An interview with Katrina Alcorn
Katrina Alcorn is Managing Director at Accenture Song and will be speaking on ‘From ‘Design Leader’ to ‘Leader’: Dropping the title, keeping the impact’ at Leading Design London 2024 (6–7 November) at the Barbican Centre.
What would you say the top three character traits of an effective leader are?
Kind, tough, and fair.
Which leader has had the greatest impact on you over the years?
Maria Giudice (who is also speaking at the conference this year!)
What is the greatest challenge you have faced as a leader?
Accepting that I will sometimes make mistakes.
Ten years ago you published the book Maxed Out: American Moms on the Brink about the challenges mothers face in the workplace. Do you think that things have improved for working parents over the past decade and as leaders what can we do to increase support in?
The one positive thing that came out of the pandemic is that we all learned we can be incredibly effective and productive working from home. This is a game changer for time-starved working parents as it can easily give us 2–3 hours back in our day. Unfortunately, companies seem to be reversing course and there’s a growing expectation that workers be back in the office at pre-pandemic levels.
What can we do to support working parents?
Give them (and all knowledge workers, not just parents) a degree of autonomy in how and where they do their work. Make expectations clear and hold people accountable for results, rather than counting how many days they badge into an office. Foster an environment of psychological safety, so that people are not distracted by fear of doing/saying the wrong thing and instead feel safe trying new things, learning, and taking risks. This is about creating the conditions for innovation to happen. “
In her talk at the conference, Vuokko Aro will discuss ‘the design leader’s superpower’. Do you think that if a design leader loses the ‘design’ part of their title, this super power is diminished?
Not at all! I want to see more “designers” get promoted into executive roles that don’t have the word “design’ it. I think we could benefit the professional by bringing a human-centered mindset and methodology to roles like Chief Product Officer, Chief Marketing Officer, Chief People Officer, Chief Operating Officer, and even Chief Executive Officer.
And finally, what are you currently listening to, reading, or watching?
Just finished Chasing Hope by Nicholas Kristof — a memoir by a NYTimes journalist who covers war zones and human rights issues. And I’m about to crack open Nexus by Yuval Harari. (He also wrote Sapiens about the history of the human race. Nexus is about the history of information networks. Fascinating stuff.)
We are delighted to have Katrina speak about ‘From ‘Design Leader’ to ‘Leader’ at Leading Design London 2024 (6–7 November).
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