Four tips to help make your case Times have been tough lately, with many tech companies tightening their budget belts. Getting the headcount you need is suddenly much more difficult than it was just a few months ago. No matter what size team you’re leading, the best way to convince…

We are honored to welcome LaDonna Witmer to the Design Dept. team. LaDonna brings a wealth of experience to her role as Editorial Director. We’ve enjoyed getting to know her perspective, and thought you might too: What’s a story about your own leadership that you haven’t told yet? I never…

Insight from Design Dept. founder Mia Blume Last week I did a Q&A with new managers, who asked some really important, hard questions of the kind that most people grapple with early in their management careers. …

Part 2: No as a negotiation Barrett: I don’t know the answer to this, I’m just posing the question: Do lots of people have horror stories of saying, “No I’m at capacity” and getting a big backlash? I have a few of those stories myself. But is that the norm…

Part 1: Making the invisible visible Mia: I hear a lot of people saying they feel like they can’t say No. Your manager says, “I need you to do this thing!” but you don’t have time. Or maybe your teammate asks you to take on responsibility, and you need to say No. April: I think it’s…

Design your next discussion — Facilitation is one of the most undervalued leadership skills around. Sure, lots of attention is paid to flashier qualities. Google any list of essential skills for leaders and the top five will include some combo of: “communication, creativity, delegation, trustworthiness, feedback.” Of course those skills matter, but even more essential…

We are honored to welcome Courtney to the Design Dept. team. She brings a wealth of experience — including working at the intersection of business and design — to her role as a Leadership Instructor. We’ve enjoyed getting to know her perspective, and thought you might too. How has your…

Part 1: Deciding your direction — With our careers, as with most things in life, society dictates a path forward in a straight unimaginative line: High School → College → Grad School Dating → Marriage → Kids Designer → Senior Designer → People Manager But the truth is that we are all individuals, and the straightest…

Resilience will see you through — The change we’ve all experienced in the last two years is far from normal. But it is our new norm. And making this new norm sustainable is critical to our well-being. Building resilience is one way you can help yourself create the internal resources you need to navigate adversity. Remember…