People Leadership
As a designer, I work closely with my teams to create meaningful composition - not just decorated ones, to convey the brand’s soul and identity, as well as reach relevant KPIs. Ideating and translating briefs to concepts and visuals, while maintaining consistency for a singular brand, without being repetitive or boring - is a challenge I enjoy.
As a lead, I prioritise tasks for the team and guide each individual designer in their assigned project with their skill set and communication types. Working as a liaison between many departments, agencies, and freelancers, overseeing all relevant creative productions, whether they are created in-house or by a third party.
approach
I can not do what I do alone, my successes are my team’s successes, because without them I am an orchestrator without an orchestra.
To me - leading a team is a combination of organisation and inspiration. I do not look at myself as a “manager” as I strive to provide my teams more than an operational oversight, my goal is to both enrich their knowledge, grow them in their own careers, as well as create a functioning unit that drives projects forward and delivers.
I will not always be the expert in the same fields my directs are; but have enough experience to be able to oversee and support them, provide creative direction and feedback to elevate both visuals and individuals.
team culture
The team is everything; a happy team is communicative, supportive, operating and creative. Having worked in different work environments - you learn that is what makes the difference - the environment.
I try to create a communicative and inclusive space for the team, to build a relationship where they always feel comfortable to bring up any topics, no matter how light or difficult.
I learn my team as different individuals, with various skill sets and communication types, because there is no one size fits all when it comes to people, especially not creative ones. This was extremely beneficial in progressing my leadership skills, to be able to support my team where they needed to, and show them trust where I knew they could run without me.
Career Development
Inspiring the team and helping them grow in their individual careers is something I thoroughly enjoy..
I believe a big part of what makes me a lead is purely experiencing and navigating various situations and projects over the years; being able to bring that knowledge and explain the “why” “what” and “how” to solve / progress - is extremely supportive.
In addition, I work closely with the team to identify efficiencies and strengths, so that together with the designer - we make a plan on where we want to go and how we want to get there. What can I do to support the growth - in terms of project assignments, level of involvement, training etc.
Giving autonomy to my team to be able to learn by doing is an important part. When needed, I have worked through and implemented a performance improvement plan; to be able to track and assess the development of a team member and ensure their growth and progress.
Leader’s Leaderships
Knowing to “manage upwards” is a skill I had to learn, it was not as easy as supporting and teaching others who have more room to grow and from whom I had more experience.
I learnt that leading leaders is also a big part of the role, to both support my own growth and needs, but also the overall projects we were working on together - expressing disagreements - is never a matter to leave behind due to hierarchical structures.
We all learn and grow, no matter what position and how high up we are, I try to encourage my team to give me open and honest feedback, as I hope my lead will encourage me to do the same for them.