Summary:
2021-2022 | Discover how my journey into management shapes a leadership style rooted in empowering teams to reach their full potential. Stepping into a design management role, this article highlights how I navigated the challenges of leadership, from mentoring on ADPList to taking ownership of 1-4 designer's growth at Ninja Van 🦄. Through these experiences, I developed key principles that continue to shape my leadership style. As I look ahead, my focus remains on fostering a supportive, growth-driven environment where teams can thrive together.
[1] Why Design Management?
🏁 Going into management wasn’t something I saw myself doing explicitly at the start of my career. In fact, many designers I’ve spoken to have expressed hesitation about it, often citing the exhaustion that comes with managing people. But as my career progressed, I found myself stepping into a management role earlier than expected, largely due to how Ninja Van's design team had evolved. Despite the challenges, I’ve come to embrace the role, and now I see it as an opportunity to create spaces where design teams feel supported, inspired, and excited to grow—alongside me as their manager.
🐣 On a personal note, one of the most defining moments in my design career was when my first UX manager took a chance on me. Coming from a visual design background, I wasn’t sure if I had what it took to succeed in UX, but she believed in my potential and supported me as I made that transition. The encouragement I received from mentors like her has been a huge driving force for me—it's what keeps me motivated to grow and, in turn, help others do the same. This is why I’m so passionate about design management now: I want to be the kind of leader who offers others the same opportunities I had, empowering them to thrive and creating an environment where they can reach their full potential.
🐎 Building from my experience, I decided that the most natural way to experience management is to dive into mentorship and eventually fight for an opportunity to be accountable for a person’s growth.
I still remember when an ex-Head of Product at Ninja Van asked me what I hoped to achieve here. Without hesitation, I told him, “I want to be part of building a growing team”. That goal has never changed throughout the years.
[2] My roadmap towards management
1️⃣ Paving the managerial path #1: Mentoring on ADPList
Between 2020 and 2022, I developed an interest in building my skills in mentorship and giving back to the design community. However, there weren’t many clear opportunities within Ninja Van for me to do so, so I decided to look beyond the company. That’s when I discovered ADPList, a growing platform for design mentorship, and decided to give it a try. As a first-time mentor, I dove right in, eager to help, but quickly realised that I needed to introduce more structure to my sessions with mentees.
📝 Many of the designers on the platform were also new to mentorship, so they were looking for guidance and direction. This gave me a valuable chance to view mentorship from both the mentor and mentee perspectives, and helped me create a mentorship structure that would work for both sides. This experience marked the beginning of my journey into design mentorship. **DM me if you’re interested about the structure! ✨
Shameless plug: In April 2022, I was recognised as one of the Top 1% mentors on the platform globally on ADPlist! 🏆🚀
2️⃣ Paving the managerial path #2: Recognising talent & owning a designer’s growth
During my time as a mentor, I had the pleasure of working with a talented designer named T🐣, who really stood out to me, especially for her dedication to her FYP. She was proactive in seeking feedback, and we quickly built a strong sense of trust through regular sessions. As she neared the end of her studies, I saw a great opportunity to bring her into Ninja Van and help nurture her potential. After getting approval from my Head of Design, I was able to convince T🐣 to join the team as an intern. This was the first time I had full responsibility for a designer’s growth and experience within the company. It was definitely a bit daunting, but with guidance from another senior manager, I was able to create a series of growth milestones for her internship. Through this process, I learned crucial skills that would become the foundation of my managerial career: the importance of pre-emptive planning, personal guidance for extremely junior designers and transparent communication. It was also during this time that I started questioning myself about my own leadership principles, and the type of leader I want to become.
🛣️ The crossroads: Choosing the managerial path
Between 2021 and 2022, Ninja Van’s design team experienced rapid growth. At one point, the Head of Design was managing 18 designers directly, and understandably, his attention was stretched thin across the team. Over time, this led to some challenges, including lower managerial eNPS scores, stagnated career development, and generally low morale (these will become relevant in future articles). To address these issues, a middle management layer was introduced to help ease the workload and ensure the team received the support it needed. As one of the more senior designers at the time, I was given the opportunity to step into a managerial role and guide the team through this transition. My "momma-hen" personality, known for creating a supportive and positive atmosphere, was also recognized as a potential strength in leading a team with high morale. Additionally, with the expansion of the products under my business unit, I had the exciting opportunity to hire designers and build my own team. It became more imperative that I needed clarity in my leadership principles, which was key in shaping how I lead teams today.
🏋🏻 Preparing for the role
A team’s dynamics are often a reflection of its leader’s principles.
As I mentioned earlier, I’ve spent a lot of time reflecting on the kind of leader I want to be and the principles I want to uphold. These principles will affect the type of people I hire into the team, and how the team makes decisions and acts down the road. One key question that kept coming up for me was:
What values do I want to embody and pass on to my team?
For me, transparency in two-way communication is the cornerstone of building trust. Open, honest conversations are key to fostering strong relationships and effective collaboration within a team.
I also always assume good intentions, which allows me to approach situations with empathy and understanding. Radical candor is something I truly value because it creates a space for honest feedback, which ultimately helps everyone grow. This approach has been integral to how I lead my team, helping to reduce gossip and prevent miscommunications.
Lastly, I prioritize validating intent before making judgments based on actions alone. By encouraging the team to verify hearsay and focus on the facts, we can prevent misunderstandings and ensure that we’re all aligned, working toward a common goal.
[3] Early challenges
One of the biggest challenges I’ve faced has been balancing my role as an individual contributor with my responsibilities as a manager. I often found myself questioning when and how to step in as the leader to provide the most effective support. During this time, I leaned heavily on my colleagues in middle management and the Head of Design as sounding boards, helping me cross-reference my decisions on when to step in and when to let the team resolve things independently. This experience underscored the importance of having a dedicated support system among managers, where we could openly discuss sensitive or more complex issues.
Managing team dynamics was another fascinating challenge. Even with a strong set of foundational values to guide hiring, each individual is unique. Every person brings their own strengths, challenges, motivations, and ways of working. To foster stronger connections, I introduced something I call “food diplomacy 🍱”—drawing on my passion for hosting dinners and culinary practices to create informal opportunities for the team to bond outside of work. This turned out to be one of the best decisions I made, as it brought the team closer together. Over time, our team became known within the company for its camaraderie and high morale, something I’m incredibly proud of
Our physical corner in the office literally became a good respite for those with weathered hearts and minds 🧘🏻♀️ 🧠 ❤️
Food diplomacy - One of our many food trips and birthday celebrations 🥰
[4] Reflection
Looking back through 2020-2022, my journey from designer to design manager has been a transformative experience. What began as an unexpected leap into leadership has evolved into a passion for creating environments where individuals can grow, collaborate, and thrive. The lessons I’ve learned—about trust, transparency, and empowering others—have shaped my leadership philosophy and will continue to guide me as I grow in this role.
The most rewarding part of management at this point has been seeing my team grow together and form very strong bonds, knowing that I’ve played a part in building the sense of belonging. As I continue this journey, I’m excited to embrace both the challenges and opportunities ahead, always aiming to lead with empathy, integrity, and a commitment to fostering a culture of growth.
In future articles, I’ll share how I addressed key challenges like stagnated career development and low morale, helping a growing team thrive and stay motivated, during my first year as a design manager.
A team I can call my own 🥰