At Cribl, we believe that software is a people business. Investing in our people, cultivating trusted relationships, and continuously learning empowers our team to do their best work. That’s why, each year, we bring together our people managers for our Manager Summit, an immersive, IRL two-day event focused on strengthening cross-functional connections, sharing practical knowledge, and building a unified leadership cohort.
Why is it so important to invest in our managers? The answer is simple: Managers have an outsized impact on every employees’ experience. Managers are key to driving employee engagement and building high-performing teams, especially in a remote-first environment. Not only do they have an outsized impact, but managers are often the least developed, most waiting 10 years on average before receiving any training. We invest in all of our 160+ managers early and often, and we see firsthand how this positively impacts our culture and performance.
Igniting Curiosity: Building Leaders with Hands-On Skills
Our Manager Summit isn't a one-off workshop or a generic training session. It’s a purposeful, two-day event redesigned every year to equip our managers with the tools and relationships they need to be effective leaders. This year, the curriculum was focused on one of our core values: Insatiably Curious. Curiosity is the spark that drives adaptability and innovation. A curious leader asks better questions, is more open to feedback, and is more likely to create a team that thrives, even in the face of uncertainty. We built the summit around this value, empowering our managers to lead with an open mind and a commitment to continuous learning.
To bring this to life, we hosted 11 bespoke workshops, many hosted by managers here at Cribl, so that each manager could choose their own adventure and learn more about what makes them most curious. If managers wanted to better understand the financial side of the business, they attended a hands-on workshop with Cribl CFO Zach Johnson where he took them through an interactive AI model on unit economics, enabling each participant to make decisions and see the potential impact on the business. If they were interested in how to make better data-driven decisions, they joined Priya Gupta, our Data & Analytics leader, to learn more about her team’s research process, then apply the learnings to a real-world scenario with input from managers across the organization. We also offered sessions on smarter hiring, project management, and, in what might be my fondest memory of this year’s Summit, an improv session which involved our CEO and myself clucking like chickens to improve our communication synchronization.
The Impact of Our Investment
I love our Manager Summit, and our managers do, too. For the third consecutive year, our CSAT scores were over 90%. One manager shared, "In past lives, I've felt that middle managers are a problem to be dealt with vs. a strategic part of leading the business. Not the case at Cribl, for the first time in my career." Another said, "This was the most valuable offsite I have ever attended." This is the kind of feedback that makes this investment all worthwhile. It’s not just about a high satisfaction score. It’s about creating a culture where managers feel valued, supported, and empowered.
At Cribl, our mission is simple: We want you to do your best work. And for our managers, that means we want you to be someone's best manager, enabling your team to shine. It's a commitment that pays off not just in our growth, but in the strength of our teams and the generational company we’re building together.
