Reflecting on what got me into a design leadership position, I identified a few different traits:
- I hold myself to a very high standard, mostly to my benefit but without a few downsides
- Learning is a big deal. I know how to teach myself new things and do so on a regular basis
- Because I’m constantly exposing myself to new things, I have a broad knowledge of what’s going on in the design world. Reading books. Online learning. Following designers on Twitter. Being part of Slack communities. All of these help inform me on what is possible.
- I regularly set big goals, break them down to smaller goals, and systematically achieve them
- Being naturally extroverted, I haven’t had an issue speaking to groups, pitching ideas, or facilitating group activities.
What’s Good for The Goose…
As a design leader, when I engage with designers that are very driven, management is pretty straightforward. They are aspirational, are good at thinking big and coming up with ideas, and are always looking to the next thing. For these individuals, I ensure I provide clear expectations, connect them with projects and opportunities to grow their experience and skills, act as a support system for them if they get over their head, and generally stay out of their way while they do great work.
But what do you do when you’re managing a designer that’s doesn’t have any big aspirations? Ever ask someone what their goals are and where they’d like to be and just get crickets? Or worse, have someone say “I don’t have any goals” When going through this the first few times, I really wasn’t sure what to do.
The phase that immediately comes to mind is “What’s good for the goose is good for the gander” …If these specific traits got me where I am, surely I needed to also try and coach these into my team of designers, right? Putting this into practice, it turns out that this (seemingly intuitive) stance of one-size-fits-all leveling pathway for design talent just doesn’t work.
In digging deeper, I had folks on the team that were perfectly happy with their status as a mid-level designer. They didn’t want to be a senior. They didn’t want to learn more about management. They didn’t care much to learn new things, unless the whole team really needed to. What looked like a problem to me, really wasn’t a problem at all.
OK – So What DID Work?
After a few months of friction, I found a few tactics that not only resolved the tension, but helped the designers grow in skills and happiness.
Find What Makes Them Excited
Before doing any more pushing, the first thing I’d recommend is digging in to find the root of what makes an individual you manage happy. I use Stay interviews, Self Determination Theory flavored one-on-ones, and informal pulse questions during one-on-ones to fill my own knowledge gaps when someone isn’t proactively sharing this kind of info.
If they like what they’re doing already, maybe they can get excited about getting faster or more efficient. Maybe there are different tools that they can use!
If a designer gets excited about collaborative processes, you can assign projects needing more research and discovery where they can be more social and interactive.
New Horizons
Another reason some designers may come across as having low ambition is that they aren’t fully aware of the possibilities! Building a culture of everyone sharing things with the rest of the team on a regular basis – an interesting read, a new tool that’s handy – can spark them to life.
One individual completely changed once I invited them to sit in on a Design System governance team meeting. She got involved that day, started reading everything Dan Mall ever wrote, and became a champion for an area that didn’t have much budget or support.
Individual Ownership
Ultimately, every designer sets their own course in the world. As a leader, you should strive to put processes in place to expose folks regularly to opportunity and inspiration. Since each individual is responsible for owning their ambition, all a leader can do is ensure that team members are aligned where they are providing the most value for the organization. Usually this is ends up being where they are most efficient, and often the happiest.
My big takeaway is to not let my expectations or view of future potential for someone get in the way of helping them grow at their own pace.