Stephen Gates on how to be a great advisor for a company

A casual chat with, a legendary global thought leader, designer, and strategist, founder of CRZY strategy and design studio and a podcast. In this conversation, Stephen Gates shares his inspiring insights about the solopreneur career path in the Design Consulting space.

Last year I have embraced the new path in my career as a self employed UX & Product Consultant, and Mentor. This is a different, an exciting, and incredibly challenging career path.

This period was and still is a crazy roller coaster. It’s full with ups and downs, and often you feel like you are alone and you have to navigating challenges independently. Many times you are not sure if you’re on the right track and what the next step should be.

During this time I proactively approached many talented self employed people, in order to hear what’s working for them. One of them is Stephen Gates.

Stephen Gates is a legendary global thought leader, designer and strategist, founder of CRZY design studio and a podcast.

Stephen brings his unique style and years of experience leading some of the world’s biggest brands and working alongside the world’s most innovative companies.

What I liked about Stephen is his boldness and courage, so I approached him, and asked to share his unique perspective on topics like “How to be the best advisor for a company” and “Whom to look up to when you are self employed”?

This conversation had a great impact on me, and I am happy to share those insights further.

How to be a great advisor for a company?

It’s not always about the work, it’s about the culture. Company’s product is the result of a culture. It might be that the Company doesn’t understand their customer. A great advisor should look beyond doing the product, beyond the project scope. Many people in the organization talk about the product, but when Advisor talks about it, Company hears them differently.

When I work with a company, I look at their product and try to understand their culture. I don’t give them what they want, I try to approach the challenge from a creative point of view.

There is a difference between creativity and designing the product. Huge difference between make something pretty and being creative. I say to Companies - “With fonts and colors - you will not gonna get the results you want”. It’s mostly about education and creativity! A great Advisor is going beyond the project scope and focuses on educating the Company how to solve problems creatively!

This is what you need to do, embrace your leadership skills! Being a leader is not easy, it means you need to deal with your insecurities, because in order to push for leadership changes in the Company, you need to be confident and secure. You have to deal with your insecurities and that will bring you growth!

What right and what’s wrong, whom to look up to?

Regarding whom to look up to, I don’t find many people that fit that role.

I analyzed what worked well for me and what I need to be successful. I considered what I like to do. I realized that I don’t engage in projects. I am most successful when I approach things differently. I value partnerships, prioritize relationships, and cherish connections. I dislike jumping between clients.

Additionally, I examined how others created a value proposition. For me, the worst thing is to be generic. I advise finding a niche, adopting a specific approach, and leveraging your network.

A few key points:

1. Talk with people.
2. Consider what will make you different.
3. Hold on to what works.
4. Treat your journey like a design project.
5. Treat yourself like a design problem, like a product.

How to define your roadmap when you’re Solopreneur?

I am not strict about it. My experience show that road maps don’t work out. The world changes, everything changes. Best teams are agile. Changes are the constant. Recently layoffs happened, and that changed a lot. You should be open to pivoting.

?? What is pivoting?

• In the business world, “pivoting” typically means a fundamental change in a company’s business strategy.
• A startup might pivot if its initial business model or product isn’t gaining traction in the market.
• In agile project management, “pivoting” may refer to adjusting project goals or direction based on feedback or changing circumstances.
• In basketball, “pivoting” is a physical movement where a player rotates on one foot while keeping the other foot in place. This allows the player to change direction without traveling.

My advice - don’t fall too in love in what it should be. Focus on which skillset you need to develop, what do you want to work on. Try to have a design thinking approach, keep iterating and be flexible.

During my journey I always ask myself 3 questions:

1. Am I creative?
2. Am I doing good work?
3. Am I happy?

It’s like if I am a brand, I know where my skills are, and what do I do really well. The tricky thing is that usually we are our own biggest blind spots!

?? How to know what you are really good at?

Go to people that you worked in the past or your family and ask them.

• What am I good at in 3 words?
• What makes me special?

You should always try to get feedback and validate it with your core strength and skills. That is a process of building your own brand.

How to do great networking?

I don’t collect followers and contacts who are just numbers; instead, I collect businesses and value relationships, connection, and authenticity.

1. It’s important not to be isolated; talk to other people. I started a group; we meet monthly in a remote setting. This allowed me to create a support system.
2. I find business with people that I worked in the past. They bring me a new piece of business… I say to them - “I will give you percentage of that business, 3-4%”. This way it’s more than a favor. This way I remind of myself to them.
3. Honestly you don’t need a massive network. You only need one or two key connections. This involves engaging in conversation, reaching out to others, conducting calls or video conferences, ensuring that you are not dismissed. Being uncomfortable.
4. There is social media damage because social media platform is not genuine. I don’t play the same game. Many people are like all the others on social media. We might think - ‘Why am I not doing that?’ - we see other people go on stages, and they make it look easy. The reality is that it’s super hard. I am not looking up to people on social media because those people usually want something from you, be it your money or your time.

Final words

This session was incredible and I truly admire Stepen’s genuine answers. It’s so helpful to have such support from independent design leader like Stephen. His willingness to share knowledge was above and beyond.

Thank you!

Stay tuned for the next interviews with the unexpected and interesting people.