Reflections on Leadership through Design for America
Design for America is a national network of design studios at universities that focus on using the design process to innovate within their local communities. At the University of Cincinnati, we’ve worked on projects from children’s museum exhibits to education on sex and gender-based violence on campus. We work with community partners to help actualize positive change amongst our fellow students, community members, and citizens. I started with DFA during my first semester of college, and have continued with the organization ever since. I began as a team member working on a medical project, and truthfully had a few qualms with my team lead. My frustration inspired me to become a team lead, and as I saw more opportunities for the organization, I began taking on studio leadership tasks as well. Soon I found myself splitting my time between team leadership and studio leadership, managing the activities of my immediate team as well as overseeing the operations of the studio at large. To work on my leadership skills, I attended Design for America’s national leadership conference in 2016 and again in 2017.
In trying to improve myself as a leader, I really focused in on becoming more efficient, learning how to balance multiple roles better, and learning to engage students more deeply in the work. Throughout the year, I became much better at delegating work. By paying close attention to my teammates interests, I would try to find an area their passionate about and cultivate an expertise over that. I’ve gotten better at picking up on my peer’s interests, and can more quickly and efficiently delegate out work. I’ve come to love meetings by finally learning how to efficiently run them. I can’t step away without a solid decision made and firm next steps. As far as learning to balance competing roles, a lot of that has come down to better compartmentalization, and being able to focus more deeply on task at a time. A lot of that was simply learned on co-op. As an organization, we also made huge leaps and bounds. Every DFA project is now tied to a strong community partner, something we had previously had difficulty facilitating before. Teams would often develop concepts in isolation, but without the practicality of having a partner to implement it with. Our new partners have truly enjoyed working with us throughout the semester, and many expressed the desire to continue working with us in the future. The core of this success came from setting up community partners before the semester even started, so that we knew exactly which projects we’d be working on. This new method truly set students up for success when it came to their projects.
For the future of the organization, I’d like to develop a larger leadership team to better decentralize studio leadership responsibilities. I also believe that working more with industry professionals and mentors can help students better understand the practicality of the skills they’re developing. A broader professional network will also anchor us even more firmly in the Cincinnati non-profit scene. For myself, I’ve come away from this year with a much firmer understanding of the design process, as well as how to teach it. I’ve learned to focused my efforts on empowering the people around me by trying to cultivate their leadership potential. Ultimately, I've become a better leader, and am looking forward to continuing my role throughout my collegiate career.
In trying to improve myself as a leader, I really focused in on becoming more efficient, learning how to balance multiple roles better, and learning to engage students more deeply in the work. Throughout the year, I became much better at delegating work. By paying close attention to my teammates interests, I would try to find an area their passionate about and cultivate an expertise over that. I’ve gotten better at picking up on my peer’s interests, and can more quickly and efficiently delegate out work. I’ve come to love meetings by finally learning how to efficiently run them. I can’t step away without a solid decision made and firm next steps. As far as learning to balance competing roles, a lot of that has come down to better compartmentalization, and being able to focus more deeply on task at a time. A lot of that was simply learned on co-op. As an organization, we also made huge leaps and bounds. Every DFA project is now tied to a strong community partner, something we had previously had difficulty facilitating before. Teams would often develop concepts in isolation, but without the practicality of having a partner to implement it with. Our new partners have truly enjoyed working with us throughout the semester, and many expressed the desire to continue working with us in the future. The core of this success came from setting up community partners before the semester even started, so that we knew exactly which projects we’d be working on. This new method truly set students up for success when it came to their projects.
For the future of the organization, I’d like to develop a larger leadership team to better decentralize studio leadership responsibilities. I also believe that working more with industry professionals and mentors can help students better understand the practicality of the skills they’re developing. A broader professional network will also anchor us even more firmly in the Cincinnati non-profit scene. For myself, I’ve come away from this year with a much firmer understanding of the design process, as well as how to teach it. I’ve learned to focused my efforts on empowering the people around me by trying to cultivate their leadership potential. Ultimately, I've become a better leader, and am looking forward to continuing my role throughout my collegiate career.