Notes Design

Photo courtesy of lumaxart

'What the hell is Design Leadership anyway?' is what I keep hearing people mutter under their breath these days.

It has become one of those subjects that any player in design now has to have an opinion on, but debating it usually generates more heat than light, as self-anointed design leaders rehearse their personal or company agendas. Self-importance, not clarity, seems to be the main concern. At one level this isn't surprising. Leadership is a slippery topic these days: there are more books on Amazon attempting to define the mojo of leadership than that other holy grail, innovation.

The 21st century is dogged by crises of authority: whether they are presidents, CEOs or premier league soccer managers, today's leaders are less respected and less certain of their position than the self-assured chiefs of yesteryear, like Margaret Thatcher, Jack Welch and Bill Shankly.