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The Branching Career Path
Too many great designers and developers become mediocre (if not terrible) managers as there’s no other visible path forward. It’s an inexcusable failure of our industry and those of us charged with building teams.
We, as leaders must ensure that great people can continue to build their skills and receive the recognition and compensation they deserve, whether they wish to focus on their craft or on building teams. Here’s how I do it.
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Start With the Craft
Everyone starts on the same path, learning about our industry and the tools available and applying them with more and more skill over time. It requires tremendous effort to be good at this job, much less amazing at it. And while some people will quickly give out inflated titles, once you’ve worked with and been mentored by a great Senior Designer, you can spot what true craft leadership means. If your Senior Designer isn’t an active mentor, they aren’t truly senior — see “What it Means to be Senior” for more detail.
Leadership Paths
It is critical to recognize that leaders don’t always want to manage other humans. In fact, in many cases, they shouldn’t manage people. People leadership is hard and requires a very different set of skills, which must be learned over time, taking precedence over design skills. Craft leadership…