Leadership doesn't have to be guesswork
Join thousands of engineers and engineering leaders getting practical advice, candid discussion, and support from people doing the work.
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. You’re getting advice from someone who's managed sprints, debugged production incidents at 2AM, hired and fired engineers and engineering managers, 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, and skip the motivational poster wisdom.
