Manager OTG's Annual Performance Review Self-Assessment, Annotated
The Workday notification arrived at 8:12 AM on a Tuesday: Annual Performance Self-Assessment — due in 14 days. Please log in to complete your review. He logged in at 9:47 AM. He submitted at 10:32 AM — forty-five minutes, for a form that HR estimates takes two to three hours to complete thoughtfully.
The form has twelve questions. He answered all twelve. What follows is a selection, annotated.
Section 1 of 4: Goals and Achievements
Summarize your key accomplishments this year against your stated goals.
"This has been a genuinely meaningful year for me professionally. I've served as a connector and thought partner across several high-visibility initiatives — including the Q3 alignment effort, the cross-functional customer success motion, and a number of strategic conversations with Dana around prioritization. I'm particularly proud of the Lumenwave rebrand deck. That came out really well."
The Q3 alignment effort: three meetings Manager OTG scheduled in August. Two were rescheduled. One happened — forty-seven minutes, no notes in the shared drive, one action item that was itself a meeting.
The cross-functional customer success motion: Priya has been running this since before Manager OTG joined Lumenwave. His name appears on the initiative page because he added it in the left sidebar in September, between two other initiatives he also added his name to.
The Lumenwave rebrand deck: Greg designed the slide template. Marcus pulled copy from the previous deck. Manager OTG chose the font. The font choice was, in fairness, the right call.
Where did you fall short of your stated goals, and what did you learn?
"Honestly, this is a hard question because the nature of my role makes 'goals' a more fluid concept than in individual-contributor positions. I operate at the level of strategy and relationships — important, necessary work, but difficult to measure in traditional output terms. That said: I wish I'd been more visible during the pipeline situation in Q2. I was aware there were concerns and I trusted the team to handle it — which they did, brilliantly — but I could have shown up more."
He was not aware of the pipeline situation until Dana's Q2 all-hands, at which point he sent a message to #platform-eng: "Let's sync on the pipeline situation this week 🙏." Greg had fixed the pipeline three days before that Slack was sent. He posted a three-paragraph write-up to the channel. Manager OTG was not among the four people who opened it.
"Trusting the team to handle it" is a thing you can call that.
Section 2 of 4: Leadership and People Development
How have you supported the growth and development of the people on your team this year?
"I try to lead by example — staying present, staying available, creating space for the team to bring their whole selves to work. I've maintained an open-door policy (literally always open 😊), shared relevant resources in our channels throughout the year, and had a number of meaningful 1:1 conversations around career growth and trajectory."
He works from home Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. His door is open Tuesdays and Thursdays. On Tuesdays and Thursdays he is on calls from 9:00 AM until approximately 4:30 PM. Greg sat outside his office once, for eleven minutes, before walking back to his own desk.
The "meaningful 1:1 conversations around career growth": Manager OTG rescheduled Greg's 1:1 eleven times since February. He rescheduled Priya's seven. He has never rescheduled a 1:1 with Dana — not once, in two years.
The "relevant resources": Harvard Business Review links, three Substack newsletters he skims on Saturday mornings, one Forbes article titled "5 Habits of High-Performing Teams" that he found while his AirPods were charging.
What feedback have you received from your team this year, and how have you acted on it?
"I've been really intentional about creating space for feedback. I read every piece of the November 360. The recurring theme was that the team wants more connection — more visibility into where we're headed, more face time. I've taken that seriously and it's shaped my thinking going into Q4."
The November 360, in aggregate:
- Three reviewers cited "more clarity on priorities."
- Two cited "too many meetings."
- One wrote: "I'm not always sure what Greg is supposed to be working on, or what I am, and I think Greg isn't sure either."
- Greg rated him 3 out of 5 overall. He left the comments field blank.
Manager OTG's response to the feedback about wanting more face time: two additional standing syncs, added to the calendar in October. Both are scheduled for thirty minutes. Both end at forty-seven.
Section 3 of 4: Core Competencies
Rate yourself on Communication (1–5). Describe your rating.
"5. I lead with communication. I believe in transparency, in keeping people informed, and in making sure no one is operating in an information vacuum. My green Slack status is genuinely a reflection of my availability mindset — not just a setting."
He uses a mouse jiggler.
Everyone knows.
Section 4 of 4: Goals for the Coming Year
List your top 3 goals for next year.
"1. Continue developing as a servant leader — build a culture where every team member feels genuinely seen and heard.
2. Drive stronger alignment between platform and product. There's real opportunity there we haven't tapped.
3. Personally: finish Atomic Habits."
He has started Atomic Habits three times. He is currently on chapter two. The previous two attempts also ended on chapter two — which is, by all evidence, the chapter where the book stops feeling like a compliment and starts feeling like a mirror.
The assessment was submitted at 10:32 AM.
Dana reviewed it that afternoon. Her written response: "Thanks for this. Good to see you thinking about servant leadership. Let's connect on the 'platform-product alignment' piece — I'd like to understand what you have in mind."
She has been waiting to understand what he has in mind for approximately nine months.
The 360 review form opens next month. Greg has already been given access.