You spend most of your adult life working, and all work is done by people (unless you're a solo founder and it's done by person, you). Relationships you have at work affect your quality of life, and you contribute to the energy around you as much as others' affect you.
In my past year, I've experienced the highs and lows of managing well and seeing a passionate community come together and managing poorly and fighting inertia to plan an event. At work, I was fortunate to have a very supportive manager, and it made focusing on my personal and professional development easier. During this period, I was reading Herding Tigers: Be the Leader That Creative People Need by Todd Henry and The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz, both of which introduced me to new ideas in management. When I found out we were hiring an additional intern for our project, I started developing my own management philosophy.
1. Take full responsibility. It's either your fault for not having clear expectations or your fault for not training/hiring well. (Inspired by Ben Horowitz' book)
2. Defend the whitespace. Amazing work follows trusting and psychologically safe relationships. (Inspired by Todd Henry's book)
3. Overcommunicate the WHY. To keep everyone focused on the mission and aligned on the design intent! I personally overly focus on the WHY.
4. Clear and direct about WHAT/WHEN. I need this clarity when moving in fast-paced environments. It also gives me a defined moment to check in on tasks.
5. Always be approachable. I would always like anyone at any level to feel like they can reach out to me and share their ideas. I admire leaders that keep that attitude, no matter how busy they are!
One of the key things I look for in new opportunities is the quality of the team I would work with. I hope to develop strong team culture when given responsibility and power. By clearly knowing my management philosophy, I can also better understand what I need to ask for from my managers.