The Thing About Leadership
September 2017
To set some context:
I’m a designer. At the time of writing, I have 10 years of practical experience. I love Design — of all flavours.
That’s me in a nutshell. Everything else in my career is based on chance— but this essential mix has led to me becoming a ‘leader’ of other designers and a wider community of people outside my specific domain, whether they like it or not.
This all came early in my career, at a point where my sole objective (was) to climb the ladder quickly and aggressively – take risks and make the most of every opportunity which came my way. My focus until this point was to design beautiful things that people would love to use and, as a result, be recognised for the work I did by the people I created for and reported to.
However, the last year has taught me much about leadership, how my path has dictated and influenced my decision-making, and my general approach to leadership.
After a year of leadership — some good and some bad — I have stories of delight at a team member’s growth, and the subsequent success of a product, as well as stories of failure to support someone when they needed me most thoroughly and the latter prompted me to become a little reflective.
Looking back
I was fortunate enough to have some incredible leaders around me for my first three years in business – and I hope they know who they are – with whom I forged meaningful relationships and who instilled a diverse range of views and experiences that would be a catalyst for my journey. At this stage, I didn’t realise why they were good leaders (if I even considered it at all). They were just good friends who knew more about the world than me and supported me during the ups and downs of starting out in my career.
Then, I decided to go freelance for the next three years and lost it all.
Don’t get me wrong, freelancing, in its own way, gave me opportunities and experience that would never have been available to me as a permanent employee in a larger, more structured company. But what I gained in ego and compensation, I lost in purpose and meaningful (business) relationships.
My contribution as a contract designer was margin optimisation for my employers. Being super focussed on delivering high-value output without the need for support. For them, it was finding a tactical solution to a short-term need to meet the ever-changing demands of a business. This wasn’t to say they were dismissive or neglectful. Of the dozen-odd businesses I worked with over those three years, they all had an inclusive culture for contractors as they understood the mutual benefits on both sides. However, inclusion is not adoption, a day rate is not investment, and being ‘in-house’ is not belonging.
This meant I became very independent as a designer and set myself a high bar that I continuously pushed myself to hit. For me, it was about gaining experience at various agencies, startups and businesses and enjoying a comfortable and flexible lifestyle.
Although I loved being included in teams at other organisations, seeing how they work and the dynamics between departments, it was never about growing as a team or belonging to a culture. I accepted that and got on with it.
You can only make decisions based on the information you have available to you at the time, and in this case, digital was booming, I was young, driven and my craft was becoming increasingly valued by organisations big and small, so going it alone was the right decision.
Fast forward
Three years later I now have a responsibility to represent, guide and support other people in a way that often transcends their careers, impacting their personal lives too. And my realisation of the magnitude of this responsibility has slowly dawned on me over the last year.
I believe the attitude and focus I learnt from my freelancing days gave me a sound basis for the level and expectations we, as designers, should be striving for. The context I had been missing was how to lead people to reach those expectations and provide them with the stability and framework to grow.
I learned to recognise that my career is not all about me. Instead, ask how much value I can add to a business or product. By focussing on my contribution, looking after my interests and personal success, the answer will always be limited to the power of one. By focusing on the people around me and endeavouring to break down the barriers that prevent their continued success, the answer is infinite.
I don’t believe you can turn leadership on like a tap. It’s not a case of being good or bad, either/or. It’s understanding the principles of authentic leadership and devoting a lifetime to developing how best to balance your decisions and, more importantly, the actions you take to get the best out of those around you.