Linzi Berry, the Design Systems Lead at Lyft, from her piece Art of Diplomacy:

Systems design is not only scientific and meticulous, it’s the mastery of interacting with people in a sensitive and effective way. It takes human connection and empathy to go from a sticker sheet to a living, thriving system. The time we invest in relationships with designers and engineers (and their bosses, their bosses’ boss, their project managers, and the accessibility guru down the hall) is as important as building the system itself.

Also love what she says about the importance of positivity from a systems team:

If we are easy to work with, so is the system. If we are intimidating, so is the system.