my Leadership principles
Success is rooted in relationships.
Teams thrive when they’re motivated & celebrated.
The only thing considered a failure is an unwillingness to recognize what has been learned.
What others say about my leadership →
Org Design
Hiring & onboarding
Adding new team members is much the same as experience design... know your audience, know your product, and know your problem.
Hiring success is dependent on clear communication with the recruiting team and candidates.
Choosing the right person is dependent on creating opportunities for a diverse range of roles to engage with candidates throughout the interview process.
The new employee's success is dependent on how the stage is set for their debut. Onboarding starts with documented expectations that create a healthy transition for both the new team member as well as the existing team.
Career pathing
One of my greatest passions is people. I care about them feeling successful. Defining success can seem highly individual however, a framework helps create a structure that gives managers a greater ability to guide individuals and helps foster healthy conversations around constructive feedback. It also empowers each team member with a clear understanding of their options as they forge forward on their professional growth journey.
Goal setting
When a team has a shared goal(s) they can begin to feel unified. Including the team in the process of setting the goal(s) can boost motivation and performance by empowering them to expose their capabilities to each other and the company. This engagement often leads to greater odds of achieving the goals and leads to teams having a greater understanding of their impact on the business and vice versa.
Team structure
How many people do you need, doing which jobs, to get the work done, by the time it needs to be done, for the right people, and for the right reasons? Ensuring you have the best group of individuals to meet the ever-shifting needs of the business takes regular evaluation. By applying design thinking processes I create maps against strategies to find intersections that will provide strength to my team and increase our chance at success.
Design culture
Team collaboration
If a design team doesn't feel connected to each other then it doesn't matter if they feel connected to the product – they won't stick around. Humans are drawn to community and a strong community can be fruitful when each member feels valued. Healthy collaboration fosters a healthy community. I make space for planned and organic collaboration through design crits, design challenges, workshops, guest speakers, and ultimately staying open to the suggestions of the team for how and what they need to effectively work together.
Stakeholder /
Design Process
Communication and empathy are paramount to the success of design. That means to create a thriving design culture we rely on a company-wide understanding of the value of design. By exposing the design process, bringing stakeholders at all levels into the mix early, setting clear expectations, creating an open dialogue where feedback is constructive, and ultimately gaining alignment – together we foster a deeper understanding of our customers. I run a series of reoccurring opportunities to showcase the design team's work in a way that helps keep internal comms channels open.
Design Ops
My view is that without design ops a design team would drown. From regularly evaluating tools, to managing the consistency of output and everything in between, design ops is the grease that keeps things running smoothly. I ensure there's intention around how the team works together, how the work actually gets done, and how their impact is understood by themselves, the company, and the greater design community. It's critical that this is not hidden work but instead, a well-understood focus to ensure the design can thrive.
Thought leadership
What good is learning if you're not sharing it? I enjoy writing and speaking about my professional experiences beyond my current company's internal opportunities. Please reach out if you'd like me to contribute to your next event or publication.
