Every time I advanced in my career, from senior to lead to principal, I can trace it back to the same thing. Not talent. Not timing. Not who I knew.
Agency.
The opportunities are already there. The resources, the people, the projects. They’re sitting right in front of you. But none of it matters if you don’t reach for it.
Every leap came because I got uncomfortable with something, looked at it honestly, and asked myself: How do I solve this? Then I went for it. As hard as I could. It takes an incredible amount of energy. The payoff is almost never instant. But those bursts of energy always translate into some form of success.
If you don’t know something, you go learn it. You don’t wait to be taught.
If you want to do something, you find a way to do it. You don’t wait for permission.
If you need help, you find someone who can unblock you. You don’t wait for someone to show up.
Early in my career, agency is what got me ahead. I saw what needed to happen and I moved.
As I grew, I started recognizing it in others. When you find people with agency, you align with them. Two or more people with complementary skill sets, mutual urgency, and shared incentives is a powerful thing. You don’t have to push. You don’t have to convince. You just move together. When you find those people, hold on to them. That’s how the best work gets done.
Now, as a principal, my job is to foster it. Help early career designers see the opportunities sitting right in front of them. Teach them to recognize the moment when they can step up and own something. Train them to seize it. Agency isn’t something people are born with. It’s something you can unlock in others. That’s the gift that compounds more than any skill you could teach.
And right now, agency has never mattered more.
AI workflows are taking over. It can be overwhelming. What we design is changing. How we design is changing. Our jobs as designers are evolving in real time. But here’s the thing: the core design knowledge is durable. How to think about problems, how to understand people, how to make decisions in ambiguity. None of that goes away. How you apply it is just different now.
This is an agency moment. You can sit back and wait for someone to tell you how your role fits into the new world. Or you can go figure it out. Learn the tools. Build with them. Shape how design works from here. The designers who thrive through this shift may not be the most talented. They’ll be the ones who moved first.
You can put someone in front of every opportunity, hand them the tools, clear the path. But they have to take the first step. The best leaders make people want to take it.
Take agency.