What Design Leadership Actually Looks Like (And It’s Not What You Think)
1.5K views · 2026-05-11
Interaction & UXUI Design
Learn cross-functional product skills at: uxcel.com
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The skill that made you a great designer is almost entirely gone from your calendar the day you become a design lead, and nobody tells you that before you say yes.
In this episode of Modern Skill Stack, we're joined by Lee Jeffery, Design Lead at Sage, one of the UK's largest enterprise software companies, serving millions of business customers across the UK and beyond. Lee has spent over 20 years designing digital products and holds a Level 5 coaching qualification completed through an apprenticeship at Newcastle University, one of the more rigorous formal credentials a practicing design leader can hold. Before Sage, he was a Principal Designer at Auto Trader. He's also the founder of the Natter Community in Manchester, a volunteer-run space connecting designers and technologists at every career stage, from day-one juniors to seasoned leads.
Lee's take is that coaching is the real foundation of leadership, because it's the only skill that changes how you show up in one-to-ones, cross-functional meetings, and every hard conversation you'd rather avoid.
*What you'll learn:*
- Why coaching skills are the real foundation of leadership
- What a design lead's actual week looks like (and what will surprise you)
- How to connect your team's work to business goals without losing them
- The mistake most leaders make with high performers
- How to manage your team's anxiety about AI while staying curious yourself
*Timestamps:*
- 00:00 Intro
- 03:23 The importance of coaching in leadership
- 06:08 Lead designer to design lead transition
- 09:41 Day-in-a-life of a design lead
- 14:17 Connecting design with business goals
- 17:58 Navigating leadership challenges
- 21:35 Personal growth and learning
- 26:32 How to handle difficult conversations
- 28:56 The importance of feedback
- 30:46 Emotional intelligence in leadership
- 33:57 Managing ICs
- 41:06 Impact of AI on design
- 53:35 Outro
*Where to find Lee Jeffery:*
Lee Jeffery — https://www.linkedin.com/in/lee-jeffery/
Coaching: https://leejefferycoaching.co.uk/
Natter Community: https://www.natter.community/
*Resources and tools mentioned:*
- The First 90 Days by Michael Watkins — leadership transition framework; Lee read it when joining Sage and used it to structure his first 90 days like a research plan
- Radical Candor (Kim Scott) — framework for honest, caring feedback; informed Lee's approach to difficult performance conversations
- Daniel Goleman's Six Leadership Styles — model for adapting leadership approach to what each individual needs
- DISC Profile — personality and working-style framework; Lee uses it to understand what different team members need from him
- Figma — primary design tool referenced throughout
- Dovetail — research repository tool mentioned in context of AI-assisted analysis
*Brought to you by Uxcel*
Uxcel is a learning platform used by 500,000+ product professionals and 200+ organizations to build cross-functional skills across UX design, product management, and AI. Learn through short, gamified courses that fit into a working day, earn certifications, and build a portfolio with real-world project briefs. Ranked Top 50 Educational Product worldwide by G2 in 2024 and 2025.
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Production and marketing by Uxcel. Interested in appearing on the Modern Skill Stack podcast? Reach out at partnerships@uxcel.com
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The skill that made you a great designer is almost entirely gone from your calendar the day you become a design lead, and nobody tells you that before you say yes.
In this episode of Modern Skill Stack, we're joined by Lee Jeffery, Design Lead at Sage, one of the UK's largest enterprise software companies, serving millions of business customers across the UK and beyond. Lee has spent over 20 years designing digital products and holds a Level 5 coaching qualification completed through an apprenticeship at Newcastle University, one of the more rigorous formal credentials a practicing design leader can hold. Before Sage, he was a Principal Designer at Auto Trader. He's also the founder of the Natter Community in Manchester, a volunteer-run space connecting designers and technologists at every career stage, from day-one juniors to seasoned leads.
Lee's take is that coaching is the real foundation of leadership, because it's the only skill that changes how you show up in one-to-ones, cross-functional meetings, and every hard conversation you'd rather avoid.
*What you'll learn:*
- Why coaching skills are the real foundation of leadership
- What a design lead's actual week looks like (and what will surprise you)
- How to connect your team's work to business goals without losing them
- The mistake most leaders make with high performers
- How to manage your team's anxiety about AI while staying curious yourself
*Timestamps:*
- 00:00 Intro
- 03:23 The importance of coaching in leadership
- 06:08 Lead designer to design lead transition
- 09:41 Day-in-a-life of a design lead
- 14:17 Connecting design with business goals
- 17:58 Navigating leadership challenges
- 21:35 Personal growth and learning
- 26:32 How to handle difficult conversations
- 28:56 The importance of feedback
- 30:46 Emotional intelligence in leadership
- 33:57 Managing ICs
- 41:06 Impact of AI on design
- 53:35 Outro
*Where to find Lee Jeffery:*
Lee Jeffery — https://www.linkedin.com/in/lee-jeffery/
Coaching: https://leejefferycoaching.co.uk/
Natter Community: https://www.natter.community/
*Resources and tools mentioned:*
- The First 90 Days by Michael Watkins — leadership transition framework; Lee read it when joining Sage and used it to structure his first 90 days like a research plan
- Radical Candor (Kim Scott) — framework for honest, caring feedback; informed Lee's approach to difficult performance conversations
- Daniel Goleman's Six Leadership Styles — model for adapting leadership approach to what each individual needs
- DISC Profile — personality and working-style framework; Lee uses it to understand what different team members need from him
- Figma — primary design tool referenced throughout
- Dovetail — research repository tool mentioned in context of AI-assisted analysis
*Brought to you by Uxcel*
Uxcel is a learning platform used by 500,000+ product professionals and 200+ organizations to build cross-functional skills across UX design, product management, and AI. Learn through short, gamified courses that fit into a working day, earn certifications, and build a portfolio with real-world project briefs. Ranked Top 50 Educational Product worldwide by G2 in 2024 and 2025.
--
Production and marketing by Uxcel. Interested in appearing on the Modern Skill Stack podcast? Reach out at partnerships@uxcel.com