I started my engineering career in a closed environment with little guidance or mentorship. When I became a manager, I made myself a promise: become the manager I had needed.

Drawing on almost eight years as Chapter Lead Android at ABN AMRO, this talk explores how that promise shaped my approach to leadership. Through personal stories, I share five challenges: creating room for innovation, listening before judging, recognizing individual contributions, supporting autonomy, mastery and purpose, and helping people develop their careers.

I reflect on how we translated these principles into everyday leadership practices, and on the difficult decisions that tested my commitment to people’s growth, trust and fairness.

Engineering managers, tech leads and aspiring leaders will leave with practical ideas for encouraging participation, making fair decisions and supporting growth, alongside a question to take back to their teams: who do people become while they work with us?