My Leadership Style
A look into my brain!
My Style
As a leader and a manager - my main job is to get better outcomes from a group of people working together. I believe that happens with a balanced team, engaged designers, well structured projects and a fun, but impassioned environment that pushes everyone to make their best work.
In many ways - I am an amalgamation of some absolutely brilliant books written by other design leaders and product thinkers in our field. Those books are build better products, making of a manager, don’t make me think, design for emotion and web form design. I think most tools needed to solve most design problems lie somewhere in those books I’ve mentioned.
My Take on Various Work Topics
Credit:
I love celebrating you and your work. It is my favorite part of a job and I will bring attention to a teams hard work and genius in solving a problem, fighting through ambiguity and creating something we are all proud of.
One on Ones:
I love 1/1s and schedule them once a week. I use them to stay up to date on project work and maye talk through whatever is top of mind each week, but to also get to know eachother better.
Hiring:
Plan intentionally and ahead of time. Think through the biggest gaps on the team, the make up of the org and what kind of people could come in and make the largest impact for the product. Be extremely clear about what you are looking for and build great relationships with the recruiters so they can help you find it. I think there are some really large opportunities in making an interview process more streamlined, fun and open minded.
Documentation and Tools:
I love trying out and learning new tools, but I try to keep our tool stack as pared down as possible. The more places people have to look for something - the slower we are so it’s best if they know exactly where to go for what.
My Values
Inspiration!
The best outcomes come from inspiring people to action as opposed to telling them what to do. One way I evaluate if I am doing a good job is a manager is to track if my designers are bringing new ideas to me. I want to encourage creativity and ownership.
Communication:
I believe in humble, open and timely communication and try to create an environment that encourages that. In person is best when possible. The speed and experience is unmatched by slack, email, zoom calls or google docs. It just works better, but if a team is remote - then it is important to set up a structure that enables quick adhoc communication.
Open Design Culture:
I am a big fan of people including other designers for feedback in their designs. When evaluating how a project went - I also look at who a designer brought in and when on their journey to get to the right design.
My Expectations from Designers
Trust
I want my reports to feel comfortable bringing challenges to me early and comfortable sharing critical feedback.
Humble, Eager and Open to Learning
We all have ways we can improve as designers. Be open to hearing them, take any feedback you get and
Process
Light bulb moments are great, but it’s more about trying things quickly, being curious and then doubling down on what is working.
Speed
It matters - move fast, try things out, believe in yourself and stay focused on the problem. Lean into the discomfort, show lots of people for feedback and embrace the change and iteration.
What Designers Can Expect From Me
No Surprises and Clear Priorities
I am honest, direct and forward thinking. We will work together to identify areas for growth and methods to foster it. My expectations for your designs will be quite clear from day one
Vulnerability
I try to be self aware and share my own challenges and growth area. As much as possible - I try to be truthful when I don’t have the answers.
No Wasted Time
I keep my meetings concise and focused and I expect everyone else to do them same. I strive to bring outcomes and expectations to each meeting, only invite the necessary people and share the agenda ahead of time. After the meeting - I like to send follow ups with clear action items.
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