Love letter to my co-lead

I haven't ever been that great at expressing things IRL - words come more naturally to me in writing. And while I've known about this for some time, I think it just dawned on me walking you to your new job, that when I return to the office it will not be to breakfast with you at our round table. So I though I would try to summarize what you have meant to me in a love letter, to you, my dearest Elin.

While we actually first met in the Andalusian desert many years ago, my feet were so burned from the fire walk that I was barely even human anymore, sitting on that yoga mat. My first real recollection of you is when Anahita mentioned she might have a dev called Elin exiting SVT. I screamed "DIBS" and got up from the table and immediately ran to call you on the phone, ignoring the "...you know you can't call dibs on a consultant, she's going up on the list on Monday". Anahita, always doing things the right way - one of my biggest leadership inspirations though I didn't always listen and obey.

E: "Hello this is Elin..."

A: "YES, I mean HI, I'm Andjela and I work at Engagement Management and I heard you might be rolling off and so I wanted to ask - what do you want to do next? Because I have so many ideas and I want to make sure I give you something you'll love"

E: "Well, I've done the whole public sector thing now so I would really like to do private. Something technically complex, something business savy, a challenge basically."

A: "THAT'S PERFECT. I mean, I have something, but I can't tell you what it is and you kind off have to sign an NDA and they will do a background check. BUT, I can promise you the challenge of your career - and Daniel and Andreas who lead this are really great. Can you do an interview next week?"

E: "YES, that sounds great! See you next week."

I'm still astonished at your ability to just dive into change without hesitation. And just like that you were on board. Well, sort of, just had to call Daniel W to explain I had the perfect person for him and fight the Netlight horde of other engagement managers, all with their own client who needed you. Already then and there, you were a shiny unicorn. And when I saw that you really wanted to do the EQT assignment (because you were brilliant in the interviews with Ville, Henrik etc. and you had that Elin-sparkle in your eyes) I knew I had to do everything to get you there. Every second in interviews with you made me more and more sure you had to be at EQT for this - that this was a rocket ship and you were an astronaut.

Internal negotiations were a hassle, as EQT was a rather new customer, but hey - we got you in. And just like anticipated you were adored by everyone for your attitude, kindness and intelligence. A couple of months later you called me to resign, and while I knew I was supposed to be sad about that - more than anything I was really really happy for you. You had grown so much, your heart was in this and you were a delivery machine. We had built a great little Netlight team at EQT and you were the center of that. It was the right fit, I could see that from miles away. And sometimes a good match leads to departure. It was a conflicting feeling - but I knew that was not the end of us.

Fast forward a couple of years when we were doing the Amazon Loft for the very first time in the Nordics and we needed someone who was techy enough to run a workshop - but interesting, relatable and pedagogical enough that people were not going to fall asleep. Again, I remembered that excellent developer who was now also a team lead and also my friend, who had a scene presence of a Opera singer and could take an audience like she'd done it her entire life. I called you up, and like so many times before you said:

"YES, sounds great, what time do you want me there?".

Years later I was in interview processes for two rather different roles at the same company. When Katarina said "I was thinking to pair you up with someone who has been here a bit longer" I couldn't contain my own excitement and bursted out "Is it Elin?". After that, there was only really one interview process I wanted to nail. The one that brought me back to you.

In my career I am lucky to have had trusted collaborations. The type where you just know that the other person is giving it their 110% and you are both running with it and create such strong synergies and flow. I knew this was going to be that - and even early on jokingly compared it to "Halt and catch fire".

The past two years have been challenging - not gonna lie - and we've probably at one point or another wanted to rip each others heads off, but I only really remember the good times right now. The highfives when getting buy in, the DT securing a new deal, watching our best players in the team deliver sick results and doing our crunches pre-OKR/QBR planning. Realizing how you've become a great leader, a competent engineer and a caring manager to your directs and the extended teams.

When you stood in front of the big metal doors of your new office I realized that this must have been what Donna and Cameron felt (well sort of, since they're made up) at the end of Mutiny. Conflicted. As am I. So happy that you are venturing out on your first startup journey - but also so aware of how much I am going to miss you.

You have changed me in many ways and I am grateful that you are a constant in my regular life, now that you're not that at work. And I'm sure our story doesn't end here, we're just picking different paths to get to the next destination.

This is probably the cheesiest letter you've received, but I really wanted to express that I love you endlessly and am totally hosting you some kind of business shower with the tech equivalent of a diaper cake as soon as I am out of sick-bay,

My warmest good luck wishes,

Your co-lead,

A