Taste, Judgement, Influence: A Design Leadership Intensive
Amanda George
Product Design Executive | xZillow, Meta
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The best leaders never left the work.
Teams are flattening and leadership is being redefined. Leaders are expected to stay close to the craft, shape the output, and hold a vision the team can build toward.
But an eye for good work isn't a system for leading. Most design leaders arrive exceptional at the craft, get promoted, and are handed a title with no framework. No point of view to lead from, no model for feedback, no answer when the business asks why design deserves the headcount.
So you review every file, settle every debate, and hold the bar at each turn. That works, but it doesn't scale.
This half-day intensive gives you a new system, built on the three capabilities design leadership runs on:
Taste: the eye to know what "good" is and the language to defend it
Judgment: the calls about people, priorities, and quality that can't be delegated
Influence: the case for design the business acts on
Build in the room:
🎓 Your Leadership Philosophy and Design POV
💬 A Stakeholder Influence Plan
📆 Your First 90 Days, whatever your tenure
Get a preview: What Good Look Like, the free quality rubric that previews the system we build on together.
What you’ll learn
Sharpen the judgement, defend the standard, and make the case for design as a strategic leader.
Name what you actually stand for as a design leader. Your POV, not a borrowed one.
Turn "I'll know it when I see it" into a standard your team can be held to.
Stay close to the work and shape the output without becoming the bottleneck.
Coach and develop ICs and managers at every level.
Run better 1:1s and feedback, and build psychological safety alongside a high bar.
Decide what's worth your team's time, what's "good enough," and when to step in.
Make the case for design in language executives act on.
Build stronger partnerships with Product and Engineering.
Lead through alignment and strategic thinking rather than authority.
Workshop agenda
Opening: The Leadership Gap
Why great designers stall when they step into leadership, and the three capabilities that close the gap. Set your intention for the session.
Taste: Define and Defend the Bar
The shift from best designer in the room to the person who can name what "good" is and make it stick. Write your leadership POV and work on a real example.
Break
15 minutes
Judgement: Develop People and Decide What Matters
Apply coaching frameworks for ICs and managers at every level, build psychological safety and trust, and get clear on where your attention actually belongs. Practice a real coaching conversation.
Influence: Make the Case for Design
Make the case for design in business terms that earn executive alignment, and build a stakeholder plan that strengthens cross-functional partnerships.
Break
10 minutes
Leadership Hot Seats & Coaching
Unfiltered discussion of what you're actually navigating, structured peer exchange, and live hot-seat coaching on the situations you brought with you.
Closing: Your 90-Day Leadership Plan
Turn the session into one concrete, personal action plan you can put to work immediately.
Learn directly from Amanda
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Amanda George
Product Design Executive | Former Design Leader at Zillow and Meta
Who this workshop is for
The Curious Senior Designer
You're great at the craft. Now you're wondering if people leadership is the next chapter.The Newly Placed Manager
You're in the role but still finding your way, and you're ready to trade winging it for a real framework.The Experienced Manager
You've led for years and you're effective, but you want sharper tools for some of the hardest parts of the job.
What's included
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Live sessions
Learn directly from Amanda George in a real-time, interactive format.
Leadership Toolkit
A quality rubric to hold the bar, a critique system and a course workbook that outlines your plan of action.
Lifetime access
Go back to course content and recordings whenever you need to.
Community of peers
Stay accountable and share insights with like-minded professionals.
Certificate of completion
Share your new skills with your employer or on LinkedIn.
Maven Guarantee
Your purchase is backed by the Maven Guarantee.
Free resource
Become the Design Leader Your Team Needs Now
How great leaders set a quality bar their teams can meet
Three practical ways to define quality without becoming the bottleneck.
What taste actually is (and why AI can't replace it)
Why the real differentiator in an AI-driven design world isn’t output, it’s judgment.
How to build a culture where craft still matters
How strong standards and psychological safety work together to produce better work.
Testimonials
Amanda is an inspiring, impactful leader who always leads with craft, quality, and the customer in mind. During my time at Zillow, I saw her take on a remarkable scope, develop systems to scale the impact of design across the company and build a high performing team that everyone wanted to join. You'll benefit from the far reaching impact of her leadership, grow your customer and business impact and as well as your overall career.
Loe Lee
Design Leader @ Vanta, Ex-Zillow, HubspotI've worked alongside Amanda as a partner, and what I keep coming back to is her drive and her instinct for what matters. She'll deliver high-quality work under an impossible squeeze without a single complaint, and she'll proactively raise the hard, important questions no one else is asking — then do the work to move them forward. She's the kind of partner and leader you're lucky to have. Anyone who gets to learn from her will be better for it.
Tim Riley
Sr. Director @ Zillow, Ex-Warby Parker
Frequently asked questions
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