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Leadership doesn't have to be guesswork

Weekly insights on building trust, influencing decisions, and leading teams that actually work. Written by someone who's done the job. Trusted by 5,000+ professionals.

Hi, I'm Kelly Vaughn.

Sr. Engineering Manager @ Zapier

I write what I wish I'd had years ago: clear frameworks, honest takes, and practical tools for real leadership problems. Just advice from someone who's managed sprints, debugged production incidents at 2AM, and explained technical debt to CEOs.

Most leadership content is written by people who've never led technical teams. The Modern Leader exists because engineering leadership has unique challenges that generic management advice doesn't address.

I write for individual contributors stepping into leadership roles, engineering managers drowning in meetings, and senior leaders who want to build teams that actually ship. My approach: take complex leadership concepts, break them into actionable frameworks, skip the motivational poster wisdom.

Recent Posts


Nov 18, 2025

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4 min read

The system is shaping your team more than you are

Most problems aren’t individual failures, they’re system failures

Nov 11, 2025

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4 min read

You might be carrying an invisible gun

The more senior you get, the more your words start to sound like orders

Nov 4, 2025

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4 min read

Becoming an engineering manager without a technical background

Yes, you can lead engineers without coming from a technical background.

Nov 4, 2025

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5 min read

The hard parts of engineering management

The messy, very human challenges behind the job and how to stay steady through conflict, uncertainty, and loneliness

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