Some advice on managing your design career upwards

Becoming a design manager is a trade that most people make it without naming what they’re giving up, which is why so many end up unhappy on the other side.

I’ve gone from individual contributor to manager to director, and the most consistent mistake I see is people treating management as the “next rung” instead of a fundamentally different job. We treat someone’s ability to manage others as a reflection of their worth, yet we rarely teach what management actually requires. That gap does real damage — both to the people who take the role for the wrong reasons and to the people who end up reporting to them.

When someone asks me whether they should become a manager, I ask if they want responsibility for outcomes you don’t directly control, or are they looking for validation, stability, or a raise? Those are not the same thing. At 18F, managers weren’t paid more than individual contributors. That stripped away the usual incentives and made intent visible very quickly. The people who stepped into management because they cared about others’ growth thrived or wanted to take the next path on their career progression. There are pros and cons to a relatively “flat” org structure like this, but I found it useful.

In one of my early jobs, I had a senior director who trusted me with leading an org-wide project. Not only was I put in charge, they invited me to leadership meetings and let me speak.  That experience shaped my career in ways I could not have anticipated at the time. Someone with positional authority chose to see me, pulled me into the conversation, and made my perspective matter. That’s the job. Being seen often equates with being invited, and managers who understand this spend their energy opening doors, not guarding them can develop talent.

Deciding to give up everyday responsibility on design choices is not an easy one. I miss front-line delivery work and might choose it in my next role. There’s nothing like actually working on the problems in front of you, rather than just triaging or dealing with escalations. I’ve had front-end designers worry about losing their craft, and they’re right to. You will write less code.

If your identity is tightly bound to being the person who solves the hardest technical problem, management will feel like erosion. The increasing number of “player-coach” roles that let designers keep designing while managing are the best of both worlds, but it takes a mindset to both focus on delivering artifacts while also coaching someone who may or may not be on your same project.

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A few years ago, I took over coaching a new high school tennis team. Early into my tenure, I would notice the players looking at me for validation during crucial moments of the match. This didn’t happen with my old teams, but I realized what I needed to do. One of the things I emphasize through the pre-season and our practices is trust. Not just from me, but the entire coaching staff. I want the players to understand that they’ve been given the tools to make decisions out on the court. Sometimes, they’ll make the right ones. Other times, it won’t work, but by reminding them that they get to make the call because you’re the one seeing the ball is a lesson that transcends sports. As a director, I want my managers to instill this into their teams and same for individual contributors, because it’s crucial that people learn it for themselves. Few things are more rewarding than seeing someone grow into their craft and having a hand in that.

It’s also worth saying plainly: you can grow without managing people. Leadership is not synonymous with line management. I’ve met outstanding principal designers who influence direction, mentor deeply, and carry real organizational weight without ever owning performance reviews. Some of my favorite designers are professionals I knew we could trust with almost any task in their toolbox; folks that delight clients and their colleagues alike. With senior designers and principals, my question is just ensuring they’re staying engaged and challenged by the work. Coaching and mentoring are non-managerial ways for them to contribute without having to “manage” someone.

On the flip side, I’ve watched senior designers become the glue — mentoring, stabilizing, unblocking — and then stall because none of that work was owned or legible. If you don’t claim authority somewhere, the organization will take the value and flatten the role. This can be one of the ways that elevating into a leadership role can be a way to build yourself into a growth role in a company where you’ve spent a long time. It’s also where considering opportunities elsewhere are a chance to reframe how people see you; new jobs with a different title can give you a chance to reinvent yourself.

If you’re considering management, be honest with yourself. If what energizes you is coaching, advocating, and shaping how work happens beyond your own hands, then management can be deeply rewarding. If what energizes you is making things and being close to the work, protect that instinct. The field needs senior practitioners just as much as it needs good managers.

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