In his book – Linchpin: Are you Indispensable? – Seth Godin poses a challenge: Take your gift, whatever it is, and use it to change the world. Godin argues that everyone, me and you (not just the Einsteins of the world), can find a linchpin inside of them that needs to be unleashed. Linchpin according to him is someone who can solve a problem, create a positive change and add a lot of value… Godin stresses the point that linchpins are NOT born with any special gifts – they simply decide what they want to do, go for it and figure out how to get it done along the way.

Linchpin = charm + talent + perseverance

I read this book 10 years ago and believe it is still very relevant today. In a way, these three Linchpin values define a good leader for me. Someone who has natural charisma, someone who is passionate about their work and continuously builds on its talent (by being perseverant).

But what is a good UX leader? I would love to explore it. That’s one of the reasons I have decided to join the Human Deluxe Personal Leadership program: a 4-week Leadership program for women who want to grow beyond limitations and move mountains at their work! I especially loved that this program combines Design, Entrepreneurship, and Psychology: 3 fields that are close and dear to my heart.

Everyone needs to get more comfortable with female leaders – including female leaders themselves – Sheryl Sandberg

I still don’t know where it will lead me (and that’s an exciting part too). To me, this program is not about walking away with an answer to a specific problem, but rather a set of questions to explore on my own or with the help of wonderful women.

Here are a few questions I want to explore:

UX Leadership
How can I become a better leader in the User Experience field and impact the organization I work at? I love advocating for user experience, inspiring people to take action, sharing stories of people who do amazing work in the UX field, and creating a shared UX culture. Let’s explore ways of combining psychology, design, and business to tackle this challenge.

UX Mentorship
How can I make a bigger impact on being a mentor to people in UX field? This year has been big in mentoring junior UX people, advising and helping them progress in their career. At the end of the year, I also was selected as the top 5 Mentor of the year finalists in the Nordic Women in Tech Awards. That was a very positive sign to continue giving back. I love the feeling of leaving your own agenda aside and helping someone see alternative paths to their desired future. So my question is – how can I maximize the impact and grow this passion even more?

Scaling myself and my impact
Energy, time, and skills are not unlimited. I wish I had 48 hours a day to do everything I want, but I think focus and a healthy balance of everything are very important. Sometimes throughout our careers, we face special inflection points and need to reflect on how we can scale the impact we have in a sustainable way. I am on that journey too.

Let’s see where this new adventure leads me! I will be sharing more perspectives about how it goes and what I learn from it. Hope it inspires someone to find their own Linchpin!