Design Leadership and Development with Mid-Level Leaders

Abstract

Design Leadership provides the needed skill set to thrive in this quickly changing world. The core competencies of a Design Leader enable strategy to become tangible, and also offer a way to look to the future and quickly iterate possible solutions of what could be. Design Leaders also have the ability to create shared understanding with all people in an organization. By creating this shared understanding -- where staff understand the goals and values of the company, and the company understands the individual goals and values of their staff, the Design Leader can help to align these values, and integrate possibly opposing ideas. By enabling people to practice their individual values at work, this can help to cultivate a positive work life. This design research addresses the question: How might mid-level leaders leverage the core competencies of a Design Leader in order to initiate a personal leadership change?