When we think about the challenges of making games we tend to focus on elements of the craft like gameplay design, technical artistry, and engineering. It’s easy to forget the even more fundamental challenge that arches over all of these details: the challenge of leadership. Great leaders amplify the reach and confidence of their teams with communication, respect, and strong purpose; bad leaders can squander strong ideas by allowing chaos to infiltrate the process. So: what makes for a great creative leader? At the 2017 Game Developer’s Conference, respected game designer and studio leader Jesse Schell articulated a striking answer to this question in his talk, “Game Studio Leadership: You Can Do It.” On Episode 19 of Vertical Slice we’re discussing our reactions to Schell’s excellent talk, and deepening our understanding of what it really means to lead a creative team.