From Designer to Leader: Finding Creativity Beyond the Canvas
I remember the moment I stepped into leadership. It wasn’t a singular event but a gradual shift, an evolution that felt both thrilling and deeply unsettling. For years, my identity was rooted in designing — crafting elegant solutions, obsessing over pixels, and solving problems with a visual language I knew so well. Design was not just my job; it was my joy. And then, suddenly, I wasn’t designing anymore.
The transition from designer to leader is filled with contradictions. You’re still shaping experiences, but not in the way you once did. Your work becomes about people, strategy, and influence rather than interfaces and interactions. The shift is necessary, but it feels like a loss — because in some ways, it is.
The Struggle to Let Go
Early on, I found myself reaching for Figma instinctively, jumping into critique sessions and tweaking layouts, unable to resist the urge to create. But I quickly realised that the more I held onto design execution, the less space I left for my team to grow. Leadership demanded a different kind of creativity — the ability to build a team, shape a culture, and design pathways for others to succeed.
Letting go of designing doesn’t mean letting go of creativity. But to stay creatively fulfilled, I had to redefine what creativity meant to me. And that’s when I realised how important it was to practice creative activities outside of work.
Creating Beyond the Role
Designers are makers by nature. When we stop making, we feel disconnected from the craft that once defined us. To counterbalance this, I turned to photography, writing, and other creative outlets that allowed me to build and explore without it being tied to work. It wasn’t just about having a hobby — it was about preserving the part of me that loved to create.
This practice isn’t just therapeutic; it’s essential. When leadership feels like endless meetings and decisions, a creative ritual outside of work keeps you connected to the spark that led you here in the first place. It reminds you why you fell in love with design, and paradoxically, it makes you a better leader.
Transferring Design Skills to Leadership
While I may not design interfaces anymore, I still design — just differently. Building a team requires the same principles we apply in design:
Empathy: Understanding your team’s needs, motivations, and challenges just as you would a user.
Iteration: Leadership is a continuous learning process. Just like design, it requires feedback, testing, and refinement.
Clarity: Great design is about clear communication, and so is leadership. The ability to articulate vision, provide guidance, and offer constructive feedback is a direct extension of design thinking.
Systems Thinking: As a designer, you see the big picture, how each component fits together. Leading a team means crafting an environment where people and processes align seamlessly.
In many ways, moving into leadership isn’t about leaving design behind — it’s about expanding your definition of what it means to design.
Gratitude for the Evolution
It’s easy to focus on what you lose when you stop designing. But what you gain is just as powerful. Leadership gives you the chance to shape not just products, but careers. To mentor, to empower, and to create the conditions for others to thrive.
I’m grateful for the opportunity to lead, not because it’s easy, but because it’s meaningful. I still design, but now my medium is people, culture, and vision. And if you find yourself in the same transition, wondering if you’ll ever feel that creative spark again — know that it’s still there. You just have to find new ways to ignite it.
Because at the end of the day, leadership is just another kind of creative act.
