I don't want leadership to be a title I earn. I want it to be a responsibility I live. Quietly, consistently, especialy when things are hard.

I'm building myself toward a style of leadership that's technically strong enough to earn trust, and human enough to keep that trust. Inspired by leaders like Simon Sinek and Jocko Willink, who keep pointing to the same uncomfortable truth: leadership isn't about being in charge. It's about taking care of the people in your charge. And when things go wrong, it starts with you. "Extreme ownership," as Jocko calls it. A "circle of safety," as Sinek frames it.

I want to lead with ownership, not ego

When a project slips, a release breaks, or communication fails, the easiest move is to find a culprit. I've done it. Most people have. But the real move is to ask: What could I have done to prevent this? What didn't I clarify? What risk did I miss?

Ownership isn't self-blame. It's the refusal to outsource responsibility. It's choosing to be the person who says: "It's on me to help us fix this, and to make it less likely next time."

That attitude changes everything. It makes it safe for others to be honest. And honesty is the raw material of improvement.

I want to be technically strong, but not technically arrogant

I'm aiming to be the kind of leader who can still dive deep: architecture, reliability, trade-offs, debugging under pressure. Because technical credibility matters. Not for status, but because it reduces chaos. It helps teams move when problems get complex.

But I also don't want to be the leader who always "wins" decisions. I've worked with that person. It's exhausting.

The goal isn't proving I'm smart. The goal is building a system where the team gets smarter, where people can challenge ideas, discuss trade-offs, and commit together. My job is often to raise clarity, not to dominate direction.

I want to build a team that feels safe to do great work

When people don't feel safe, they hide mistakes. They stop asking questions. They play defence. That kills quality and learning.

I want to create the opposite: a team culture where it's normal to say:

• "I don't know yet."
• "I think this might be risky."
• "I made a mistake, here's what I learned." (This one's hard. But it's the most important.)

That's not softness. That's strength. It's how you get real signals early, instead of disasters late.

I want to lead with standards and kindness (both)

Leadership isn't being nice. It's being clear. Nice is easy. Clear is harder.

I want to set a high bar for quality (testing, observability, security, maintainability) because our users deserve reliability and our team deserves calm. But I also want to enforce that bar in a way that builds people up instead of wearing them down.

Kindness without standards becomes chaos. Standards without kindness becomes fear. A healthy team needs both.

The promise I'm trying to keep

When things go well, I want to share credit. When things go wrong, I want to take responsibility first. When people struggle, I want to coach, not judge. When the team succeeds, I want it to feel like we did it. Because we did.

That's the kind of leader I'm trying to become: technically reliable, emotionally steady, obsessed with learning, and genuinely on my team's side. I'm not there yet.

Not perfect. Just better tomorrow.