How I Lead

Above all, I strive to be great to work with. I’m a player-coach in learning and talent development, which means my leadership style needs to reflect, well, learning and talent development. I still write the scripts, build the courses, and edit the keyframes, but I also spend just as much energy making sure the people around me can do their best work, have fun doing it, and don’t need me in every decision. My management philosophies can be summarized with these five principles:

01 Make it fun Serious work with a light touch. 02 Give autonomy Hire smart people and trust them (and get out of the way). 03 Stay close to the work I still love to make things. 04 Be a teacher Everyone leaves more capable. 05 Lead by example Kind, consistent, and the first to jump in.

Serious work deserves a light touch. I bring the jokes, the games, and more than one round of Taylor Swift trivia, because people remember what they enjoyed and they show up for teams that feel good to be on. When someone brings me a new idea, my job is to ask good questions, then say yes and remove blockers so they can execute it. Teaching is my job and my leadership style. With my own team, that means giving context instead of tasks. Across the company, it means designing practice instead of slides, from AI clickthroughs to live sessions, so people walk away able to do something new.

Don’t take my word for it, though. Here are some unedited notes from the people I work for and alongside: