Models for Rockwell’s The Gossips — 1948 (Photo taken by author)

A shift happens when you move from working as an individual contributor to serving as a UX leader. It’s a radically different way of working; the change trips many people up.

Individual contributors are told what to work on next. The individual contributor’s manager or team lead assigns a new project, and the individual contributor works on it. Then the individual contributor gets another assignment, and they finish that.

UX leaders don’t work like individual contributors. They don’t wait for an assignment. Instead, they look for projects where they can add the most value. And they start working on them.

UX leaders make a shift from working tactically to working strategically. It’s a significant change. However, it’s where they can add the most value to their organization.

Don’t get me wrong. Tactical work is valuable, for sure. Without someone doing the tactical UX work, nothing would get done.

Without also doing strategic work, those things never get better. That’s a huge difference.

You don’t have to wait to become a UX leader.

UX managers are different from UX leaders. The organization makes someone a manager to ensure their team works effectively — an important function.

The organization doesn’t appoint leaders. Instead, a leader becomes a leader the moment they get a follower. Followers can come from anywhere. They look to the new leader to drive change in the organization.

UX leaders are people who have a vision for change. They see a different future for the organization. A future where the organization is producing better designs, using better processes, and delivering better user experiences. They’re working on strategy — shifting the organization to be better.

When someone becomes a leader, it’s because others in the organization believe in that leader’s vision of the future. Those followers are now ready to be led. They want to contribute what they can to make the change happen.

It can be jarring when you become a UX leader.

After a leader gets followers excited about their vision, they need to shift away from working…