Design Sponsor
This week, I had the opportunity to share my journey with Pree Kolari design class at San José State University Industrial Design program.
As many of the students are about to start their careers, the main question was: "What is the one piece of advice you would give…?"
Thinking on this question, there are so many dimensions to a design career, it's difficult, almost impossible to point to a single insight or nugget of wisdom.
During my reflection, I shared an aspect of design career that often doesn't get openly mentioned or discussed.
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Who is your Design Sponsor?
A Design Sponsor is very different from a mentor and this distinction is often confusing in discussions about design careers.
A Design Sponsor is someone in a position of influence, with the power and network to advance your career. They advocate for you in leadership circles, opening doors to key opportunities. They invest time and energy to provide guidance and support, helping to build the business case for design investment and your career advancement.
Design Sponsors are business and product leaders who recognize the value of design in unlocking a company’s potential to create more engaging and delightful experiences. They see designers for who they are: creative and empathetic who balance the rational, quantifiable with the emotional, qualitative, making products more humane, inclusive, and responsible.
I've been fortunate to have Design Sponsors in my career who took the time to advocate for me and my work. I’m tremendously grateful to leaders like Mark Parker and Satya Nadella, who believe design is the connector to customers' needs. Leaders like Clare Hamill , Peter Ruppe, MBA , Brian Stewart , and Ray Riley who sponsor me during the start of my design career. To Don Coyner , j allard , and Steve Kaneko , who literally opened the door for me to enter a whole new world of technology and product making. To Terry Myerson , Joe Belfiore , Roz Ho , David Treadwell , Harvinder Bhela , Rajesh Jha , Mikhail Parakhin and so many other incredible leaders who were my Design Sponsors, who believed in design and in my abilities. Thank you.
Who are your Design Sponsors, and are you paying it forward?
Director of Writing, Microsoft AI
6 个月Looking at you, Karen Kesler. Thanks a million ??
Sports Performance and Wellness Brand President | SVP
7 个月Albert, thank you for elevating the importance of sponsors and advocates. A fundamental in leadership is seeing and unlocking the potential in others across disciplines. Because of the courage required to be creative, it is vital to recognize and champion design talent. In your case, I was honored to play a role and to see you thrive.
SVP Design | Artist | Engineer | Entrepreneur | Beekeeper | Educator
7 个月So nice to have you come and teach. Your wisdom is so valuable for all of design. Good distinction between mentors and sponsors. Designers absolutely need sponsors and advocates that are across functions.
Over The Moon Ventures LLC
7 个月Albert: Great Subject! Without great sponsors, design would just be a service model for most MBA’s to climb the corporate ladder, here today, gone tommorow. As you and I both know, we would never have been able to deliver incredible innovative design inside complex companies without commited exec sponsors. All of them had to stick their reputations on the line to allow great design to exist and deliver results. Here are some of my (our) most important sponsors: Apple; Richard Jordan & John Sculley Nike: Mark Parker, Andy Mooney & Claire Hamill MSFT: J Allard, Stuart Ashmun & Jeff Han AMZN: Gregg Zehr Without these strategic leaders dedicated to design, so many great projects would never have seen the light of day.