People Engineering Portfolio
FACILITATOR: mcWanke
SESSION: Leadership Philosophy
STATUS: In Progress
SESSION: Leadership Philosophy
STATUS: In Progress
// The Setup
Every engineering leader has a deck. This is mine. You might read “deck” and think “presentation” — no. This is an actual deck of skills, accomplishments, and ideas that I bring to the table.
// The Philosophy
Each card is a real philosophy backed by a real accomplishment. Think of it as a trading card collection — except instead of rare holographics, you get psychological safety and a kudos bot.
CORE EQUATION
People First → Safe Teams → Major Impacts + Great Results
repeat until done
// What Makes It Different
Anyone can follow a framework. It takes something different to make the work genuinely matter to the people doing it. Creativity and a true belief in the potential of the humans around me are what drive me and set me apart.
ACTION ITEMS
Review the cards below
Find the ones that belong in your deck
Let’s talk
Effect:All engineers get +10 to impact when Safe Harbor is in play. This card is the foundation.
Creates conditions where engineers bring real problems instead of hiding them, challenge decisions without fear, and grow faster because failure is survivable. Approach every conversation with candor, honesty, and the clear signal that the human is valued before the output.
“Everything else on the board only works
if this one is already in play.”
if this one is already in play.”
Effect:When The Dot Connector is in play, no stakeholder is left wondering what is happening.
Standing 1:1s run across org areas outside engineering, keeping communication flowing in all directions. Public incident and project updates publicly broadcast so even missed stakeholders know where to find details. Everyone who needs to know — knows.
“If you had to ask, I already sent the update.”
Effect:Culture Crafter persists across all team meetings, making them measurably less terrible.
A weekly Kudos Bot surfaces team member impact automatically. Coffee Chats run optionally for non-work relationship building across time zones. Meetings get shorter, warmer, and occasionally even worth attending.
“Culture isn’t a perk. It’s the whole point.”
Effect:All engineers gain a Project Lead opportunity. A rising tide lifts every engineer on the team.
A structured weekly process supports time together across worldwide time zones with async communications and defined team rhythms and meetings. Project Lead roles create space for engineers to explore peer leadership on large projects for growth opportunities.
“A rising tide lifts all engineers. Especially the ones who didn’t know they could float.”
Effect:Three engineers became Engineering Managers. One manager returned to IC and stayed. The Greenhouse never loses anyone it believes in.
Engineers grow here through deliberate stretch assignments, direct feedback, and high standards that never lower during transitions. When a manager needed to return to IC, The Greenhouse absorbed the load and kept them on the team. Growth means up — or back to what you love. Both count.
“Sometimes growth means up. Sometimes it means back to what you love. Both count.”
Effect:Play upon a successful release victory. Engineers gain: Spoils. Manager gets 0 spotlight.
Wins must be celebrated! Crafted org-level messaging goes to public channels celebrate team accomplishments and the virtues of what was just released. Weekly callouts surface wins. Demo slots are open to everyone — every engineer has something worth showing. Skipping the victory lap is not an option.
“We shipped it. They built it. Both of those things are true.”
Effect:Absorbs all blame directed at engineers. Redirects accountability to the manager. Cannot be destroyed by finger-pointing.
When a timeline changes, the failure in planning belongs to the manager — not the team or an individual. Allows a manager to stand in front of senior leadership and own a change in release timelines due to unforeseen technical challenges. Every time, presents as an issue owned, not deflected.
“The planning was mine. The problem was mine. The fix was ours.”
Effect:Must be present during all incidents. Will not ask anyone to do something they won’t do themselves.
Present through every hour of a major database outage — researching, supporting, and keeping the team steady throughout. Shows the way by creating marketing videos during customer appreciation week and presenting an example to the team. Would not recommend.
“I won’t ask you to do anything I won’t
do first. Yes, including the video.”
do first. Yes, including the video.”
Effect:Translates engineering to human language. Side effect: people stop being afraid to ask engineering questions.
Cast whenever a non-engineer joins the org — reach out, offer a meeting, explain how engineering works and why it matters. Built a full Change Management team at JAVS dedicated to making documentation useful for manufacturing, field service, installations, and customer support across every new product launch.
“If they have to ask twice, the first explanation was mine to fix.”
Effect:Splits hiring process into tiers. Requests broad and diverse candidate pool. Unlocks: Reduced bias.
Built a tiered hiring process in partnership with HR — hiring manager operates blind while HR maintains pool diversity. Written hiring templates focused on culture add were adopted by the People team for process interview scripts. The best candidate was always in the pool. The process just had to let them through.
“Shuffle the deck properly and the right
card shows up every time.”
card shows up every time.”
Effect:The Town Square does not require a PR team to function. Tap to generate 1 Community Trust.
Led community AMA campaigns in user forums — writing posts, responses, and company blog writeups. Led release of a formally documented and versioned public API and worked to build dedicated developer community with interactions with engineers and support for third-party builders.
“The community was always talking. Someone just had to show up and listen.”
Effect:Increases velocity without transferring ownership. Accountability transferred: 0%. This is non-negotiable.
Helped introduce CodeRabbit for PR reviews and GitHub Copilot for development support across the engineering org. Personally uses Claude daily — not because it is trendy but because it genuinely works. Engineers using Impact Multiplier ship faster and better. Engineers must still be fully accountable for the output.
“AI is the magic wand. You are still the one
deciding what magic to create.”
deciding what magic to create.”
Portfolio
A human, people-first approach to engineering and management. AKA: How to build great engineering teams. How can I help?
Projects, results, and a few honest failures from a career building software that actually shipped with great teams.
Professional and personal projects around hardware, sensors, and low-voltage electronics.
Some of my personal projects to share with the world. Code, designs, and a lot of fun.