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Design Leadership: Five must-read books
On-demand book-based courses for new product design leaders
With the number of startups increasing worldwide, senior and principal designers are getting into first-time managerial positions. It is both incredible and scary. It is because startups need good people more than big companies. Startups are trying to lure good people by providing opportunities and perks that big companies cannot.
But unfortunately, first-time managers are never given formal training as to how they can become good managers. It is the scariest part for the first-time manager as well as the organization. The manager has no idea how to perform the duties of a design leader. Somewhere, they are still fighting the guilt of not designing interfaces on their favorite tool. Some ways to counter first-timers' doubt of effective managing are reading a book, asking leaders on Twitter, and scheduling mentorship sessions via ADPList or LinkedIn.
One of the most recommended books to read is The Making of a Manager Julie Zhuo. I firmly believe that this is the "The Design of Everyday Things" book for first-time managers. But beyond this, there are some more books that first-time design managers can tap into to drive daily inspirations to work. Here are some of the titles that are a super shot read for all new design managers —
Liftoff!: Practical Design Leadership to Elevate Your Team, Your Organization, and You
By Chris Avore and Russ Unger
This book is a guide to level up as a design manager and leader, relevant for any organizational hierarchy. It explains everything via an experience-driven approach which designers write for designers. This book will help individuals help to hire, scale teams, develop careers, and learn why diversity matters to their business. An organization can also benefit from solidifying design's role and other scaling design practices through a design leader. This book is about leading teams and companies to new levels.
