Leadership & Management

My approach

In two words: Servant leadership.

I’m here to serve you and help us do our best work as a team. Here are some ways I try to do that:

• Ensuring we work on top priority initiatives for our stakeholders and customers, especially In relation to our team’s mission.
• Eliminating blockers. Whether it’s something as distinct as faulty equipment or nebulous as misaligned priorities across N number of teams, I’ll work with you to forge a path forward.
• Setting clear expectations. Clarity is kindness. If something isn’t clear, please ask – and I’ll do the same!
• Iterating on our systemic approach to product development.
• Coaching and providing feedback to help build a team of owners and leaders. Related: I do not micromanage, and place a heavy amount of trust on our team.
• Connecting you with resources, talent, and ideas both inside and outside of our team and company to help you achieve your goals.
• Being a steward of our team’s culture and practices.
• Advocating for your needs while crediting and highlighting your successes widely both inside and outside of our organization.

What my team, peers & partners can expect

• Psychological safety. It’s incredibly important to me that everyone feels comfortable sharing their ideas and concerns without fear of ridicule. I want you to feel empowered to give your thoughts to me and our team. I truly feel getting this right sets a strong foundation for a high-performing team.
• Partnership & relationships. Over the first few weeks and months, I want to understand your preferred work style, communication preferences, and just about you and your motivations. Full disclosure: I have a document that has a plethora of questions from a variety of sources that I really like to use as a starting point (I’m a big fan of Lara Hogan’s work).
• Related to safety, I believe feedback is a gift. I strive to provide positive and constructive feedback so that we can continuously improve and grow. Similarly, if you have any feedback for me, please never hesitate to share.
• Setting ambitious goals. Let’s work together to figure out what it takes to get to the next level, whether it’s next week, in 3 months, 1 year, or >10 years!
• Always be learning. Expect me to ask (probably) obvious questions in the beginning as I learn the ropes, and to keep that growth mindset as we work together.
• Having fun. We spend much of our time together in the workplace; let’s make it a place we’ve always wanted to be. One heuristic I like to go by: If we can smile or laugh at least once in our work day, then we’re doing something right.

Communication

While these are my defaults, I’ll work to adapt to your needs.

• Multimodal: For one-to-many communication, I strive to provide content and messaging through two channels. Usually this means directly in a synchronous video call or through an async video/audio message, and a written message or Google doc.
• Notes: I’m typically a heavy note-taker. It helps me concentrate on what people are saying, and refer back to any important action items or thoughts. If I happen to look off to the side during a video call, please don’t take offense! And if it’s contextually appropriate & valuable, I’ll share my notes with you, or feel free to ask.
• Working hours: My default availability is 9am to 5pm Eastern US time and I’ve updated my calendar and Slack settings to reflect this. However, if there’s a meeting outside of this time, please let me know ( through Slack or simply directly booking a calendar invite with me) and I’ll be happy to accommodate. If I cannot make it, or if I’ll be late, I will make every best effort to inform you ahead of time via Slack/Email.
• Slack vs Email vs Calls: Unlike this document, I make a best effort to keep my messages concise and direct. If further discussion is required to reduce back-and-forth, I’ll suggest hoping on a Zoom or Slack Huddle. I seldom use emails, unless it’s with customers, or a broad organization-wide email blast. If it’s possible, I also will try to schedule-send emails or Slack messages based on your timezone so that you’re not getting bombarded with notifications outside of normal hours. (I encourage everyone to set up these schedules as well!)
• Slack: I’ll always do my best to respond promptly, and provide an acknowledgement of receiving your message (sometimes in the form of an emoji reaction).
• Emergency: I will never reach out to you outside of working hours without a prior arrangement. If there’s truly an emergency situation, let me know the best way to reach out.
• Meetings. I strive for meetings to end on time, and to make sure we have an agenda. I am a big advocate for starting meetings 5 minutes after so that people have time for a quick coffee or bathroom break (I find this is easier to do compared to trying to end 5 minutes early).
• 1:1s. I like setting a standing 25-minute session every week or every other week to meet with everyone individually. Anything is fair game, but some topics I like to focus on: feedback, career growth, strategy, overall satisfaction, new project ideation. I don’t like to focus on status updates (typically should be reserved for standups or planning sessions). The agenda should be mutually owned & contributed to.