When I tell people I help design executives build their leadership skills, they’re often curious about just what that means. After all, surely these skills are necessary to get the job in the first place, right?
Well, you might be surprised.
Digital product design itself has been rapidly and continually evolving over the last 30 years, and each leader’s journey to the executive suite has had its own unique obstacles to overcome within that ever-shifting landscape. Design as a function and design leadership as a role have looked vastly different at different points along that timeline, and each leader’s experiences and perspective are as individual as their fingerprints.
Which means they’re often overprepared for some circumstances, underprepared for others, and without the support to find their way in a role where they have no real peers facing similar challenges and no real precedents to follow.
That’s where I come in. I help my clients to:
- stay connected to what motivates and engages them creatively in their work as leaders
- find a path through ambiguity and uncertainty that’s true to their own larger intentions
- engage others in meaningful and authentic ways that create alignment
- stay in control when difficult stakeholders or toxic behavior threaten to knock them off balance
- wield their power effectively to drive organizational outcomes beyond design
- define actionable visions for their teams and themselves as leaders
- avoid being blindsided by the unintended consequences of their own actions
But skills development is more than firefighting. It’s about creating the habits, practices, and mindsets that you can carry with you beyond our work together to the next challenge, and the next.
The path to executive design leadership often leaves people feeling lost and alone, even when they are more successful than ever. But you don’t have to be alone. I’ve been helping design leaders level up for more than 20 years, as a consultant, advisor, and coach.
You can find out more about my private leadership coaching practice and read client testimonials. The first step on your journey is my free 1-hour introductory session, which you can book right now.
Jesse James Garrett 