in our Handbook, Blog, or another external medium, they will reach out to you to collaborate. We hope you choose to share your great content with the world!

Tips and Tricks to working with Quinn

Working with Quinn is great. As with all people, we have our preferences for communication and working styles. In order to make your and Quinn’s time the most efficient, here are a few guidelines to consider when working directly with Quinn.

Writing Style

Writing style. You can find a comprehensive writing style guide for Quinn here: SQS Style Guide. You may be asked to write some content / copy for Quinn. Use this as a guide to help reduce editing.

Speaking and Communication

  • Quinn’s in-person style mirrors his writing style closely. When engaging with Quinn, brevity, honesty, and directness are preferred.
  • Don’t be afraid to share candid feedback.
  • Quinn really values thoughtful discussions and debates. He will push and challenge you and he expects you to do the same.