Leadership

Leadership Style

Through building trust I seek to effectively leverage Situational Leadership principles by adjusting my leadership style to suit the particular situation at hand.

This allows me to lead efficiently while simultaneously empowering those with whom I work to be confident in their endeavors. Empowerment is a critical element for team success.

A simple focus

I strive to achieve and maintain a balanced leadership model incorporating both results‑focused and people‑focused approaches. Leveraging people, vision and process has proven effective for me in achieving this balance.

Three blue circles with the words - people, vision and process - in white contained within each circle
The three elements that help support a balanced leadership model.

A Focus on People

People are the foundational core of every initiative. Representing the “who” aspect of the delivery cycle they are the source of the inspiration, the effort and ultimately the success of any project. As a leader I seek to both inspire and motivate people to create their best work. I do so in service of the simple objective to make the people around me better. Mentoring and empowering individuals is as important as building successful products. I remain ever mindful that the people I am entrusted to lead are people who work with me, not for me!

A Focus on Vision

Listening, understanding, and accurately framing the problem are key to crafting and establishing a compelling vision. Strategically it should balance users' needs, the business requirements and the technical capabilities. Tactically, it spells out what to build, when to build it.

A Focus on Process

Process is a critical component of the solution being built. It is essentially the “how” aspect of the delivery cycle. Transparency plays a large role in facilitating clearer communication allowing for all participants to focus on distilling larger concepts into manageable, scalable deliverables. With a proven process comes structure which allows the team to develop a better operating cadence, track progress and deliver quality solutions more efficiently.

Time is an Important Resource

Leaders are constantly challenged by where and how to spend their time. In a given day there can be a multitude of areas in which one could choose to spend it.

A constant evaluation process is required to ensure that the right amount of attention is being spent in the right area at the right time. The chart below represents how I typically divide my time as a design leader.

A pie graph depicting the five areas where I divide my time as a UX leader - creating great work, strategy, process, mentoring, building culture
How I typically divide my time as a design leader.

Attributes Of A Solid Leadership Foundation

It has been stated that great leadership is about serving others. I remain ever vigilant in aspiring to practice and employ principles of “servant leadership”.

  • I seek to connect well with people
  • I focus on involving others and removing fear to allow people the safety to exercise their creativity
  • I desire to show compassion
  • I strive to be open and transparent
  • I aim to understand human motivation and what inspires people to perform

As a leader I find it very rewarding, and take great pride in, helping others achieve their professional goals and career objectives.