Design Leader Accelerator
Rise in your Design Career: Build your confidence & skills, then create your path from craft leader to business leader.
This course is no longer available.
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Course overview
Unblock your Growth in Design Leadership
Product, UX & Content Design folks seeking to grow and enhance their leadership practice, welcome home! This course, community and live coaching sessions are your guide to stepping into the Leader you aspire to be.
Leading teams is a "what got you here" (craft, leading the work) "won't get you there" (leading through others, business results, visionary leadership) moment for many – especially as you scale.
It's my mission to demystify what is needed to be seen as a business leader and be known for excellence in craft AND in leadership.
From imposter syndrome → confidence
From overwhelmed → organized focus
From tactical work → strategic influence
From feeling stuck → career plan
Shift from feeling isolated and overwhelmed, to feeling confident and centered in this supportive environment led by sought after coach Alison Gretz.
The course lasts 8 weeks, with one self-paced module and a live cohort call weekly. We'll will dig into the 4 common sticking points that hold Design Leaders back as they step up to management and then evolve to Director+.
It's by building key muscles and overcoming these sticking points, while also grounding in your own authentic leadership style that will further you as a leader.
Does this sound familiar?
01
I'm ready to scale up to Director, but I'm feeling stuck and blocked from receiving the opportunities to promote up. How do I grow?
02
I'm a Director of Content Design, but I'm feeling out of my depth and need to up-level my soft skills expertise.
03
I want to lead in Design with authenticity and impact – is this possible while still being a respected boss?
04
I'm struggling with imposter syndrome, and my tough stakeholder relationships are causing burnout.
Walk away with the soft skills needed to grow in Design Leadership
Coaching and advice on your leadership journey
Direct and frequent access to accredited coach + executive Design Leader Alison Gretz alongside a supportive peer group.
Ability to overcome the top 4 pitfalls of design leadership
Learn about common pitfalls to avoid, in a space where you can ask questions and identify key blockers or bumps that are in your way.
Leading in alignment to your values
Define and explore how you will show up as a human-centered leader.
Expand your Toolkit with Workbooks, Frameworks & Tools
Each week, Alison will share a value-packed workbook and video/audio recording. Since you get life-time access, many students utilize our frameworks for months and years!
Design Your Next roadmapping and goals
You'll leave the course with a clear path forward, broken down into actionable steps.
What’s included
Live sessions
Learn directly from Alison Gretz in a real-time, interactive format.
Lifetime access
Go back to course content and recordings whenever you need to.
Community of peers
Stay accountable and share insights with like-minded professionals.
Certificate of completion
Share your new skills with your employer or on LinkedIn.
Maven Guarantee
This course is backed by the Maven Guarantee. Students are eligible for a full refund up until the halfway point of the course.
Course syllabus
9 live sessions • 11 lessons • 18 projects
Week 1
Sep
15
Design Leader Accelerator LIVE Kickoff
Sep
17
Session 1
1: Beginning With You
To create a plan for skill development in this course, we will start by assessing your current position. Using various tools, you will evaluate your current values, feedback, and consider the future state you are aiming to achieve.
Week 2
Sep
24
Session 2
2: Setting the Stage
Zooming out and considering the influencing factors at the company-wide, industry-wide, and macro levels allows us to understand the context in which our path forward exists. This enables us to identify and address any blockers or potential issues that may arise.
Week 3
Oct
1
Session 3
3: Leading Through Others
Our first Sticking Point for aspiring leaders is continuously demonstrating the ability to effectively lead others on a larger scale. It requires more than just managing a team; it involves leading the delivery of impact through the successes of others. This shift requires nuance, clarity, and persistence.
Week 4
Oct
8
Session 4
4: Leveraging Your Ecosystem
The second sticky point is network awareness, stakeholder management, and building meaningful partnerships to propel your progress. In this module, we will assess your ecosystem to identify hidden advocates or obstacles, and guide you on how to strategically shape your reputation.
Week 5
Oct
15
Session 5
5: Elevating Your Communication
In this module, we will learn how your communication needs to adapt as you elevate and grow in leadership. This includes adjusting your style, substance, and addressing the appropriate "level" of communication in a room. By becoming aware and intentional of the necessary shift, you can consistently and effectively communicate upwards and with your team.
Week 6
Oct
22
Session 6
6.0: Change by Design
Change is the only constant, and as a leader, you not only set the tone for change, but there will also be times when you initiate and implement changes that impact your team, stakeholders, and network. Alison will share some key principles of change design and how to apply them to the changes in your world.
Week 7
Oct
29
Session 7
7.0: BONUS! Elevating Others
This is a bonus module designed specifically for you to apply your learnings in ways that not only invest in your top talent but also create bandwidth, space, and time for you to focus on the bigger vision and business.
Week 8
Nov
5
Session 8
8.0: Design Your Next
This module consolidates your learnings into a tangible plan for moving forward. It includes priorities for ongoing learning, leveraging your support system, and identifying what you need to achieve your goal.
What students are saying
accelerate your impact, influence and leadership
Meet your instructor
Alison Gretz
Alison Gretz
As a Design Leader, I have led global teams of humans in solving problems and creating solutions for the real world. I've built management teams from the ground up at Target, Shutterfly and Thomson Reuters. I created the first UX Manager position at Target, and then grew those Managers into Leaders who are now Director level and beyond.
Passionate about supporting whole humans at work, I gained an accreditation in coaching to compliment my leadership skills and hung a shingle as Design by Design, LLC.
Human-centered Leadership for Human-centered Leaders
Current Student
Current Student
Flexible Course schedule
1-2 hours per week
Self-paced videos & workbook
You can go at your own pace and jump into topics that are most relevant to your growth ahead of the cohort.
Weekly Group Coaching
live & recorded
Each week, Alison will host a live cohort coaching call where we'll dig into REAL WORLD scenarios and transformation.
Community Q&A
Always on
Alison will host an intimate community where we can tackle more Q&A, weekly AMA topics, and peer mentorship.
Best of both Self-paced and Cohort Learning
Connect with others
Weekly live calls exploring critical topics as a group. Also recorded!
Self-paced for busy professionals
The core content launches weekly, with flexibility to work at your pace.
Access to Alison
Community opportunities from AMA theads, email advice and discounted 1x1 coaching services.