Nader.Farahani README

Status: v1.3

Motivation for this Document

This document is a guide for how I work, lead, and support others. It’s meant to make our collaboration smoother and more human, and give you insight into how I think, how I communicate, and what you can expect from me.

I’ve taken inspiration from other leaders in my past who’ve written similar documents. This is my own take, grounded in how I lead but reflective of the values we share.

It’s not a rulebook, just a starting point. We’ll get to know each other far better over time, and this README is here to kick things off.

My Role

As a Director of Engineering, my success is directly tied to the success of my organization and the broader business.

I focus on:

• Org Alignment & Flow:
  I ensure people, teams, and systems work together smoothly across boundaries. Whether it's cross-functional collaboration or structural inefficiencies, I help align the pieces so the org can move forward effectively.

• Strategic Delivery:
  I align engineering work with business goals to ship what truly matters. That means translating business objectives into team outcomes and delivering the right things, clearly prioritized and executed with sustainable quality. I work closely with product, design, and marketing to ensure we’re solving the right problems for the business and our users, drawing on my experience as a Technical Program Manager to align work across functions.

• Technical Vision & Evolution:
  I evolve our systems to meet future demands. Engineering should be scalable, dependable, and adaptable to what's next. I support teams in surfacing architectural shifts and guide direction in collaboration with Staff+ engineers.

Above all, I see myself as a connector. I align people, teams, and outcomes so we move together with purpose.

My Assumptions

• You’re capable. You’ve proven you belong here, and I trust you by default.
• You’re human. You’ll have good days and bad ones. Let’s keep things real.
• You’ll loop me in. I can’t help if I don’t know. Communicate early and often.
• You’re growing. That’s a baseline expectation on this team, and I’m here to support it.
• You can challenge me. I welcome thoughtful disagreement, especially when done with care.

What I Value Most

• Honest Signals, Not Just Facts: Tell me how you feel, not just what’s happening. Emotions are hard to fake, and I trust them more than data in a vacuum.
• Clarity and Context: Good decisions require good information. I’ll give you as much context as I can, and I expect the same in return.
• Proactive Collaboration: I don’t want to ask “Did you talk to them?” Make contact early and often, especially across org lines.
• Psychological Safety: Everyone should feel comfortable being themselves and speaking up. We can only grow if we feel safe to stretch.
• Calm Under Fire: True seniority shows up when things get hard. Stress isn’t an excuse, it’s a signal to think smarter, not try harder.

Communication

• You’re always welcome to reach out. Slack is usually the fastest way to get my attention.
• I check Slack frequently and email daily—but if something is urgent, texting me is the best way to get my attention.
• I’d rather you over-communicate than get stuck or wait too long to flag something.
• If something feels off, tell me how it’s landing on you. I care more about honesty than polish.
• Help me get to the core signal—summarize what matters, but don’t strip out the hard parts or the human context.
• If you know something I don’t, bring it forward. Context helps us move faster, together.

1:1s

1:1s are your time. They’re for you to drive. I’ll show up engaged, curious, and supportive.

I expect:

• Collaborative 1:1 notes (feel free to prep them in advance)
• Candid updates, wins, struggles, and questions
• Occasional divergence into tangents, life, or abstract rabbit holes. That’s how we learn together.

Let’s use them to unlock growth, alignment, and shared perspective.

Career Planning

You own your career. My job is to support you in wherever you want to take it, whether that’s senior IC work, engineering leadership, or just getting better at your current role.

I aim to check in on your goals at least 2–4 times per year, and co-create a path based on what you want.

Growth is expected, but promotion is a personal choice. Whether you’re deepening your craft or stepping into leadership, I’ll support you either way.

My Availability

If you need to talk, I’m here. Slack me. Don’t wait for our next meeting.

If my calendar’s full, message me anyway. I’ll move things around.

The earlier you raise a flag, the more I can do to help. Don’t let small issues pile up. Let’s solve them fast and together.

How We Build Trust

Trust is everything. Here's how to earn it with me:

• Be transparent, even (especially) when it’s hard.
• Share what you feel, not just what you know.
• Tell me early. I hate being surprised.
• Push information up. Don’t make me dig.
• Act like we’re in this together, not like I’m someone to work around.

And here's how to lose it:

• Withhold context
• Protect yourself by keeping others in the dark
• Treat me like an outsider, not a partner

Personality Quirks

• I speak in metaphors often. That’s how I understand things and how I explain them.
• I go on tangents. Expect conversations to meander. They’ll land somewhere useful.

What You Can Expect from Me

• Unwavering support. I’ve got your back during tough deadlines, big launches, and career bumps. You can text me anytime. That offer doesn’t expire after this job.
• I’ll always aim to understand before reacting. Help me see the full picture.
• Calm decisiveness. We’ll discuss, debate, and explore, but we won’t linger. I’ll guide us to alignment and action.
• Flexibility with integrity. I’ll change my mind when the facts change. Bring me new information and I’ll listen.

What I Expect from You

• Proactive communication. Keep me and your peers in the loop early and often. Silence is rarely a neutral signal.
• Technical integrity. You are the final line of defense when it comes to security, quality, and engineering excellence. Own it fully.
• Present the trade-offs. There are always options. Come with paths forward, short, long, risky, safe, and let’s choose together.
• Think across boundaries. Your job isn’t just your team or your code. Success at the senior level requires deep collaboration across product, design, operations, and beyond.

How I Make Decisions

I move quickly to gather input from others, and I expect people to speak up when asked. I usually weigh a few clear paths forward and validate them with just enough data to guide the way.

I don’t believe in forcing a decision to match a plan from the past. Instead, I pay close attention to what reality is telling us and adjust accordingly. My goal isn’t to be the loudest voice, it’s to help us move forward with confidence in a direction that’s working.

Example: I’ve aligned with my team to modify the architecture of a project fundamentally partway into the implementation phase, once newly discovered information made it clear a slight detour and delay would result in significantly greater gains. We made the pivot, shipped with confidence, and the value it created far outweighed the cost of the change.

You won’t see mandates from me unless there’s no other choice. Most of the time, I’m asking: What’s working? What’s sustainable? What delivers the most value?

Leadership Non-Negotiables

• People come first
  That means you, your peers, and our shared well-being. The same people will show up tomorrow to tackle the next challenge. That said, “people first” isn’t a shield against accountability. It means we invest in making sure we’re all in our best state to do our best work.

• We don’t compromise on quality
  Quality is not about gold-plating. It’s about having a shared, enforceable standard for what we will and won’t ship. Everyone on the team owns that baseline and is responsible for holding the bar.

• We’re never done
  Our work is never done. Projects still need care after launch. Process can always improve. We move forward through steady, sustainable progress — not sprints, not marathons, just a thoughtful walk, every day.

That’s how I work, and how I hope we’ll work together.