People. Projects. Inclusion.
People.
Projects.
Inclusion.
Know the people who report up to you. Understand the best parts of their day and when they are at their best. How do they prefer to communicate? What are the things that add stress or friction to their work day? Understand your people. When you do this simple thing—understand—your team provides great results, and they appreciate you a whole lot more!
Career Conversations are important. Checking in often with your designers and their career goals is important. Interests change, goals change. Craft plans and stretch projects that help your designers remain challenged and grow. Have candid conversations and be quick to identify adjustments you see that they should try, early on. People want to do their best work, they sometimes just need to know what that is.
Virtual collaboration is more important than ever. Provide opportunities to have fun! The more comfortable people are with each other, the more likely they are in a position to share. Finding that trust and authenticity with a design team is important during design reviews, team syncs and when projects and teams overlap on deliverables.
Creative Direction is built on trust. I establish that trust as soon as possible so my team knows they are in a safe space to share without having to feel vulnerable. Having a good cadence of design playbacks and reviews are important. My approach is one of optimism, but realistic that sometimes we pivot and that a new approach is sometimes just part of the process.
I am dedicated to building a more inclusive design industry and I strive to work continuously hard on becoming a better ally by fostering an inclusive workplace environment, embracing race and ethnicity with empathy, and actively educating myself to better understand people who have different backgrounds from my own. I will not tolerate any form of discrimination or harassment. I always want to optimize people in a positive, supportive manner. I ensure that as a leader, I am cognizant of bias, and that I am culturally intelligent, self-aware, authentic, humble, and that I build a collaborative team, built on trust where we continue to have honest conversations. And conversations that provide us with insight on how we can improve to continually foster an inclusive work environment.
