Design firms are often full to the brim with creative talent and motivated people. These are rarely the reasons that a design firm declines or fails. Instead, they tend to plateau due to a deficiency in leadership. If this describes you, don’t let it get you down! Your leadership development may be lacking, but it’s not set in stone. With the right work, anyone can improve the gaps in their leadership capacity! And by working on your ability to steer the ship, you can transform yourself from a designer to a true CEO, and be confident and accurate in the way that you direct the firm.
The Shift from Designer to Leader
In the early days of a design business, the leader is more of a principal designer than a CEO. They are focused on the daily design work, connecting with clients, and in many cases doing administrative tasks like bookkeeping. It can be difficult to feel like a visionary leader when you’re exhausted by tasks that take away from your creative time!
In the middle stage, the leader may be juggling higher-level operations and projects, while being hesitant to let go of control or unwilling to spare the resources on hiring or training. It can feel like any downtime could be the end of the business, so they work on as much as they can and run themselves ragged while doing it.
In the growth stage, leaders need to be visionary, inspiring, and empowering, rather than controlling every little detail. By this time, a competent leader will have hired employees who understand and can execute their vision. If you’re in this stage, you should feel a weight off your shoulders, as you have a team you can trust and count on.
Unfortunately, many design leaders do get stuck on their way to the growth stage. It can be difficult to let go of control and step into your role as a leader, but it’s what holds back great businesses from thriving.
Why Leadership Development Matters
Scale Beyond Yourself
If every decision, no matter how small, has to go through you, then you are likely a bottleneck to productivity. Leadership development means delegating tasks and trusting the employees that you’ve hired. Empower them to make certain decisions without your approval. This will leave you more time to focus on the big picture, and for the business to scale without you stopping the flow.
Build a Strong Team Culture
Your leadership style inevitably sets the tone for your team’s culture. So lead by example! You set the standards for communication, collaboration, and accountability. This also means that if you slack off in any of these areas, your team might do the same. By setting a good culture, you will also attract the kind of top talent that fits with your ideal culture, and repel the kind of employee that would not be a good fit.
Navigate Increased Complexity
As your business grows, problems and opportunities will become more complex. Team conflicts and financial decisions will have more moving parts and more stakes. It will become more and more important to consult the diverse minds of your team. Seek out other perspectives and talented experts for areas in which you might be weak. Strong leadership skills and a strong team of skilled people will allow you to make strategic decisions rather than reacting emotionally in the moment.
Pass on the Business
We have worked with many designers who have decided to step down from their role as a leader and pass on the business to a trusted employee or outside buyer. But for the business to continue successfully, you can’t have had the whole firm in a tight grip. By delegating tasks and responsibilities, documenting your standards, and practicing letting go of control, you’ll find succession planning to be an easier and far less emotionally taxing experience.
Leadership Skills Every Design CEO Needs
- Sharing the Vision: Design leaders should have a clear vision for the direction and growth of the company, and be able to articulate this in a way that employees and stakeholders can understand and assist with.
- Communication: Whether it’s with vendors, clients, or your team, a good leader can communicate clearly and consistently, and in a way that doesn’t cause confusion.
- Decision-Making: Your creativity is one of your strongest traits as a designer, but it should be balanced with an understanding and respect for data. Use data alongside creative thinking to make smart decisions.
- Emotional Intelligence: A leader should not lash out and make rash decisions in the moment. Navigate client and team conflicts with grace and a solution-based outlook.
- Delegation and Empowerment: Hire employees you can trust, and give them the resources and responsibility they need to become self-sufficient. Delegate away tasks that don’t inspire you or that you aren’t good at. Practice letting go of control, and don’t be a micromanager.
- Financial Expertise: A good designer knows their numbers, and a good leader is competent and confident when it comes to budgeting and finances. A bookkeeper or accountant can help you, but it’s useful to be fluent in financial terminology.
Common Leadership Challenges
As mentioned before, one of the biggest challenges that leaders grapple with is letting go of control. After all, your business is a very personal creation, and you may see it as “yours”. But even though it might be your name on the sign, the firm should be a product of everyone who works there. Hire in such a way that you can pass on the tasks you don’t want to be doing, and learn to let go of the little details in favor of the big picture.
Speaking of your team, it can be difficult to work with a team, even if they’re fantastic. With a multi-generational team with different values and work expectations, you may need to learn to be open-minded about what incentives and benefits are actually valued, including work-from-home options, flexible time off, and expectations around communication.
It can also feel like your leadership duties take away from design, which is the very reason you started the business in the first place! This can be a common problem as designers transition to CEOs or visionary business leaders. You can work into your process a way for you to have a small say in design projects, or maybe you only work on certain high-importance projects. Find a balance that lets you creatively engage how you like while still showing that you’re in charge of the general direction of the business.
How to Develop Leadership Skills
- Coaching and Mentorship: Sometimes you’re simply too close to your own business. That is when external guidance can come in handy. A business coaching service like Pearl Collective can guide you through your growth from designer to CEO, and help you fill in any gaps in your experience or knowledge.
- Workshops: Learning is one thing, but doing is another. Interactive workshops can allow you to learn new skills around communication, finance, or team-building, then give you a safe place to practice with your peers.
- Peer Groups: Interior design doesn’t have to be competitive. We’ve written extensively about how you can make the most of a community with other design leaders! Use a peer group or mastermind group to get new perspectives on issues that everyone in your shoes has faced.
- Self-Development: If constant socialization isn’t your cup of tea, then there are plenty of resources to help hone your mindset and inspire you. Books, podcasts, and simple exercises can help you keep your mind sharp. Our very own Gail Doby is famously a voracious reader!
- Practice in Small Steps: You’ll struggle to develop if you never practice what you’ve learned. Start by identifying three to five tasks that you could delegate. Then assign some of those simple tasks to your employees. You don’t have to delegate anything big, but by starting small, you’ll train yourself to delegate increasingly large tasks.
The ROI of Leadership Development
Leadership development will pay dividends, literally. You’ll see increased profits through you and your employees working more efficiently on tasks that better suit you. You, as the owner, will experience less burnout because you’ll feel less scattered. Your team, knowing that you trust them, will be more loyal and motivated. Likely, the client experience will be better because your process will be more streamlined. As the business continues to grow and evolve, your leadership development will result in long-term stability and smoother succession planning.
Leadership isn’t optional if you want to grow and scale your business. It’s a strong foundation for your future. What leadership skills do you think you need to work on first? Identify a few areas of improvement that you know you need to hone, and work on those first. And if you’re still having trouble, let’s chat and find out how we can work together.