Leadership
I have been leading and empowering teams since 2008, ranging from on-site and remote to hybrid work environments distributed across the globe. My approach is centered on building trust and resilience, ensuring that team members has the opportunity to thrive and drive collective success.
Leadership Philosophy
Design leadership is about more than just managing design teams — it’s about driving the vision, translating UX into business value, communicating ideas and insights, upwards and downwards stakeholder management and building an environment where people are empowered, have autonomy and accountability. Leaders create the conditions needed for people to shine bright – whether we lead from the front, aside or from the back.
Early in my leadership career I got exposed to the PACE framework, based upon 4 principles: People driven, Agile, Collaborative and Entrepreneurial. These principles have been a big influence on how I operate today. They give me guidance and help me to lead by example – demonstrating the behaviours, attitudes, and ethics I expect from others through my own actions.
People Driven
- Demonstrate trust, respect and transparency.
- Always encourage and help people to develop and learn.
- Express deep passion and energise people & teams.
Agile
- Cultivate speed and flexibility
- Make fact-based decisions. Slow down to speed up if needed
- Execute and follow through with results
Collaborative
- Impact own areas - and beyond
- Obtain deep domain expertise and broadcast it freely
- Embrace differences, spark debate and unite teams
Entrepreneurial
- Put the user in the centre of absolutely everything
- Spot and chase new opportunities
- Foster rapid innovation: Try fail, modify and scale
Creating the right environment
How do we shape the conditions for people to shine bright? How do we create an environment where each individual gets the best out of themselves, and collectively contribute to their team’s success? I believe that creating an inclusive and safe environment is essential for cultivating high-performing teams.
Inclusive environments, where everyone feels valued and can share ideas without fear of judgement, accelerate creativity, collaboration, and innovation. These environments empower individuals to take risks and learn from mistakes, take ownership and improving self-management skills.
It is my goal to establish, nurture and promote a culture of open dialogue, constructive feedback loop and candor. Such a culture strengthens team dynamics and optimises collaboration. Plus: collected feedback is a great starting point for continuous learning.
By actively supporting the career development of individual team members , they become better equipped to their full potential as well. I focus on setting clear personal and professional goals that align with the priorities of the team and the vision of the organisation. This ensures that growth and career development become part of the daily routine and does not get deprioritised.
