Acting with respect can mean anything from acknowledging a colleague’s hard work to embracing diversity. It means valuing the opinions of your coworkers as much as it means ensuring that remotes can fully participate.

Foster an environment in which people are encouraged to share their ideas, feelings and opinions. Make your needs known, and make it easy for others to do so. Listen as you would want to be listened to.

Foster a culture of transparency. Trust that everyone is here because they want to be, and that we share the same goals. Trust each other to do what we say. Trust when we can’t we’ll let each other know. Trust that it’s ok to make mistakes. Show each other that these things are true, with how we treat each other.

Our customers don’t just use DigitalOcean, they love it. That’s because, at every level, we put love into our work. Love brings us together and makes us stand out from the pack. Love means doing the little extra things—the things that you don’t have to do—that makes all the difference.