The final element of this first-team trust and respect is the cone of silence. Disagreements that happen in the context of the leadership team don’t exist to the wider team. Once a decision is made, we commit to that decision and put on a united front in front of our engineering teams and anyone else in the company. It’s easier said than done — I’ve struggled frequently with hiding my own disagreements with my peers. Letting go when you don’t get your way, especially when you don’t feel that your objections have been heard, is hard, and it will have to happen from time to time. At this level
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