A letter on leadership
When I started my career in design, I found a lot of ambiguity where I had hoped to find clear expectations: with co-workers, with managers, and with processes. I strive to create transparency in the expectations I have for my team, and for myself. I want teams I lead to feel empowered and as part of a community that trusts and supports them.
What I value
Building communities
I enable communities to develop and flourish. As designers, we thrive on collaboration and feedback. Finding people from which you get this support and camaraderie can mean the world of difference in your development as a designer. Nurturing these relationships multiplies tenfold in the long run when building your career, network, and even friendships. I aim to create the space, find opportunities and sponsorship, and help others realize their true potential within these communities.
The last five years I have devoted myself to building a community for women and gender minorities in Seattle that facilitates opportunities for them to be represented as experts in their field. Building this network, sponsorships with companies, having visibility into open roles and people you wouldn’t otherwise have access to makes a long term impact on the entire UX community and landscape of design.
Mentorship
Mentorship is a key part of networking, and creating reliable, trusting relationships throughout your career. Being a mentor means you can sharpen your leadership and coaching skills. I use it as an opportunity to reflect on what I know and have learned over my career, and translate that to actionable resources for those I mentor. As a mentee, I know there is always more to learn, and ways to grow from different experiences and perspectives far from my own.
I published a Mentorship Framework for creating both mentor and mentee relationships as a tool for my team to practice this incredibly important aspect of career building and personal growth.
Diversity
Regardless of title or level, I will always focus strongly on creating a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace. The most impactful outcomes when solving design problems comes from having diversity of perspectives and experiences. This focus is a benefit to not just my direct team, but the future of the UX industry and design communities. UX is the perfect role for non-traditional backgrounds and diversity in everything—career, race, age, gender, ethnicity—everything. It is my guiding principle to empower people who have been historically underrepresented in design and tech to create a thriving industry that is open to everyone.
Dropping egos
The foundation of UX design is having humility about what you don’t know, remaining open to new ideas and people, and iterating after failure. I believe in removing barriers to knowledge, creating teams that collaborate openly, and share their work and ideas. I build teams that have the humble perspective of knowing that you will always be learning, and there is no fear of asking for help. Regardless of your role or level, someone will always know something different or better than you. Embrace this and grow from it!
Balance in work and life
Your job is not everything, and work is not your life. Health and family is more important than anything else, and I prioritize creating a balance between “work life” and “real life”. Take your vacations, use sick days for physical and mental health, and take time to just be a human.
What you can expect from me
I will be honest with you, and have open, transparent conversations with the goal of helping us both work more effectively. I listen to my team, take in information, and then act.
I remove roadblocks so you are not bogged down with outside inefficiencies and can truly focus on your job. This might mean creating a framework to help clear your path, managing stakeholder expectations, or creating priorities for your work across teams.
No surprises! I will give you regular and timely feedback—both on your design concepts and deliverables, and as a partner on your professional development.
I’ll ask you for your feedback on being the manager you need—then I’ll act on it and be transparent about my growth.
I will empower you to own the work you’re doing and be a design leader. I’ll always give you recognition for your work, and make sure others who wouldn’t have that visibility get to see your impact.
Together we’ll develop a career plan and goals to help make that plan a reality. We’ll regularly check in your goals, and I will help keep you accountable and find you opportunities to flourish.
I will give you the support you need in your day-to-day job and professional development when you need it. I’ll help you advocate for the decisions you’ve made, and when you don’t need me, I’ll step back and let you lead.
What I expect from my team
Motivated people who think big and bring solutions that are innovative and explore the “what ifs”, even if that means trying and failing along the way. You are curious, ask questions, and push your cross-functional partners to think bigger picture, longer vision, and more impact.
Autonomy, consistency, and accountability for the work you are doing.
In the journey of problem-solving and design thinking, you ask questions and seek help when you need it.
You thrive on collaboration, and look for opportunities to learn. You build relationships with other designers and cross-functional teams to seek out new ideas and perspectives.
Feedback is part of your natural rhythm. You seek out feedback from design leaders, your peers, and cross-functional partners knowing it is an opportunity for growth and insights outside of your comfort zone.
Professional goals that elevate you beyond the day-to-day, and that you hold yourself accountable to keeping them. You are thinking about the future, and always considering what the next steps are and how to get there.
Where this letter came from
I was inspired to challenge myself to write this letter by following the example of Doon Malekzadeh, Giti Shorish, and my peers at Smartsheet. I didn’t make up this concept, but it’s a great practice for putting your values and expectations to paper. I share this letter with my team and peers to create transparency. I recommend you give it a shot, too!