Chad Vavra’s Post

This! Designers must also understand that the higher they go, the more they need to think beyond design. Moving into leadership means embracing business goals, cross-functional collaboration, and strategic impact. It’s not just about creating great designs—it’s about driving outcomes that resonate across the organization. We do need more design leaders who can see the big picture.

Business skills sell Design better than Design skills sell Business. Thats my quote, hopefully it’s original. 😅 During my time at Cellairis , I worked closely with the founding team and the business side of things. Even then, I wish I had the knowledge of business + design that I posses now. I have presented concepts and entire product roadmap’s, design language and creative direction as SVP of design and sourcing to large carriers, fashion houses, fashion designers, manufacturing houses, celebrities and packaging houses as well. In all of these interactions, the main discussions were centered around business and not design. These are some of the questions that would be discussed and you had to be ready for. 1. What are the main features that would make this design sell better? 2. How would the competition react when this launches and what should be our next move ? 3. What’s the ideal price point ? 4. How much quantity should we order to break even and how many would we need to order to make a profit. 5. Who would be main Demographic and how do we market this to them. 6. Last but not the least,does this cannabalise anything in our current portfolio ? I firmly believe that without understanding business or being part of these discussions it’s very hard for any designer to really add value. Let me know if my next newsletter should be about this topic. If any of you are part of board room discussions, leave a comment below. #design #leadership #business #decisionmaking #founder #ceo

When you're hiring a design leader we need to remember that we should be hiring people who view themselves as business executives, not just design. The boardroom is where you solve business challenges, and use design acumen to support other functions to solve problems. A lot of my clients who are often executive board members or CEO's say "we need a business executive who can bring design into the discussion" This is why I believe executive search in design is critical, it needs the same respect and rigour as other disciplines.

Design leaders should bridge between the language (and numbers) of business and the language of user needs and design best practices. if we as designers can't translate what we do in terms of how it helps achieve business outcomes (even indirectly), we're designing with one hand tied behind our collective backs.

When you're hiring a design leader we need to remember that we should be hiring people who view themselves as business executives, not just design. The boardroom is where you solve business challenges, and use design acumen to support other functions to solve problems. A lot of my clients who are often executive board members or CEO's say "we need a business executive who can bring design into the discussion" This is why I believe executive search in design is critical, it needs the same respect and rigour as other disciplines.

Are we suggesting that design leaders can only stay in one industry there whole career to be successful? You can learn business and industries. For me, how you bring in an executive to the business at the appropriate level, enough authority, trust and accountability is what matters. There is sometimes not the luxury to hire straight from a competitor. That’s not exactly forward thinking anyhow.

Here are 5 key points on how we can switch from Design Leadership to Design Management roles in a seamless way possible: . . 😎 Understand the Role: Learn the specifics of design management budgets, timelines, and aligning design with business goals. . . 👷♂️ Build Team Awareness: Know how design fits into the broader organization and connect with its members from other departments. . . 🤺 Develop Managerial Skills: Practice communication, negotiation, and decision-making to balance creativity with operational efficiency. . . 🎖 Use Data and Metrics: Embrace metrics like user feedback and project timelines to measure success and inform decisions. 🏁 Develop Clear Advocacy: Highlight how design adds value to the organization’s goals and advocate for resources and integration into strategy. . . And these steps are actually FREE to learn by practicing it in every project you will handle. This will surely deliver sustainability and scale your creative career. #Creative #DesignThinking #CreativeEntrepreneur #Business

"If there is a task that must be done, and only you can do it, then do it!" This is the most common advice I give, especially when people ask what they should #focus on. Let me start with an example from my own experience: As a CEO, I want all my executives, managers, and team members to feel empowered and capable of making decisions within their expertise [and responsibility]. My focus should be on making the decisions [and tasks] that no one else can. A CEO should be the visionary or at least carry the vision torch, and should make sure to lead that. Being responsible for the company culture, ensuring the right people are in the right positions, and managing and leading the board, investors, and senior leaders are also essential parts of the role. For everything else, if you can remove yourself from being a bottleneck, that’s what you should do. This doesn’t mean avoiding involvement in other areas like product, sales, marketing, or even tech—heaven forbid! But ideally, you should let capable people make decisions and lead initiatives in those areas. Here’s another example: If you’re the VP of R&D, only you can set the engineering culture (1st prio), ensure technology vision/strategy/roadmap, define hiring standards, ensure that tech debt and innovation are managed, and ensure that people are being mentored effectively, as a set of main examples. I just left for a vacation, and I expect people to make all the decisions they could and should make even without my presence. Related to the above -- there were years, when I didn't take vacations, or very little. Then others wouldn't as well, although I tried to encourage that. It took me time to make the connection -- if I don't take vacations, people think that this is the example and expectations I'm setting for everyone.

Chief of Staff Mode… ⤵ For me, you must operate at your highest level of effectiveness - where strategic insight, rapid decision-making, and organisational influence converge. Much like ‘Founders Mode’ it’s about focus, agility, and protecting the time and mental energy needed to drive real change: ⏰ Protect Your Bandwidth You must balance your capacity fiercely between strategic and operational layers. You are often the conduit and connective tissue in the business. Eliminate distractions and prioritise tasks that move the needle. Not every meeting needs your presence; not every problem needs your input. Most importantly…learn and get comfortable saying no! 📈 Be the Strategic Multiplier You don’t just execute tasks. You’re amplifying the strategic vision of the leadership team. This requires a deep understanding of business goals and the ability to translate high-level strategies into actionable plans. Ask daily. “How does this align with our core objectives?”. Everything else is noise. 🤔 Embrace Decisive Problem-Solving You are positioned at the intersection of complex problems and competing priorities. "Chief of Staff Mode" means approaching these challenges with a solution-oriented mindset, swiftly cutting through ambiguity to provide clarity. Develop a bias for action—be the person who turns abstract ideas into executable plans. 🗣 Champion Communication, But Beware of Noise Effective communication is your superpower, but beware of drowning in the noise. Every message you deliver, every email and IM you send, and every meeting you facilitate should be purposeful and aligned with strategic priorities. Be a curator of information, distilling what's essential and filtering out the rest. 🤝 Lead through Influence As a Chief of Staff, you rarely have direct authority but must lead through influence. This mode requires you to cultivate relationships at all levels, build trust, and drive alignment without formal power. Your ability to navigate the organisational landscape, read the room, and persuade stakeholders is crucial. It's not easy! But these are the five behaviours that, for me, make for a successful Chief of Staff mode #FounderMode #ChiefOfStaff #Leadership #StrategicImpact #OperationalExcellence #ExecutiveLeadership

Such a good article on #fractional work - thanks Rob Kerner for sharing. Including good questions a business leader could ask to candidates when hiring fractional talent. I've been in quite a few fractional role conversations in the past year, and still think we need to shift the discussion from time, to value. - fractional professionals are, effectively, part of your team. Unlike consultants, their role is to deliver, adding bandwidth, experience and capabilities, not to 'just' advise. Fractionals can and should be part of customer negotiations, delivery, external advocacy and vendor management where needed. They wear yoiur team's shirt. - I like Harvard Business Review's focus on independence of perspective and ability to speak eye to eye. A full time junior role is likely to execute what the C-suite asks. An experienced fractional leader joins your C-suite. - many #startups and #scaleups don't need a full time engagement from a senior person. In fact, many founders themselves are not full time as they juggle different roles and businesses. On the other hand, most fractional roles are not part-time in the traditional sense, with fixed days and hours. They will deliver on results, or be available for a number of days or hours per month, based on business needs and a workload estimate to plan their own time. - experienced fractional professionals won't work with you unless they believe in your business and are confident they can add value - it wouldn't work for either party. Most will have a good network to refer a client to for the best fit for your need. Feel free to comment if this resonates, or add your questions. #innovation #waysofworking #businessvalue https://lnkd.in/dPxAVvtB