The future of leadership and my place in it

Leadership case study

ADAD9312 Leadership in the Cultural and Creative Industries

Assessment Task 1

Arunima Valluvakandy Jayadevan | z5181780

Introduction

This report The idea of leadership has evolved significantly over time. It is intriguing how the
notion of a leader can mean different in different contexts. Nature forged the first leaders
among the prehistoric men based predominantly on their physicality, survival skills and their
ability to protect the weaker beings. This natural leader can be widely different from someone
who would innately emerge a leader in another context like the arts and culture. This is
evidently because the different contexts demand a widely varying set of skills and
characteristics. However, do these leaders have anything in common? Kruse(2013) defines
leadership as a process of social influence, which maximizes the effort of others, towards the
achievement of a goal. This idea of leadership is consistent across the contexts in the sense
that it is inclusive of the other people or the followers and defines not just a personal trait or
characteristics but something bigger than the individuals themselves. It is interesting to
reevaluate the idea of leadership and how the advent of technology has changed the ways in
which leaders are forged.

This report will also elucidate on the modern-day metamorphosis of leadership in relation to
my area of practice, user experience(UX) design. Traditional leadership faces several
challenges in modern-day work environments as it is constantly evolving in the wake of
socio-economic reforms and other innovations. It will be beneficial to understand the idea of
leadership in my industry while considering all the transformations that technology is bringing
forth.
My practice and background

I am an engineer turned designer who feels genuinely grateful to finally be in an area of

practice that I am passionate about. Growing up in India, I was surrounded by people and their
ideas of success often were predominantly tied to their careers which was often a tiny box of
options that did not involve creative professions. Coming from a family in which everyone is a
doctor (except me and my 2 months old niece), the pressure was real. I did not have any
creative professionals around me growing up and did not even know the difference between
graphic and product design until I stepped into a design school for my master's program in
India. I look at this time in the university as my true creative awakening as I discovered what
felt almost like an alternate reality at the time through the course. I absorbed everything that I
could during this period and felt a new drive for learning and life
I gravitated towards interaction design as it was an amalgamation of what I had studied in my
bachelor's program of Electronics and communication engineering and my interests in
design. After my course, I worked with a US-based startup as a designer for about 18 months
before I enrolled to the UNSW Master of the design program. I am doing a second master's
program as I wanted to understand design from a more global perspective and to learn and
develop new skills that I can use in my practice. I was also keen to explore a new country and
its culture.

Reflecting on my strengths and values in class gave me some perspective on my choices in

life. Even though it was not always easy, in my own way I forged my path into the design and
hopefully, my desire to learn, evolve and explore can be an example and a referece point for a
creative professional to someone like my niece.

The role of leadership in creative industries

The idea of leadership makes radical transitions to support human ambitions as we

collectively evolve and transcend Maslow’s hierarchy of needs with widely varying desires and
goals, (McLeod 2018). Maslow identifies creativity as an aspect of the self-actualization or the
highest level in the pyramid. Maslow does not define creativity in relation to its products.
Creative individual according to him is like ‘happy and secure children’ who are not afraid to
embark on paths and act upon ideas that are unusual. They are not afraid of their own
impulses and are often ‘less inhibited, less controlled, less planned and less willed’. (Krueger
2013)

Clearly, the leadership for this seemingly crazy bunch cannot use the same strategies that are
used in other industries. IDEO is a trailblazer in creative leadership with its radically different
approach to defining leadership styles that were adjusted specifically to cater to the needs of
the creative industry (Budds 2016).
The role of leadership in creative industries

While working on the group assignment in class, I had the opportunity to learn more about the
ways in which IDEO approached the concept of leadership. From redefining traditional
leadership and embracing leaders who are vulnerable and as unsure of the future as the
employees to defining new leadership modes and roles, IDEO’s approach to leadership sets
them apart from the competition(Trapp 2018). Their consistent success and ability to create
innovative and extraordinary solutions are a testimonial to this. I resonated strongly with their
idea of allowing the natural abilities of the leaders to shine instead of force-fitting all the traits
into one person, which is unrealistic and inefficient. While the leadership model: explorer is
someone who is good at ideation and in looking into the bigger picture, the gardener makes
sure that the teams have the right conditions to create the desired results. Defining and often
celebrating the strengths of an individual is crucial in the creative industry which can often be
intimidating, considering the level of personal involvement that it requires. This can also be
important in the context of collaborative design as codesign involves people who use or are
affected by the design into the creative process. Codesign helps in bringing out the best
solution for a problem by looking at it from multiple perspectives. (Sanders & Sappers 2008)
Cultural leadership as a game-changer

Cultural leadership can be viewed as a way of influencing the collective behavior of people in a
group or society of widely varying sizes and characters. A cultural leader responds to collective
ambitions and goals of the group rather than individual objectives or vision. A cultural leader
can also be someone who has nothing to do directly with the culture but is challenging social
structure, mindsets and bringing about social movements. (Staffi 2019)
There is an increasing emphasis on culture in the digital and startup world. Apart from
increasingly bringing a significant marketing advantage, the company culture is progressively
found to be the secret sauce that leads to successful companies that are resilient and
innovative. Some of the most successful startups or digital companies also flaunt a distinct,
well-defined culture. The most popular examples of this being Google, Facebook, LinkedIn and
many others in this league (Bastone 2018).

However, Spotify takes the prize when it comes to leveraging company culture to attract the
best talent and inspiring the most innovative solutions that help them in continuously
dominating the market.
Cultural leadership as a game-changer

Their unique approach to company culture makes them one of the most sought after places to
work for according to the company’s Glassdoor(2019) reviews with an impressive 86% CEO
approval and overwhelmingly positive reviews. Spotify does a few things differently to keep
their culture fresh and social. They have a dedicated social group within the Human Resources
department that focusses entirely on planning social events for the employees. They don’t
have traditional corporate organization structures instead they have ’squads’, ‘tribes’ and
‘guilds’. It is amazing how even a simple change in the label can influence the way the
employees perceive their workplace. They also have flexible and culture-sensitive public
holiday policy which is in keeping with their vision of being an inclusive workplace. They use
diversity as a fuel for innovation and boasts of having ’something for everyone’. (Suarez 2019)

Leadership in design

After traversing the long arduous road to making business leaders understand the value of
design, we can say that ‘design’ has finally made it. The design has emphatically secured the
coveted seat at the table and design-driven companies are increasingly becoming a norm
(Aronowitz 2018). With companies like Apple standing tall in the faction with its indomitable
success, design leadership is swiftly handed over a large amount of responsibility and value in
the company. This is great for designers, especially when you work with and for businesses
that understand your struggles and strifes. However, this has also brought about a new set of
challenges in the industry.

In many cases, design leaders are expected to take on the role of a magician who can
wondrously fix the company’s multitude of problems. Businesses that transplants a design
unit within their operation to mimic the success of the other design-driven companies without
any significant changes to its structure, often end up spending huge amounts of money to
achieve minuscule to no results
This is because while introducing a design-driven approach to the company, it is equally
important to facilitate it. A design-driven approach is more than just having a design leader or
team onboard. Everyone in the company, especially the management, need to understand and
align with the changes that the design-driven approach can bring forth in the company. The
company should be ready to change and embrace new ways of operating to achieve any
tangible results.

It is not just enough to follow a prescribed set of steps but also to create space to pivot and
create new and contextual solutions that can effectively bring forth a positive change.
The criticism around IDEO’s design thinking methodology which is accused of being ineffective
and filled with jargon can also be investigated from this perspective(Shapiro 2019). Firstly, it is
important to evaluate if the problem that you are trying to solve matches with the design
thinking approach that you are planning to implement. Equally important is the ability of the
team to efficiently navigate the process while identifying and extrapolating on pivotal
outcomes of the process.

I believe that design thinking can be used as a framework to guide a company’s approach to
problem-solving, but to implement it efficiently the company should be able to profitably
modify the framework itself to cater to their specific goals, essentially coming up with a highly
specialized methodology that could lead to the most effective solutions.
Redefinition of Work and leadership styles

Technology has redefined the way we live. User experience design especially is an area of
practice that can is heavily dependent on technology. When designers are not working on
physical space or products, it is possible for them to work from anywhere. In fact, work from
home is growing in popularity with more employees prioritizing comfort and personal
convenience over rigid work structures. According to Employee Benefits Reports(2017), 3 out of
5 organizations (62%) allowed some type of telecommuting into their work process. People
prefer remote working to avoid traffic and to be in a quieter or more favorable environment, etc
and this seems to be working. Stanford professor Nicholas Bloom found that remote workers
are 13% more productive. (Henley 2019). Companies, on the other hand, are often forced to offer
flexible and remote work conditions to their employees to attract the right kind of talent and to
stay on top of the competition. However, remote work cultures also demand leadership that is
equipped to handle the new challenges that it can bring forth.
Redefinition of Work and leadership styles

Future design leader has to be adept with not just the design ideas and tools, but all the
technology that would enable smooth workflows. Applications like Slack can be used for team
communications, while Asana and Jira can enable project management online. It is important
for the design leader to facilitate continuous contact so that the team stays connected even
when they are not physically present in the same room. The leader should be able to leverage
technology to encourage continuous engagement and meaningful conversations. (Keijzer
2019). However, the most important factor with respect to leadership in case of remote work
would be leading with trust. As trust can only be established with creating personal
connections, it is important for the design leaders to form close bonds with the team.

This is why there is a lot of emphasis on hiring the right people of late, not just people who are
good at what they do but people who have the right values and goals that are in alignment with
those of the company(Jenkin 2015). It is easier to trust an individual who is genuinely driven
about what they do. The accountability is shared and each individual is responsible for his/her
own productivity. Personally, I think this dynamic, multidirectional style of shared leadership
model (Carsten, T 2018) is a great transition and can be more satisfying for the employees and
beneficial for the employers if implemented right. It is also a reclamation of the power and
need for individuality which was lost somewhere in the era of the industrial revolution and the
subsequent 9-5 work styles. (Brown 2019)
The future of Design leadership

The futuring exercise in class helped me reflect further on the future of the user experience
design industry. The advent of artificial intelligence(AI) into our daily lives is inevitable and UX
will play a major role in shaping how we interact with it. AI could even take on leadership roles
and bring in their unique set of skills into the table. I believe that ethical leadership (Mihelič et.
al. 2010) will play a major role in the future of the UX industry considering the impact some of
the decisions could have on the lives of human beings and the planet at large. Situational
leadership will also be in demand considering the uncertainties around the challenges that
the advancements in technology will bring forth and the consequences that these changes will
have on the society. With changing ecological and climatic conditions, a reorganization of
priorities and processes is imminent. The more holistic approaches will not just be focussed
on human beings as the central user but will have to take into consideration the well being of
the entire planet. This paradigm shift will challenge several of our existing methods and
processes and I think designers will play a critical role in re-mapping the existing methods
and mechanisms. In the future, I strongly suspect that user experience will evolve into just
‘experience’ design and will permeate into more than just the activities that have human
beings at its center.

Abdilla Angie’s (2018) article on Futureproofing technology through Indigenous governance was
particularly inspiring as it discusses how the practices adopted by the indigenous
communities could be valuable as we navigate the ambiguous tech-driven future. While
celebrating the rich traditions and unique leadership styles in the indigenous communities, I
also think it is important to consider why the communities were often infiltrated and exploited
by several external agents. As a designer, I am constantly iterating in my process and I’ve
learnt that it is crucial to closely examine and evaluate the things that did not work.
In the future, I hope I can use my skillsets as a designer to co-create sustainable and ethical
approaches that contribute to ecological and social well being.
Conclusion

Design as a field of practice is changing rapidly and to be a great leader, one needs to be well
aware of the different trends and developments in the field. In the career trajectory of a
designer there comes a point where he/she has to make a decision to be either a manager
who doesn’t actively involve in any hands-on design work or continue doing what they are
passionate about and keep taking up design works. The decision, I believe should completely
depend on the personal preferences and strengths of the individual. Designers are often
exploring unchartered territories. The courage to be comfortable with uncertainties is very
important to be at their creative best. Design leaders should promote this by fostering helpful
cultures and by being authentic and vulnerable themselves.

The great man theory or any hierarchical leadership model for that matter would be inefficient
in the future since in the hierarchical model, the person at the top of the pyramid has the most
amount of information and it decreases as we go down the levels. However, the designers
need to be aware of all the different facets of a project to come up with effective solutions.
Without a comprehensive or full view of the problem in hand, the designers will not be able to
do their jobs effectively. This is even more relevant in the future and in the remote working
scenarios. Design leadership should be dynamic and inclusive to tackle the many wicked
problems of the future.
References

McLeod, S 2018, Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, SimplyPsychology, Viewed on 5 November 2019,

<https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html>

Kruse, K 2013, What Is Leadership?, Forbes, Viewed on 11 November 2019, <https://

www.forbes.com/sites/kevinkruse/2013/04/09/what-is-leadership/#4e99b5bf5b90?>

Krueger, J 2013, Maslow on Creativity, Psychology Today, Viewed on 11 November 2019, <https://
www.psychologytoday.com/au/blog/one-among-many/201309/maslow-creativity>

Staffi, A 2019, CULTURAL LEADERSHIP AS A WAY OF CHANGING PEOPLE, Culture and Creativity,
Viewed on 12 November 2019, <https://www.culturepartnership.eu/en/article/workshop-
moldova>

Sanders, E & Stappers, P 2008, Co-creation and the new landscapes of design, Co-Design, 4:1,
5-18, DOI: 10.1080/15710880701875068

Bastone, N 2018, The 29 best tech companies to work for in 2019, according to employees,
Business Insider, Viewed on 12 November 2019, <https://www.businessinsider.com.au/best-
tech-companies-to-work-at-glassdoor-2018-11?r=US&IR=T>

Glassdoor 2019, Spotify- Company reviews, Glassdoor, Viewed on 11 November 2019, <https://
www.glassdoor.com.au/Reviews/Spotify-Reviews-E408251.htm?countryRedirect=true>
Suarez, P 2019, How Spotify Keeps its Culture Social and Fresh, Five to Nine, Viewed on 11
November 2019, <https://fivetonine.co/blog/spotify-culture-social-fresh>

Budds, D 2016, Ideo’s CEO On How To Lead An Organization Creatively, FastCompany, Viewed on
11 November 2019, <https://www.fastcompany.com/3059787/ideos-ceo-on-how-to-lead-an-
organization-creatively>
References

Trapp, R 2018, Flexibility Is The Key To Creative Leadership, Forbes, Viewed on 11 November
2019, <https://www.forbes.com/sites/rogertrapp/2018/10/30/flexibility-is-the-key-to-creative-
leadership/#18622d3048f3>

Aronowitz, K 2018, Designers Finally Have A Seat At The Table. Now What?, FastCompany,
Viewed on 22 November 2019, <https://www.fastcompany.com/90156186/designers-finally-
have-a-seat-at-the-table-now-what>

Shapiro, E 2019, Is Design Thinking Really Bullshit? Thoughts from Marty Neumeier, Viewed on 13
November 2019, <https://www.printmag.com/design-criticism/design-thinking-process-bs/>

Jenkin, M 2015, Millennials want to work for employers committed to values and ethics, Viewed
on 13 November 2019, <https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2015/may/05/
millennials-employment-employers-values-ethics-jobs>

Mihelič et. al. 2010, Ethical Leadership, International Journal of Management & Information
Systems – Fourth Quarter 2010 Volume 14, Number 5, Viewed on 13 November 2019, <http://
www.ef.uni-lj.si/docs/osebnestrani/MIhelic_Lipicnik_Tekavcic_2010_clute.pdf>

Employee Benefits Report 2017, Worklife and convenience benefits, Viewed on 13 November
2019, <https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/trends-and-forecasting/research-and-surveys/
Documents/2017%20Employee%20Benefits%20Report.pdf>

Henley, D 2019, How To Better Manage Your Team That Works Remotely, Forbes, Viewed on 13
November 2019, <https://www.forbes.com/sites/dedehenley/2019/07/27/how-to-inspire-and-
motivate-your-team-that-works-from-home/#48b49ab95bca>
References

Keijzer,P 2019, Remote Leadership: How to Lead Your Team from a Distance, Business 2
Community, Viewed on 13 November 2019, <https://www.business2community.com/leadership/
remote-leadership-how-to-lead-your-team-from-a-distance-02233959>

Carsten, T 2018, "Bye-Bye, Heroic Leadership. Here Comes Shared

Leadership", Forbes, Accessed on: 9/9/19, Accessed at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/
carstentams/2018/03/09/bye-bye-heroic-leadership-here-comes-shared-leadership/
#54ed74282c67

Brown,F 2019, The 9-5 is dead: Redefining modern working hours, People per hour, Viewed on
13 November 2019, <https://www.peopleperhour.com/blog/buyers/the-9-5-is-dead-
redefining-modern-working-hours/>

Angie,A 2018, “Beyond Imperial Tools: Future-Proofing Technology through Indigenous

Governance and Traditional Knowledge Systems”, In Decolonising the Digital: Technology As
Cultural Practice, 67-81. Sydney: Tactical Space Lab. http://ojs.decolonising.digital/index.php/
decolonising_digital/article/view/BeyondImperialTools