Executive Design Leader. Equal Parts Punk + Pinstripe.
Leadership is a choice, not a position. The world needs great leaders no matter what your title is, simply lead from wherever you are.
Paul Stonick, Executive Design Leader
Great leaders have a sphere of influence, create impact and continuously inspire.
Leadership starts with core values -- the things that you believe are important in the way you live and work. They are determined by your experiences and what you view as the ideal standards of behavior. I have been leading teams for over 17+ years, this is still where it starts for me.
Trust
Without it, you have nothing else, full stop.
Integrity
Know and do what's right.
Build Relationships
Recognize the importance and humanity of others.
Respect
Treat others the way you want to be treated.
Positivity
Bring energy and enthusiasm every single day.
Loyalty
Show you will run through a brick wall for someone.
Leadership Principles
People today expect a different kind of leader. I have been called "unconventional" several times in my career and I love that because I see things differently. The below principles characterize my leadership style. It's allowed me to unleash the kind of human magic, empathy, energy, momentum and connection that have been consistent themes in my career.
Personal Brand
As leaders, your brand is the single most important thing you need to be successful. You already have a brand whether you know it or not. And if you aren’t actively managing it, well...your brand is most likely working against you instead of for you.
Simply put, your personal brand is your reputation and is a representation of how you conduct yourself personally and professionally, and ultimately, how you interact and support others. What are you famous for, good or bad?
The core elements or your brand include: who you are (brand story), what you stand for (brand values), what makes you different from everyone else (brand differentiators). This is what my personal brand looks like:
As leaders, your brand is the single most important thing you need to be successful. You already have a brand whether you know it or not. And if you aren’t actively managing it, well...your brand is most likely working against you instead of for you.
Simply put, your personal brand is your reputation and is a representation of how you conduct yourself personally and professionally, and ultimately, how you interact and support others. What are you famous for, good or bad?
The core elements or your brand include: who you are (brand story), what you stand for (brand values), what makes you different from everyone else (brand differentiators). This is what my personal brand looks like:
My Core Elements
Team Leadership
How large are the teams you've led?
I have led teams as small as 5 to as large as 50+ people including nearshore, offshore, onsite and fully remote environments. In all the teams that I have led, I can tell you something personal about each person because it's not resources, it's people.
Have you scaled teams?
Yes, I have had multiple roles where I have had to start teams from scratch, combine through merger, hire in or had to rebuild and then scale the team to meet business demand. I am skilled in organizational effectiveness, deploying the right tools, processes, methodologies and culture that is needed to scale successfully.
How do you scale?
In order to scale you need to establish a core framework, know your company’s mission, primary goals and optimize to help your team work towards them. If your team has 'skin in the game', is aligned and can rally behind you, scaling becomes a reality.
1. Socialize Design Principles
Principles should shape a collective voice across design and the organization, the following have been core to team leadership and scaling design
- Don’t make me think
- Be inclusive, design for all
- Design thinking
- Business value of design
2. Standardize the Tool Stack & Design System
Maintain consistency through reusable component based architecture
3. Be Inclusive & Collaborate
Make design an interdependent team sport to involve more people in the process, and make design less of a black box. Doing so shows others the true, deep value of design.
4. Team Structure
How can design teams evolve their structure over time to support more projects? Centralized, distributed, hybrid—what’s the best design team structure? There’s no answer because it depends on the stage of the company’s growth and goals.
5. Culture
Socialize the business value of design at all levels to create a design-first culture.
What motivates you and get you up in the morning?
1. Solving a problem that creates an eyes light up or magic moment, that’s when you know you have pushed it past BAU (business as usual) into something more meaningful that moves the needle.
2. Empowering my team to grow, develop and succeed through sharp goals and crisp career paths. That’s where some of my best leadership work sits and won’t be seen in a portfolio.