What is this? Inspired by other leaders in design and engineering, I revisit my very own readme every few years. I share it to help people get to know me and how I work, hoping it inspires others to write one for themselves and their team.

Welcome

Welcome to the team. As a leader, my mission is simple: create the conditions for great work to happen. I want you to do work you’re proud of most days—because, let’s face it, not every day will be perfect. I do this by understanding what drives you, challenging our thinking, and providing clear context and vision. Along the way, I focus on building and growing a team of exceptional talent.

To work well together, we need to define our relationship. Below is a quick guide to how I operate: what you can expect from me, my principles, and, yes, some of my quirks. It’s meant to help us hit the ground running—but it’s no substitute for building a real connection.

Work Mode

Let me be clear: being present and available when needed is important in our collaborative roles. That said, there are no strict rules about work hours. You don’t need my permission to be out for a doctor’s appointment. We’re all adults, and I trust your judgment. Just balance your priorities, and if you’ll be unavailable for a while, let the right people know.

Presence

To me, a meeting means a clear purpose, the right people, and someone driving it toward a goal. I aim to be on time, though back-to-backs can make it tricky—I’ll usually be there within the first five minutes. In fact, I start all my meetings 5 minutes past to give us all time in between.

I value presence and focus in meetings. If you’re distracted or multitasking—like going dark in a virtual meeting or staying glued to your laptop—it doesn’t sit well with me. If it happens often, I’ll call it out. If something urgent comes up, let me know and step out. Otherwise, I expect you to give your full attention, as we all should for each other.

Healthy Work/Life Balance

I do my best to practice a healthy work/life balance by disconnecting from work at night and on weekends. While I occasionally work on weekends, it’s by choice—not expectation. If you get an email from me outside your work hours, it’s not urgent unless I explicitly say so. I encourage you to establish healthy boundaries, take time off, and disconnect, too—it’s when some of the best ideas happen.

My Guiding Principles

People First 

Happy, informed, and diverse teams do great work. I prioritize building teams that are productive and balanced with diverse perspectives because those perspectives improve our ideas and outcomes.

Treat Everyone Fairly 

I work to understand and address biases to ensure fairness for everyone. If you ever feel mistreated or misrepresented, please tell me so we can address it together.

Leadership from Everywhere  

Leadership isn’t limited to managers. I look for ways to empower everyone on the team to lead, no matter their role.

Using Tools with Purpose  

Good tools and processes improve efficiency, effectiveness, and craft. But they’re just that—tools. I value how people use them thoughtfully. If something’s not working, I’ll raise it and work with you to fix it.

Learn from Mistakes  

Mistakes are opportunities to learn. I focus on understanding why something happened and how we can do better next time. Repeated mistakes are what we aim to avoid.

Little Things Matter  

Attention to detail counts—whether fixing bugs or choosing the right words in a design. If something’s off, speak up or take action. I believe small fixes can have a big impact. I care deeply about the words and formatting in our designs—they matter, especially when they reach millions of people. Getting them right is essential. On the flip side, I’m less concerned about perfect wording in chats. What matters there is intent, trust, and open communication.

Assume Positive Intent 

I try to approach every situation with an open mind, assuming good intentions. If something feels off, let’s discuss it—I’m always open to more context or feedback so we can move forward together.

Quirks and Errata

Here’s a bit more about me—quirks included. While this document is about my style and expectations, I’m equally curious about how you work best. Let’s think of this as the start of an ongoing conversation.

Leadership Style 

I aim to inspire and give you the autonomy to own your work. Think like an owner, but know I’m always available to help, advise, or support you. I’m compassionate, laid-back, and soft-spoken at times, but I’m also engaged, opinionated, and passionate about our work.

Deep Focus

I love context before forming strong opinions. I often focus on small details, like copy or presentation fonts, even when they seem secondary to the big picture. Inclusive design, accessibility, and branding matter to me, so I’ll often dive deep into these areas with you.

Communication Style

I try to stay on top of email, Slack, and other messages, but sometimes things slip through. Clear, concise messages with bullet points help me prioritize. Long, tangled threads aren’t my thing, so keep it brief if you need my attention. Also, I’m not a fan of corporate speak or using verbs as nouns (though I think I’ve lost that battle).

Continuous Improvement 

I’m always looking for ways to improve our processes and meetings. If something isn’t working, let’s change it. Feel free to pitch new ideas—change is welcome.

Feedback is a Gift 

I believe in open, honest, and constructive feedback. It builds trust and respect. I’ll give direct feedback and expect the same from you.

Peeves and Dislikes

I get annoyed by gossip, rumor-mongering, people stating opinions as facts, and comparisons like, “Company X does it this way, so we should too.” As for dislikes: cilantro, goat cheese, and corduroy. (That’s a story for another time.)

Let’s Have Fun 

I’m a big believer in humor and having some fun. Humor helps build strong connections. My sense of humor is dry, witty, and sometimes silly. I also enjoy geeking out about creative tools, tech, design, movies, books, or anything that interests us. I believe in making time to connect, so I prioritize team offsites every few months to switch off and bond.

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Steal This Document

This document is a work in progress, updated regularly. I’ve borrowed ideas from inspiring leaders like Michael Lopp, Julie Zhuo, and August de Los Reyes. August encouraged me to steal his version of this document, and now I encourage you to do the same.

Thanks for reading to the end. Let me know your thoughts—this is a conversation, not a monologue. So what’s in your readme?

This post can also be found on Medium and LinkedIn.