DLS Director is for established design leader positioning themselves for future executive roles.

DLSD Q1 2025

Learn the core principles of effective design leadership in scaled enterprises


Doug Powell


Executive Design Leader, former IBM & Expedia


Design Leadership at Scale: Director

Learn the core principles of effective design leadership in scaled enterprises in this rigorous two-week course for established design leaders positioning themselves for future executive roles. / Course Content /This course will focus on making the transition from leading functional teams or programs, to leading a cross-functional organization with enterprise-wide impact. Content will include:• Identifying your core leadership qualities and superpowers• Mapping your organization and understanding key cross-functional relationships• Learning the signals of mature design organizations• Measuring and articulating the value of design to your business• Increasing your impact and influence across the enterprise This course will deliver a wide range of curricular content through a variety of live and asynchronous learning experiences:• Pre-recorded video lectures• Reading assignments• Live group discussions• Q&amp;A with guest speakers from the industry• Hands-on project work• Collaborative small group working sessions• Office hours for specific questions and deep dives / Time Commitment /The course is a blend of “live” sessions (on zoom), along with asynchronous pre-recorded videos, reading material, and lightweight projects. Most students spend a total of 16-20 hours over the course of the 2 weeks. All sessions are recorded, so it’s usually not a problem to miss a session.

Establish yourself as a leader 


Design Directors&nbsp;leading teams in highly matrixed environments where influence across, up, and down is crucial for success.

Senior Design Managers leading functional teams in complex organizations, and positioning themselves for future roles.

Design Program Managers&nbsp;leading operations across multiple teams.

Who is this course for

What you’ll get out of this course

Understanding of the core principles of design leadership


Examining of the components of mature design organizations


Developing insights into increasing impact and influence to drive business impact


Learning the keys to measuring and articulating the value of design to the business


Provide a brief description for each module as a way to sell the value of what students will be learning throughout the course.

First Module

Second Module

Third Module

Course syllabus

Feedback from DLSD students


Meet your instructor

If your events are recurring and at the same time, it might be easiest to use a single line item to communicate your course schedule to students

Tuesdays & Thursdays

Feel free to type out dates as your title as a way to communicate information about specific live sessions or other events.

May 7, 2022

Schedule items can also be used to convey commitments outside of specific time slots (like weekly projects or daily office hours).

Weekly projects

Course schedule

This course builds on live workshops and hands-on projects

Active hands-on learning

You’ll be interacting with other learners through breakout rooms and project teams

Interactive and project-based

Join a community of like-minded people who want to learn and grow alongside you

Course completed by

About this course

Get notified about the next cohort

Learn from live sessions