Explore essential soft skills and leadership insights in this 14-minute conference talk where JJ Asghar shares valuable lessons learned from cultivating open source projects and communities. Gain practical wisdom from experiences spanning a decade of open source development, from managing FAQs for the CRUX Linux Distribution to leading the OpenStack-Chef project. Learn how to navigate both personal and corporate-backed projects, understand the importance of empathy in community building, master project logistics, celebrate successes, build trust, maintain accessibility, and develop a clear vision. Discover hard-earned insights about potential pitfalls to avoid and strategies for creating sustainable open source communities that thrive beyond initial development phases.