Beyond UX Design

Leadership Without the Ladder: The Myth of the Management Track with Filippos Protogeridis


Listen Later

What if becoming a manager isn’t the upgrade you’ve been led to believe?


What if you could grow your influence and your impact, without giving up the work you actually love doing? In this episode, Filippos Protogeridis shares why traditional UX career ladders don’t always work and how he carved out a leadership path that didn’t require a team of direct reports.


A lot of mid-level and senior designers assume the only way to advance their careers is to become managers. But what if that path isn’t right for you? What if there are better options? In this episode, I talk with Filippos Protogeridis, who shares his journey from founding designer to head of product design at a rapidly growing healthtech startup in London.


Filippos didn’t follow the traditional ladder. Instead of giving up hands-on work, he redefined what leadership looks like for his role, blending vision work, hiring, mentoring, and strategy with the design work he still loves. We talk about why most companies get the “promotion to management” thing all wrong, and how to think more clearly about what you actually want from your next step.


If you’ve been wrestling with questions about growth, leadership, and what it really means to “level up” in UX, this episode is for you. Tune in and rethink what success in design leadership can look like.


Topics:
• 05:00 – Filippos’ Background and Journey
• 06:43 – Challenges in Leadership Transition
• 14:20 – The Importance of Hiring and Letting Go
• 26:33 – Hands-On Leadership and Visioning
• 34:54 – Types of Design Leadership Roles
• 41:42 – Impact of Layoffs on Leadership
• 42:21 – Shift in Hiring Trends
• 43:03 – Lean Management and Hands-On Roles
• 43:47 – Challenges and Opportunities in Hybrid Roles
• 46:21 – Embracing the Founding Designer Mode
• 48:53 – Market Chaos and Its Impact
• 49:38 – Entrepreneurial Mindset in Large Organizations
• 54:58 – Closing Thoughts on Leadership and Followership


Helpful Links:

• Connect with Filippos on LinkedIn

• Designary.com



Thanks for listening! We hope you dug today’s episode. If you liked what you heard, be sure to like and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts! And if you really enjoyed today’s episode, why don’t you leave a five-star review? Or tell some friends! It will help us out a ton.


If you haven’t already, sign up for our email list. We won’t spam you. Pinky swear.


• ⁠⁠Get a FREE audiobook AND support the show⁠⁠

• ⁠⁠Support the show on Patreon⁠⁠

• ⁠⁠Check out show transcripts⁠⁠

• ⁠⁠Check out our website⁠⁠

• ⁠⁠Subscribe on Apple Podcasts⁠⁠

• ⁠⁠Subscribe on Spotify⁠

⁠⁠⁠• ⁠⁠Subscribe on YouTube⁠

⁠⁠⁠• ⁠⁠Subscribe on Stitcher⁠

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Beyond UX DesignBy Jeremy Miller

  • 5
  • 5
  • 5
  • 5
  • 5

5

48 ratings


More shows like Beyond UX Design

View all
How I Built This with Guy Raz by Guy Raz | Wondery

How I Built This with Guy Raz

30,217 Listeners

The Daily by The New York Times

The Daily

111,562 Listeners

Up First from NPR by NPR

Up First from NPR

56,176 Listeners

Creative Confidence Podcast by IDEO U

Creative Confidence Podcast

124 Listeners

Design Better by The Curiosity Department, sponsored by Wix Studio

Design Better

323 Listeners

The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos by Pushkin Industries

The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos

14,389 Listeners

Future of UX | Your Design, Tech and User Experience Podcast | AI Design by Patricia Reiners

Future of UX | Your Design, Tech and User Experience Podcast | AI Design

19 Listeners

The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway by Vox Media Podcast Network

The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway

5,312 Listeners

NN/g UX Podcast by Nielsen Norman Group

NN/g UX Podcast

106 Listeners

Huberman Lab by Scicomm Media

Huberman Lab

28,304 Listeners

Honest UX Talks by Wix Studio by Anfisa Bogomolova & Ioana Teleanu

Honest UX Talks by Wix Studio

40 Listeners

Product Thinking by Melissa Perri

Product Thinking

144 Listeners

Career Strategy Podcast with Sarah Doody | UX, Product Design, UX Research by Sarah Doody from Career Strategy Lab

Career Strategy Podcast with Sarah Doody | UX, Product Design, UX Research

36 Listeners

Prof G Markets by Vox Media Podcast Network

Prof G Markets

1,048 Listeners

How I AI by Claire Vo

How I AI

4 Listeners