Four Archetypes of the Complete Design Leader
Peter Merholz
Consultant and Author, Adaptive Path
As designers grow in their careers, they find that the skills and practices that helped them succeed as a practitioner are not what enable them as a leader and manager. In this talk, I share the four archetypes of the design leader: Coach (managing down), Diplomat (managing across), Champion (managing up), and Architect (managing at scale), and the activities they must embrace to thrive in this role.
Peter Merholz has been active in digital design and product for 25 years, most notably in building premier user experience consultancy, Adaptive Path, and now a design executive and product leader. He co-wrote Org Design for Design Orgs (O’Reilly), the first book focused on the organizational, managerial, and operational challenges of building in-house design teams.
