Designing through disruption: Leading with empathy in times of change
Leadership is easy when everything’s going smoothly. But it’s in times of upheaval, when the ground keeps shifting beneath your feet, that your values, instincts, and people skills really get tested.
In this journal entry, I want to share a story that isn’t about flashy design wins or shiny product launches. It’s about something more fundamental: how we kept our team grounded, our work focused, and our culture intact through one of the most turbulent periods of our lives.
As Head of Product Design, I led our team through an unprecedented stretch marked by a global pandemic, two major acquisitions, and three rounds of organisational redundancies. It was a time of change, uncertainty, and challenge, but also of growth, resilience, and quiet victories.
Here’s how we navigated it.
The challenge: When everything changes at once
There wasn’t just one obstacle, there were many, layered on top of each other:
The COVID-19 pandemic shifted us suddenly into remote work, disrupting team dynamics and draining morale.
Two large acquisitions brought new people, new tools, and plenty of operational friction.
Redundancies hit hard, three rounds in total, putting emotional strain on the team and reshaping how we worked.
Business priorities shifted constantly as the company reacted to a volatile market, making it harder to plan and deliver with confidence.
As one of my team put it:
"Navigating such a turbulent time requires balancing the emotional well-being of the team with the practical need to deliver results."
They were right. And that balance became the heartbeat of my leadership approach throughout.
The approach: Resilience, empathy, and strategic focus
We tackled the chaos by leaning into three core pillars:
1. Resilience building
Keeping people informed, connected, and supported.
Transparency: I held regular open forums and AMAs to answer questions and explain the bigger picture. Even when I didn’t have all the answers, I showed up, and that mattered.
Support systems: We introduced flexible work options, partnered with HR to provide mental health resources, and gave people permission to show up as they were, exhausted, confused, uncertain.
We also shared a design team roadmap, not just to show our work, but to show how it helped stabilise the business. That connection between craft and company gave people purpose when they needed it most.
2. Empathy-driven leadership
Putting people before process, and humanity before KPIs.
Check-ins became check-ins: Every week, I made space for conversations that had nothing to do with tickets or timelines. Just “How are you, really?”
Listening actively: We used anonymous pulse surveys to take the temperature of the team and responded to what we heard, whether it was burnout, confusion, or just the need for more virtual face time.
Celebrating the small stuff: A Slack shoutout. A GIF party for a minor release. A moment of recognition in a tough week. Those things carried us forward.
And slowly, confidence came back. People started to own projects again, to speak up in meetings, to show up with new ideas, even when the world outside felt stuck in pause.
3. Strategic alignment
Doing less, but doing it better, and making sure it mattered.
I worked closely with product and executive leadership to refocus our team’s energy on high-impact work, the kind that helped our customers and moved the business forward.
We led integration workshops to merge design practices across legacy and newly acquired teams, establishing shared tools and language.
We created a unified playbook to reduce confusion, align on principles, and streamline decision-making during a time when every hour counted.
It wasn’t glamorous, but it worked. Clarity brought confidence, and confidence brought momentum.
The solution: A culture that could withstand the storm
What we built wasn’t just a design system or a roadmap. It was a resilient, connected, human-centred culture, a team that knew how to support one another, adapt fast, and still ship great work.
Key initiatives included:
Flexible frameworks that supported asynchronous, remote collaboration.
Integrated teams working from a single source of truth, no matter their background.
A culture of care that placed well-being on equal footing with delivery.
As one colleague said:
"The clarity and empathy displayed during this time kept us grounded and focused. It’s a testament to the power of strong leadership."
The impact: Real results, against the odds
Despite everything, we delivered, both emotionally and operationally.
95% of projects delivered on time, even through shifting priorities and team changes.
Two acquired teams successfully integrated, creating a unified, collaborative design culture.
25% improvement in team morale, based on anonymous pulse surveys over six months.
Positive feedback from customers and stakeholders, recognising our ability to adapt to user needs during a rapidly changing landscape.
Strengthened design’s voice at the leadership table, proving the value of empathy-driven, strategic design thinking in business-critical moments.
Reflections & what’s next
This period taught me more about leadership than any book or conference ever could.
Here are the lessons I’ll take forward:
Adaptability is leadership. Not just reacting, but intentionally reshaping how we work and support each other.
Empathy is a strategy. Caring for your people isn’t just nice, it’s productive, powerful, and necessary.
Focus matters. Trying to do everything is a trap. Do the right things well, and let the rest go.
Clarity creates calm. In a storm, people need direction more than perfection.
As we move forward, I’m building long-term strategies around resilience, change management, and well-being. Because this won’t be the last time the ground shifts. But with the right culture, the right systems, and the right leadership, we’ll be ready.
If you’ve been through something similar, or if you’re building design teams to thrive in uncertain times, I’d love to compare notes.
