This talk is aimed at people who are about to embark on the next chapter in their design career - taking on a Lead or Head of design role at an organisation or managing a team of designers. I'll share my experiences across my entire career, and what I've learnt to do and not to do when managing and leading teams. Hopefully some of my learnings will arm you to be better prepared when you take on a role to lead and empower our future designers and organisations' design maturity.

1. To do or not to do!
Amir Ansari
Managing Design 2018
@amir_ansari @transpire

2. @amir_ansari @transpire
Being a leader is like
being a parent…
you’re bound to #*$
up often no matter
how prepared you
are.
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3. @amir_ansari @transpire
“... leading is rewarding
because you are in a position
to positively enable others.
On the other hand, leading
often hurts, because
decisions you make can
negatively affect a lot more
people than just yourself.”
John Maeda -
Technical Advisory Board - Google
Board Member - Sonos
… the list goes on
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4. @amir_ansari @transpire
My career
Things I’ll continue to do
Things I won’t do
(or will do differently)
Resources
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5. @amir_ansari @transpire
My leadership career
2001 - 2004 2010 - 2012 2013 - 2017 2017...
1999 2005 2013 2017...
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6. What I’ll continue to do

7. @amir_ansari @transpire
meet the entire
team before
accepting the role
marquee.blogs.cnn.com
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I will CONTINUE to ...

8. @amir_ansari @transpire
start out as a
follower
"You cannot be a leader, and ask other
people to follow you, unless you know how
to follow, too."
--Sam Rayburn (American politician)
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I will CONTINUE to ...

9. @amir_ansari @transpire
properly introduce
myself to everyone
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I will CONTINUE to ...

10. @amir_ansari @transpire
ask what keeps
my leaders up at
night
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I will CONTINUE to ...

11. @amir_ansari @transpire
be comfortable
changing my mind
(if a well rationalised
alternative is offered)
“... if you don't contradict yourself on a
regular basis, then you're not thinking.”
-- Malcolm Gladwell
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I will CONTINUE to ...

12. @amir_ansari @transpire
ask senior leaders
what Experience
Designers do
http://johnnyholland.org/2010/04/planning-your-ux-strategy/
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I will CONTINUE to ...

13. @amir_ansari @transpire
lead from the back
(not just from the front)
"A leader is best when people barely know
he exists. When his work is done, his aim
fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves."
--Lao Tzu
(ancient Chinese philosopher and writer)
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I will CONTINUE to ...

14. @amir_ansari @transpire
put the team
before the
organisation
"Alone we can do so little, together we can
do so much."
-- Helen Keller
American author, political activist, and lecturer
(she was deaf and blind)
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I will CONTINUE to ...

15. @amir_ansari @transpire
mentor externally
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I will CONTINUE to ...
"There can be no greater gift than that of
giving one's time and energy to help
others without expecting anything in
return."
-- Nelson Mandela

16. @amir_ansari @transpire
rely on my proven
tools and methods
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I will CONTINUE to ...

17. What I won’t do
(or will do differently)

18. @amir_ansari @transpire
assume
teammates
get along
"One of the tests of leadership is the
ability to recognize a problem before it
becomes an emergency."
--Arnold Glasow
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I will NO LONGER ...

19. @amir_ansari @transpire
secretly look for a
successor
http://rebrn.com/re/psbattle-vladimir-putin-shushing-the-audience-63130/
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I will NO LONGER ...

20. @amir_ansari @transpire
assume everyone
can be helped
"...I can give you the formula for failure,
which is: Try to please everybody."
--Herbert Swope
(famous US reporter and editor)
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I will NO LONGER ...

21. @amir_ansari @transpire
assume my team
doesn’t need me
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I will NO LONGER ...AUTOPILOT

22. @amir_ansari @transpire
try to be BFFs with
my team
"To confuse being liked with being
trusted or respected is a classic trap"
--Author’s of Being the boss: The 3 Imperatives
of becoming a great leader
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I will NO LONGER ...

23. @amir_ansari @transpire
seek to convince
everyone
(or be convinced)
before proceeding
“Disagree and Commit”
-- Jeff Bezos (Amazon CEO)
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I will NO LONGER ...

24. @amir_ansari @transpire
assume what
worked in one
company will work
in another
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I will NO LONGER ...

25. Useful resources

27. https://hbr.org/2017/01/the-neuroscience-of-trust

28. https://bit.ly/29L99tr

29. @amir_ansari @transpire
“I'd rather be green and growing
instead of ripe, ready to rot.”
-- John Maeda
LEADERSHIP…
● It’s bloody hard
● It’s a full time job
● You WILL screw up
BUT
● You’ll be making a
difference to someone’s life
● Maybe you’ll be thanked for
it!
● You’ll grow every single day
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30. Thank you
amir.ansari@transpire.com
@amir_ansari
@transpire