Building trust and raising what a team can achieve

The team I inherited

When I began leading Oracle’s global UX team, designers worked largely in silos. There was limited visibility into assignments and progress, and few opportunities to learn from one another or contribute beyond individual projects. Building a stronger team meant establishing shared expectations while developing the relationships and trust needed for collaboration.

It also meant understanding each person. Listening closely helped me learn about their strengths, ambitions, frustrations, and the opportunities they wanted. Those conversations shaped how I approached both the team’s ways of working and each person’s development.

How I lead

My approach starts with seeing potential in people and finding opportunities for them to build on their strengths. Development is most meaningful when people can apply what they learn, take on a new responsibility, and see their contribution make a difference.

That requires a balance of clear expectations and meaningful support. People need to understand what they are accountable for, while knowing they can ask questions, share challenges, and explore new approaches. I worked to create that balance through transparency, regular feedback, and attention to individual growth.

Listening remained central. Understanding what someone needed helped me identify when encouragement, coaching, or a different opportunity could help them move forward. The goal was to help people build confidence and judgment they could carry into increasingly challenging circumstances.

Putting it into practice

Introducing Jira made assignments and progress visible, giving the team a shared foundation for accountability and planning. Regular design reviews created opportunities to see one another’s work, exchange feedback, and contribute beyond individual projects. Designers could draw on the experience of the whole team.

I held workshops, invited presenters to develop technical and business skills, and organized shared reading and discussion. Team members had frequent opportunities to present and learn from one another. These experiences helped them practice communication and storytelling alongside their design expertise, with encouragement to stretch beyond what already felt comfortable.

Relationships needed deliberate attention across a distributed team. Fun Fridays gave us time to play games and get to know one another beyond project work. With many team members based in Hungary, visiting in person helped strengthen trust and deepen my understanding of their experiences.

As AI changed our discipline, that investment in learning became especially valuable. Team members had opportunities to experiment, apply their expertise in new ways, and share their discoveries with broader audiences. I sought opportunities for their work to gain visibility and for them to contribute beyond our immediate team.

What changed

The change extended beyond the approval score. A previously siloed group became more collaborative, sharing work, exchanging feedback, and learning from one another. Team members began to thrive, taking on increasingly complex projects with greater confidence and ease.

Their influence grew alongside their capabilities. Members went on to help lead AI-enabled practices across Oracle’s 1,500-person UX community, presenting new approaches and helping others learn from our experience. Skills developed through workshops, coaching, and practice became strengths they brought to larger conversations and responsibilities.

Direct reports described intentional development and encouragement as defining parts of their experience. One highlighted how opportunities were connected to individual strengths and career goals; another described becoming a stronger public speaker through support and belief in their potential. Their feedback reflected what mattered most to me: people feeling understood, growing in capability, and discovering more of what they could contribute.

Leadership, for me, means seeing the potential in people, helping them build on their strengths, and empowering them to grow and thrive—even in challenging circumstances.