Leadership Style
My personal values, other inspiring leaders’ insights, and my leadership principles underpin all my accomplishments as a leader. Let me share with you these foundations, which have served as a compass when I find myself at a crossroads.
My Personal Values
Curiosity
I’m a naturally curious person. As a child I would get into trouble thanks to my curiosity. Now, as an adult, I know that if curiosity gets me in trouble, I have the bravery and creativity to get myself out of it.
Bravery
I’m a great believer that “On the other side of fear is magic“, and I am too curious not to be brave enough to conquer my fears; in the end, who doesn’t want to experience magic?
Creativity
“Creativity is the spark kindled inside me when my mind and my heart are rubbed together ❤️🔥, like the two stones that can start a camp 🔥”
Sandra González
Here is a story of how my personal values played a role in my path to leadership.
I am a great believer in finding creative ways to design my future. In 2015, I was clear in my mind that I wanted to become a Design Leader. On paper, however, I needed to hold a managerial position to gain the necessary experience. But I didn’t let this stop me; I believed then, as I still do, that leadership is not about administering direct reports but inspiring individuals and communities to pursue a shared vision. This is why I founded UX for Change, I wanted to grow as a leader while connecting the UX community with opportunities to work in philanthropy.
A win-win situation!
There were two reasons I pursued this approach. Firstly, if I could influence people to share my vision and volunteer to support it, I would be on a path to becoming a Design Leader in a commercial setting. The second rationale was that if I could help solve the challenges outside my 9-to-5 job, I would become a well-rounded Product Designer.
My career strategy worked. Currently, over four thousand UX practitioners are members of UX for Change, ready to get hands-on to help nonprofits in cities such as London, Sydney, New York, Tampa and LA. This has enabled me to be involved in solving many challenges for humanitarian causes, positively impacting my Product Design craft and delivering positive social change.
The inspiring leaders that have influenced me
Servant Leadership is my leadership style, shaped by the amazing content (books, podcasts, talks) published by these three individuals.
Simon Sinek
British born American author and inspirational speaker.
Adam Grant
American author, and professor at Wharton specialising in organisational psychology.
Brené Brown
American professor, lecturer, author, and podcast host.
My leadership principles
After bringing my personal values together with little and not-so-little experiments to design my own leadership path, such as UX for Change, I feel pretty established as a Product Design Leader. In the last eight years, I have developed my very own Leadership Principles, which I keep present for all the big and small decisions I make. Do you want to learn more about how I have applied these principles in the past? I will be happy to go over these during a ☕ chat after you contact me on LinkedIn.
