Thought Partnership
Empowering Design Leaders to reach their full potential
Navigating design and leadership is challenging for most of us. And it is lonely. Through 1-on-1 conversations, I offer Thought Partnership sessions as a compass to guide and support Design Leaders to tackle their most demanding obstacles.
Setup
It resembles coaching, but it is closer to consulting. I bring opinions and experience, not only questions. I have led design at companies like Kry, Viaplay and Mentimeter, so I have made most of these calls myself. And I am not inside your organisation, so you can say what you actually think. We meet about once a month for an hour, and you bring whatever is most pressing. It usually falls into one of three areas:
Design leadership
As the role grows the job changes. You are expected to think like an executive while often still being treated as the specialist, and to balance managing up, across and down. I help with everything from honing your personal leadership style to leading a team of designers who each need different things from you.
Organisational design
Every organisation is different, but every design team needs to be deliberately designed. That covers career paths for designers, the shape of the design function, and how it works with product and engineering. I help you find the setup that fits your organisation, and navigate the politics of getting there.
Elevating your impact
Design work is hard to see from outside, which is why it gets mistaken for slowness. AI is sharpening the question of what design actually contributes. I help you scale quality, improve your process, and make your team's impact visible in terms the organisation already cares about.
From a client
“Above all, it has given me space to talk openly about the challenges I face in my role - space I don’t have inside my own organisation today. Our conversations are often thought-provoking. I reflect on them for days afterwards, which to me is a clear sign of how much they matter.”
My approach
Customised guidance
There is no standard playbook for your situation. We start from your organisation, your team and your own ambitions, and work from there.
Deep industry experience
I have led design teams since 2012, at tech companies across many industries. Most of the calls you bring, I have had to make myself.
Collaborative approach
Thought Partnership isn't just a service; it's a collaborative journey. We work hand-in-hand to co-create solutions, share insights, and provide ongoing support.
From a client
“Theory is interesting, but it’s in the implementation that my role is really tested - and that’s exactly where our conversations give the most value.”
If you are the most senior design person in the room, you should still have someone to think with.
A few questions below will show whether this fits, and what to bring to our first conversation.
Is this for you?
Take a quick quiz to see if anything sounds familiar.