The Making of a Manager

Outside of your organization, finding a group of leaders in similar roles at other places can provide you with an invaluable network of support. My friend who is an entrepreneur swears by what he calls “informal CEO training” from casual dinners he attends with other founders. For me, I’ll often have coffee with design managers from other companies like Google, Airbnb, and Amazon, where we’ll discuss common challenges in the design industry or bigger trends we’re seeing. Though we keep away from discussing the specifics of our work, being able to talk shop with others who get what I do always teaches me a lot.