It’s been said to me that at times my responses can come across as a “no” first-unintentionally, of course, but real all the same. Not long ago, someone on my team shared an idea they were exploring. I began with a caution, meaning to help them avoid...
I've always been a fixer. My instinct is to protect, to solve, to step in. A close friend once told me I have “White Knight Syndrome” - I never checked if that's really a thing, but it fits. At my core, I want to take away the struggle, to shield oth...
In 1:1s, whether with my reports or on the rare occasion with my own lead, I’ve noticed something: the safe answer. You know the one. It’s in response to “How are you doing?” It’s polite. Acceptable. Technically honest — yet designed to sidestep the ...
A quiet team can feel safe on the surface — no conflict, no interruptions, no awkward moments. But here’s the problem: with a quiet team, you don’t know what you don’t know. When people keep thoughts in their heads, you can miss out on ideas, risks, ...
There's this quiet myth in engineering that once you hit “senior,” you'll just know. You'll have all the answers, solve problems on the fly, and be the go-to for anything and everything. But here's the truth I've come to learn: I often prefer not to ...
One of the most common fears for leaders is losing visibility. So we overcorrect. We hover, we ask for updates too often, we over-explain things that people were already doing well. We micromanage. But here's the thing: I've never really been the typ...
