Workshop

From Designer to Leader: Design Leadership Foundations

Amanda George

Product Design Leader | Zillow, Meta

Become the manager your team deserves.

The quality of a manager has an enormous impact on whether people thrive, grow, and stay engaged at work. Yet most design managers begin the same way: they were exceptional designers, earned a promotion, and suddenly found themselves leading people without ever being taught how.

Great design skills don't automatically prepare you to coach others, navigate difficult conversations, influence strategy, or build a high-performing team. Most new managers lead on instinct, reviewing every file, solving every problem, and carrying every decision themselves.

It doesn't have to be that way.

In this live half-day workshop, you'll learn the practical leadership systems that help you build trust, raise design quality, influence stakeholders, and create an environment where your team can do the best work of their careers.

You'll leave with:
🎓 Your Leadership Philosophy
🌱 A Coaching & Feedback Framework
📝 1:1 Meeting Template
💪🏾 Team Critique Template
🎨 Quality Rubric
💬 Stakeholder Influence Plan
📆 90-Day Leadership Action Plan
📚 Designer-to-Leader Transition Checklist

What you’ll learn

Lead your team with confidence, raise the bar on design quality, and earn your seat at the table as a strategic design leader.

  • Define the values and principles that shape how you lead.

  • Make the mindset shift from individual contributor to leader.

  • Build a leadership philosophy that earns trust and creates consistency.

  • Run more effective 1:1s and coaching conversations.

  • Deliver feedback that helps designers grow.

  • Build psychological safety while maintaining high expectations.

  • Create critique rituals, quality standards, and decision-making frameworks your team can own.

  • Stay connected to the work without micromanaging it.

  • Scale your influence instead of becoming the person everyone waits on.

  • Communicate design in language executives understand.

  • Build stronger partnerships with Product and Engineering.

  • Lead through influence, alignment, and strategic thinking rather than authority.

Workshop agenda

  • Opening: Why Great Designers Struggle as New Managers

    Why great designers stall when they step into leadership, and the four foundations that close the gap. Set your intention for the session.

  • Build Your Leadership Philosophy

    The shift from best designer in the room to the leader the room needs starts with knowing what you stand for. Define your leadership values and principles.

  • Develop People with Intention

    The strongest design leaders develop people deliberately. Apply coaching frameworks to develop ICs and managers at every level, and build the conditions for psychological safety, trust.

  • Break

    15 minutes

  • Raise the Bar Without Becoming the Bottleneck

    Leaders are expected to shape the deliverable, not just manage it. Stay hands-on and hold a clear point of view while building quality rituals and rubrics your team can own and run.

  • Influence Beyond Your Team

    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

Amanda George

Amanda George

Contact

Product Design Executive | Former Design Leader at Zillow and Meta

Led teams at
Zillow
Meta
Equinox
R
Huge
See all products from Amanda

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. You're leading on instinct and ready for a real framework.

  • The Experienced Manager
    You've been leading for a while. You're effective, but you know there's another level to reach.

What's included

Amanda George

Live sessions

Learn directly from Amanda George in a real-time, interactive format.

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.

Manager Toolkit

Includes a downloadable Manager Toolkit with resources for providing feedback, 1:1 and team crit templates, a quality rubric and a Designer to Design Leader checklist.

Certificate of completion

Share your new skills with your employer or on LinkedIn.

Maven Guarantee

Your purchase is backed by the Maven Guarantee.

Frequently asked questions

Maven for Teams

Reimbursement

Get your company to pay

Everything L&D needs: email template, receipts, and certificate of completion.

Get reimbursed

Team discount

Learn with your teammates

Save 20%+ when 2 or more teammates enroll in the same cohort.

Save 20%+ with a team

Private cohort

Run a cohort for your org

A dedicated cohort with a custom schedule and curriculum, tailored to your team.

Book a private cohort

$650

USD

Aug 4
·

12–4pm EDT

Enroll