My Leadership Principles
When I was at Google they had a process called user manuals. Leaders were encouraged to write a user manual about themselves - articulating the things that mattered to them, and explaining some of their more interesting aspects. This really helped bridge cultural divides in a global company with meld of different backgrounds, personalities and skillsets.
For whatever reason I couldn’t get into the user manual format, but I did write out my principles and values with a bit of context on each. I have found this document to be super useful in explaining who I am, what I care about, and some of the ways I like to work.
You can view the original doc here, and the content is pasted in below for reference.
About:Kate
Author: Kate Matsudaira (katemats@)
Updated: January 2021
Hello! And welcome to my About Me doc.
When I have joined new teams or have had new people join my team, people have wanted to know more about me, I wrote this doc to share a little bit about what I value and how I think about my role.
If you want to learn about my background, the best place look is on my LinkedIn profile which is essentially my resume.
This document has the following sections (in order of importance):
My Leadership Principles. These are the things that matter the most to me and how I frame my role and leadership style.
The Way I Work. If you work closely with me these little tips and tricks can give you some insights on how to understand how I work.
Fun Facts. A little bit of color to my background.
My Leadership Principles
Your relationships mean the most. The team and people matter more than the work, role or subject matter. All opportunities in life are given to you by other people. Happiness at work is predicated on your relationships - I have worked on boring projects with great people, and cutting edge technology with a toxic team, and working with people you like plays a much bigger role in your job satisfaction than the work does.
Do what matters. Make sure you understand the impact of your work. Ideally results should be measurable and connected to customers (or top level directives). “Work as close to the customers and the money as you can.”
Customers are everything. This comes from my background in working in startups where success or failure is largely determined by customer adoption. Of course customers don’t always know what they want, or their asks may have negative ROI, so it can be a negotiation - but you should always be focused on what they care about and how you can add value.
Always act with integrity and authenticity. Do what is right even when no one is watching. If you can’t prioritize people around you won’t either. Be truthful and honest - people will judge you and draw their own conclusions, so at least give them all the information.
Be the example, and always give your best. Never ask someone to do something you wouldn’t do yourself. Don’t be afraid to roll up your sleeves and do what needs to be done (even if that means washing the dishes). And if you are going to do something, do it well.
Better to ship than wait for perfection. You don’t want to solve for problems you don’t have (but balance risk around bad launches, marketing, etc.). Great engineering is making the right trade offs, building a great product, and shipping faster.
Act as one team. Assume positive intent. Everyone comes to work to do a good job; and most people would love mentoring to do it better. Always give feedback directly in a way that is constructive and collaborative. A rising tide lifts all boats, and the best thing we can do is help one another be amazing.
Over communicate and be as transparent as you can. Never be afraid of bad news; it is always better to get ahead of it. I would always prefer to be given more information than is necessary, but never want busy work on my account.
Act like an owner. This one is from Amazon, but I love it. Treat company resources like they are your own. Be grateful; embrace and appreciate every opportunity.
The Way I Work
You *are* important. I believe that it is important to treat everyone with respect and kindness. My time is *not* more important than yours - we all are on the same team, we just have different roles.
I work a lot of random hours. I send email at night, on the weekends, in the early morning - sometimes even in the middle of the night (if I can’t sleep). This does not mean I expect you to read or respond in some specific window. If I send something on a weekend, then I don’t expect a response to the following working day. I just work when it is convenient for me, so know that is a standing rule and don’t feel any urgency to respond right away. If it is urgent I will ping you, call you, and/or search for someone else to help with the urgent issue. (And scheduled send does not work well for me since I have so many people in different timezones, and I frequently send email from my phone).
All meetings are optional. If I schedule a meeting then you attendance is always optional. My goal is to make meetings as valuable as possible that you will want to attend (this includes all-hands, staff meetings, etc.). If you decide not to come to a 1:1 meeting, though, I would appreciate a heads-up in advance so I can use the time for something else.
My (virtual) door is always open. My calendar is public for a reason. I want you to be able to know what I am doing, and to be able to schedule a meeting if you need to meet. You don’t need to ask me or my admin. Just put a time on the calendar that works for you. Sometimes meetings get moved around though (it isn’t personal) so if it is important or urgent please note that in the invite so everyone else will know the context.
My calendar also generally has my office location and travel schedule during that week. It is worth noting if I am frequently traveling I may not always work be available in the same timezone.
Presentations. I hate the idea of presentations prepared for just me. I am very good at asking questions to get the information I want to know. If you made a doc or slides for another review, or to share with others, please feel free to use it in a presentation to me but don’t ever feel like you need to put together slides to convey information or tell me a story. I much prefer dialog, white boards, and questions & answers.
I prefer 1:1 conversations. I am not comfortable in large groups. I can do it, but I don’t like it. I find I get more honest and useful information in one on one conversations with people so I bias my schedule and time to do more of those and less group discussion. As a result I tend to do more skip levels than most people but I find them the most useful and enjoyable parts of my day.
I take A LOT of notes. I am not an oral learner so the only way I remember things is to write them down. I take copious notes on paper. Sometimes this freaks people out a bit, but it is a tool I use to help me recall information. If it bothers you let me know and I can put my pen down. :)
I am an introvert, and can be a little awkward. I don’t like small talk and steer away from “networking events”. This is why I took up public speaking - it was the best way to network: you get up on stage, share your best material, and everyone knows who you are (no small talk, awkward conversations, or uncomfortable intros).
I have a lot of Kate-isms. If you spend enough time with me you will hear me say the same things over and over - including telling the same stories. If I start down one of these paths and you have heard it already let me know, I promise I won’t be offended.
Personality assessments
Myers Briggs MBTI: INTJ
Strengths Finder Top 5
Futuristic
Strategic
Competition
Relator
Self-Assurance
Insights: Directing Reformer
Fun Facts
Born in California (rural in-the-middle-of-nowhere). Live in Issaquah, WA (east of the Seattle/Kirkland area).
I have worked at big companies early in my career, and then spent the last 12 years doing startups, then after the startup I founded was acquired I joined Google about 4 years ago.
I studied Computer Science & Economics, but also spent a lot of time studying Physics and Chemistry. I am naturally curious and tend to get interested in many topics.
I have 2 kids and 3 dogs.
I love hiking, but hate camping.
I am very into pinball - mostly tinkering with the machines but like to play as well. I like machines with lots of toys and tricks.
My favorite thing to do in my spare time is read - I alternate between business and leadership non-fiction and Fantasy/SciFi fiction.