I describe my style of leading as “leadership with heart.” Other than a good excuse to use emoji, what does it mean? These are the foundational pillars to the way I lead, manage, and grow people.

First, clear expectations. People deserve respect, and with respect comes a high degree of transparency and accountability. I would never task someone with doing something if we didn’t first talk about what we wanted the outcomes (more on that later) to be. My expectations for quality, timelines, effort, and goals should be clear. If they aren’t, I work to make them clear. This is something that I’ve worked hard to improve on over the course of my career – it’s very important.

Second, building an honest, clear feedback culture. Giving and receiving feedback is a real, great skill to develop. Keeping things close to the vest, or holding on to feedback for a long period of time, festers and erodes trust. Being open to constructive feedback, and being able to give it, is (again) respectful and leads to growth.

Lastly, not giving in to fear. It’s easy to do; fear is a monster. There will be times in a project, in an economy, in a meeting when we are faced and dealing with fear. (It usually shows up as overcompensating, or pulling back – interesting contrasts.) And I am not ashamed nor afraid to call out when we are starting from a place of fear. We name it so we, as a team, can confirm it – and then collectively decide if that’s a good place to start. Starting our work from a place of boldness, of care, of humanity… that’s always going to be stronger.

All of these pillars have grown and changed over time and, of course, there are times when I’m personally hitting the mark better with some than others. But the common threads of respect and care are there, and they’ll always be foundational for the way I lead my teams.