Beyond The Interface (BTI) Laura Baker: Designers don’t need a seat at the table—they need to shape the conversation.
Feb 18, 2025
Laura Baker, MD at Fearless and a seasoned leader in UX and service design, discusses her unexpected journey into leadership. She highlights the critical role of adaptive management styles and shares insights on building thriving team environments. Laura emphasizes the importance of hiring for culture, creating a shared vision, and the balance between design ambitions and organizational realities. The conversation also touches on the future of design operations and effective storytelling to secure stakeholder support, advocating for collaboration at every level.
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Accidental Promotion That Changed Her Career
- Laura describes being unexpectedly promoted from IC lead to overseeing a business unit and designers across agencies.
- She said she accepted the role and learned leadership by doing, calling it a defining career moment.
Reframe Your Value As A Leader
- Reframe your value: shift from delivering artifacts to solving team and organizational problems.
- Accept that your impact becomes indirect and focus on enabling others to do great work.
Adapt Your Management To Individuals
- Calibrate your management style per person by balancing leaning in and leaning out.
- Avoid swinging to micromanagement or extreme hands-off approaches; course-correct over time.