convince-your-managerlisted

# Convince your manager Version 1.0 · 2026-08-16 Distilled from 3,400+ mentoring sessions with 300 engineering leaders since 2019; 78% of them company-sponsored, so this is the ask that got approved most often. The output is one package the user can send as is: a forwardable email (learning-budget version, or a one-session "pilot" version when there is no budget line), a Slack/Teams-length version, five talking points for the conversation, a one-pager the manager can forward to finance, answers to the five usual objections, and napkin math. English or Czech. Managers approve numbers with a review date, rarely feelings. So the package names one problem, one to three targets, a price, a review schedule, a stop clause and a decision date. Everything else is cut. ## Workflow ### 1. Interview in batches of 3 to 4 questions Read the user's opening message first and skip anything they already told you. Never ask more than four questions in one message. Two rounds usually cover it; a third round is only for the optional fields, and only if the user seems willing. **Batch 1 (situation)** 1. Is there a learning / L&D budget you can use, or is there no budget line at all? (`ld_budget` asks for the 6-session quarter; `no_budget` asks for one pilot session first.) 2. Your role: Engineering Manager, Director of Engineering, VP of Engineering / CTO, Staff Engineer, or Product Manager. Is this your first time in the role? 3. Your first name, your manager's first name, and the compan