Tre Ely's README

This README serves as my personal user guide, designed to help you understand how I work, communicate, and collaborate. It provides insights into my values, leadership style, and preferences that will make our interactions more effective and enjoyable. Think of it as a roadmap for how we can best work together while having fun along the way. I’ve created this to be transparent about who I am and how I operate.

About Me

Hello Hello! 👋 I’m Tre (short for [Government First Name] - pronouced like “Tray”). I’m genuinely enthusiastic and it can get annoying, but I am facinated by people, places, projects, and food. I believe in approaching work with both purpose and JOY, finding a decent enough balance between getting things done and enjoying the journey along the way. As someone passionate about the art & science of real life experiences, I love creating meaningful growth moments with real world results (informed with data, and aimed for impact). I value authentic connections and strive to create positive experiences in all my interactions. While I maintain a lighthearted approach to most things, I’m serious about investing in people and aligning human-first people strategy to business strategy and helping people AND organizations THRIVE.

My Job

At GitLab, I lead our Talent Management & Development function within the People Group division. This role focuses on creating an environment where our team members can thrive professionally while also driving business outcomes. I’m passionate about designing systems and experiences that help people grow while strengthening our organization. Talent Management: Strategic People Practices and the “Team Member Life Cycle” Talent Management encompasses the strategic practices that help us identify, assess, and optimize our talent:

Talent Management: Strategic People Practices

Talent Management encompasses the strategic practices that help us identify, assess, and optimize our talent:

Talent Management Examples Description
Performance Management Creating frameworks that clarify expectations, provide meaningful feedback, and recognize achievement
Succession Planning Identifying and preparing future leaders to ensure business continuity
Talent Assessment Facilitating structured discussions about our team members’ strengths, growth areas, and potential
Retention Strategies Developing approaches to keep our top performers engaged, challenged, and committed
Talent Analytics Using data to make informed decisions about our people practices
Coaching Transforming potential into performance through personalized development experiences

Talent Development: Growing Our People

Talent Development (“L&D - Learning & Development) focuses on creating growth opportunities and learning experiences for our team members:

Talent Development Examples Description
Learning Experiences Designing and delivering effective learning experiences that build critical skills
Leadership Development Nurturing leadership capabilities at all levels of the organization
Career Frameworks Providing guidance on growth paths and progression opportunities
Coaching & Mentoring Supporting individual growth journeys through personalized guidance
Knowledge Management Building systems that enable information sharing and collective learning

The Powerful Intersection

The true power of my role emerges at the intersection of Talent Management and Talent Development. When these disciplines work in harmony, we create a continuous cycle of growth and performance that benefits both our team members and GitLab as a whole.

Some of the most impactful work happens in these blended spaces:

Integrated Approach Examples How It Works
Performance & Development Planning Using performance insights to create targeted growth opportunities that help team members advance
Leadership Assessment & Development Identifying leadership potential and creating customized development paths for future leaders
Career Experience Design Creating meaningful work experiences that simultaneously deliver business results and provide growth opportunities
Mobility Enabling internal growth that addresses organizational needs while supporting individual career aspirations
Skills-Based Workforce Planning Aligning our future capability needs with strategic development investments

This integrated approach helps us avoid the common pitfall of treating performance management and development as separate activities. Instead, we create a holistic talent ecosystem where assessment informs development, and development drives performance—creating a virtuous cycle of growth.

Location, Location, Location

I live in San Francisco, California. 🌉 Since joining GitLab, I’ve been able to travel home (Saraland, AL) more often. I may be in San Francisco, Saraland, or on some plane depending on the day; but I always make it work no matter the timezone.

Availability

I pride myself on my flexibility and balanced boundaries. Every day is different! Every week is different! I am generally up very early and wind down in the late afternoon and evenings. I prefer to get my critical thinking work done earlier in the day. I love GitLab’s philosophy on the nonlinear work day and I think it is the way to make global team operations a success. I live by my calendar and keep it up to date (mostly).

Communication Situation

Channel Preferences (No Strict Rules)
GitLab I manage my work and my team’s work in GitLab. Still getting the hang of things, but I’m generally responsive when the conversation is directly related to a work stream, project, or program.
Slack Quick/instant messaging and brief discussions are for Slack. I’m flexible on this. There are times where longer form comms via Slack are appropriate as well. Note: While I try to organize Slack as best I can, messages do get lost in the shuffle. I’m typically very responsive, so if a lot of time has elapsed it’s not because I don’t love you, it’s likely I missed it. Nudges are welcomed!
Email All day every day, and I check email almost as often as Slack. Long form communication and communication with external folks.
ZOOM I am always good to connect live. I do believe in having an agenda for live connections/meetings. Coffee Chat agendas are optional, but totally welcomed if that works well for you. I’ve also been leaning into “Coffee Chat+” where we do a bit of connecting and learning more about each other, AND maybe some quick discussion on active work.
Text or Calls Only in urgent cases - Unless you let me know you want to do a walking meeting or something like that. I typically keep my phone in a separate room from where I’m working.
Smoke Signals and Pigeons Look, whatever works for you, I’m typically pretty accommodating by default so I’ll figure it out.

Meeting Mantra

Recurring meetings must be continuously optimized and frequently evaluated if they need to be recurring. Ad-hoc is great and I’m always open to ad-hoc connections. Have that agenda in the invite.

My Values

…more to come

Work in Progress

Coming Soon: My Values, My Leadership Style, More on Meetings, “Stronger, Better, Faster, Sleepy”, My Dream Team, Cross-FUNctional Collabs, What I’m working on professionally, and My Soundtrack!

Last modified March 15, 2025: Tre's ReadMe and Continued Practice: Handbook MR (d86c7254)
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