👨🏻🔧 Design Management - My Leadership Style and Supporting Data
🧠 On Design Management
At Pendo, we conducted Best Self Reviews, which are quarterly comprehensive reviews of managers, peers, and teammates. My team of reports averaged 4.0/5 or greater on our BSR scale through 15/Five.
I lead with kindness and empathy. I listen. I can have difficult discussions. I lift others to the best of my ability and work very hard to keep spirits high through good times and bad. I treat others as I want to be treated and respect bosses who do the same for me. I don't like the spotlight in times of success unless my teammates are sharing it. If I need to take a bullet, I will. When I need to get sh!t done, I do it. I go to bat for my reports and all of my teammates. All of my reports received promotions and bonuses while I managed them. Win together, learn together, keep each other inspired, and try to have some fun whenever and wherever possible, by any means necessary. It's how I work best. That's pretty much my style and it has evolved since I was a teacher, when I thought it needed to be more difficult or complex than it should be.
I conducted weekly 1:1s with my reports. The sessions could be any topic. Sometimes we had an official agenda and sometimes it was more like a therapy session. Topics could be about work and deadlines, new product ideas and enhancements, new Figma features we were learning, or about much heavier topics like health, war, or family matters. I loved this part of my job! If reports want or need to talk about heavy topics, I see it as a gift to listen, and if requested, an opportunity to help. I always make space to help others if they want it or need it and this is not reserved for my direct reports. It's anyone! Throughout 2021-2022, people needed a lot of listening and help time. Sometimes this would involve HR resources and strategies. Many times, it was about how to improve team processes and ceremonies. It was always about growth and getting better, whether in their career or in other areas they wanted to improve.
Management was a chapter highlight of my time at Pendo and I enjoyed it. It's also not a complicated, twisty-turny story with a climax or much drama. I stepped in to do it when our team needed it and stepped out of it when an exciting new role on the Platform team opened up. I love IC and I enjoy management. It lets me use a lot of different muscles. 2020-2021 was an interesting time to be a manager and I feel like it was a gift that helped me bring some of my untapped leadership superpowers to our team and learn a lot about myself as a person. I am very grateful for this experience.
📈 Get to the Data Already
Below are direct quotes from my own reviews and include quotes from the VP of Design, Director of Design, PMs, engineers, my direct reports, and my teammates.
💖 On Core Values
“Strong collaboration across the Design/Research team and willingness to make time for anyone at Pendo. As you pointed out in your self review, you always step in to help regardless of your own heavy workload.“
“Collaboration is another power that Daniel has which is also in line with our newest core value Win Together. I think Daniel sets the example here for rolling up his sleeves and helping the team rally to finish a deliverable.“
🧑🤝🧑 On Team Management
“You worked collaboratively with peers in Israel on (Product Designer’s Name) promotion, but of course you also invested time in mentoring, guiding, and focusing her attention on impactful work that substantiated the rationale for promo.“
“It's obvious that Daniel cares deeply about his team and the entire design team. He wants everyone to be happy and healthy. He encourages the team to take time off to recharge. This is apparent through the way he communicates with the group in slack or in the design huddle.“
“Daniel has a rare and special gift of truly seeing every person he comes into contact with. Regardless of whether the content of the conversation is uplifting or difficult, every person walks away feeling better because of his amazing superpower. As a manager, his employees benefit from this gift every day. They know that Daniel cares deeply about them, their careers, their happiness, their lives, and their families - about them as humans, not just as employees.“
“Daniel is super sensitive, he is a people's person and 1st and foremost cares about the people he manages, this is very apparent and is wonderful.“
“For handling my leaving with such understanding and respect. I appreciate everything you said and wrote about me and I can only hope my next manager will have your characteristics and skills “
💪 On Partnership & Collaboration
“Daniel's super power is facilitation. He's amazing at leading workshops as well as our weekly design huddles and critiques. I know we all learn from watching him lead workshops.“
“Through his masterful facilitation skills, he invites all team members, across all disciplines, into the design process so that they feel confident about their ability to contribute. I have witnessed this specific attribute in Daniel on multiple occasions, but most recently it was demonstrated via the Onboarding Design Sprint. We were able to identify new opportunities for innovation because of the diverse perspectives contributing to the process, which was purely the result of Daniel's invitational and encouraging style.“
“I am extraordinarily grateful for your leadership, compassion, and positive energy, Daniel! It's truly a privilege to be your colleague.“
🌏 From Colleagues Around the World
“From my perspective, things are working really well! Daniel's directs love him and appreciate him and here we are working together to find their blindspots, and where we could help them improve.“
“Daniel is an innovative and strategic thinker - and he encourages others to also think bigger through his infectious energy and enthusiasm.“
“Your energy lights up the room. The team appreciates all of the work that you do.“
“Thanks for facilitating a great onboarding workshop! Sad I had to miss some sessions, but you are THE greatest workshop facilitator of all time.“
“…for always being there to chat and provide endless sources of inspiration.“
“Thanks for sharing your work with us in crit. Way to take something potentially mundane and make it exciting and delightful!“
🚪 Former Pendozers
🙋♂️ But wait! There's more!
As a Product Design Manager and Lead Designer, my role involved:
- Close collaboration and communication with Design Executives and other Leads regarding project vision, team allocation, team issues, and estimates
- Planning, organization, and emceeing weekly design team meetings, huddles, and critiques with other Leads (We were awesome, BTW)
- Conducting weekly 1:1s with direct reports and providing guidance for maintaining quality work and finding a healthy work/life balance in times of uncertainty and high stress. (Our VP was our champion for mental wellness.)
- Planning, organizing, and facilitating Design Thinking workshops with leadership, design teammates, PMs, engineering teammates, and customers
- Delivering low and high fidelity designs via Figma prototypes
- Conducting most user research activity in the organization including user interviews, testing, and presentation of findings to stakeholders prior to establishing a User Research team