26 Leadership Lessons

Every business begins with a founder. As it grows beyond the person who built it, running it takes more than the instincts and vision that got them started. So what comes next?

We asked the founders behind Koto, &Walsh, Pearlfisher, Creative Boom and 22 others, from London to Lima, what they had to learn to keep their businesses growing. Here are their hardest-won lessons.

What’s your biggest leadership lesson from being a founder?

Stefan Sagmeister,
Designer, Founder of Sagmeister Inc.

Stefan founded his New York design studio, Sagmeister Inc., in 1993. A two-time Grammy winner, he has designed album covers for the Rolling Stones, Talking Heads and Lou Reed, and his exhibition The Happy Show became the most visited graphic design show in history.

"My biggest leadership lessons are:
1. The most useful decisions are about what you will not do. 
2. Tenacity matters more than a big idea."

Verònica Fuerte,
Founder of Hey

Verònica founded Hey in Barcelona in 2007. The studio is celebrated for bold colour and geometric simplicity, and its clients include Apple, The New York Times and Uniqlo.

"My biggest lesson is that leadership is something you have to learn. Everything you’ve learned about design and creativity is important, but leading people requires a completely different set of skills. Some things might come naturally, but soft skills, listening, communicating and understanding how to lead different people are things you need to keep working on."

Harry Pearce,
Partner at Pentagram,
Faculty Member at Future London Academy

Harry co-founded Lippa Pearce and ran it for 16 years before joining Pentagram as a partner in 2006. He created the identities for the Royal Academy retrospectives of Ai Weiwei and Anish Kapoor, and has advised WITNESS since 1993.

Jessica Walsh,
Founder of &Walsh

Jessica founded &Walsh in 2019 in New York. It’s a creative agency that helps brands "find their weird", with clients including Apple, Snapchat, Kenzo and Adobe.

"My biggest leadership lesson is that you can't do it all, even if you want to. I learned that the hard way. At one point we grew too fast. We had a lot of demand and took on too many designers at once without the right operational setup. At the same time, I went through something terrible in my family life. I was trying to be creative director, executive producer, head of accounts, copywriter, strategist, new business lead and recruiter. I was spell-checking proposals and redlining contracts. No matter how many hours I worked, it was never enough. I didn't pay enough attention to how team dynamics and feelings of ownership were shifting, and we lost some talented people because of it.

It also changed how I hire. It used to be all about the portfolio. Now it's about half the work and half everything else: strategic thinking, follow-through, communication, how someone handles feedback, and whether they're a good teammate. Talent alone isn't enough to make great work happen at scale."

Cat How,
Co-Founder of How&How

Cat co-founded How&How with her husband in 2020, at the height of the pandemic. Within four years they grew it from a two-person startup into a global branding studio certified as a B Corp.

"I’ve learned over the years that your job isn't to have the best idea in the room. It's to protect the brave one. Wild Thingz [a rebel sweets brand built from scratch by How&How] could easily have ended up another beige health brand. Every instinct in that category pulls you towards playing it safe. The work only happened because the team had the space to go further, and the backing to push the client past their comfort zone.

As a founder, you set the ceiling for how brave your studio can be. So raise it."

Sunny Bonnell & Ashleigh Hansberger,
Co-Founders of Motto®

Sunny and Ashleigh started Motto in a South Carolina warehouse in 2005 with just $250. They grew it into a global branding agency recognised by the Webby Awards and Thinkers50, with clients including Microsoft, Google and Disney.

"One of the biggest lessons is that a leader’s job is to create belief in a future that doesn’t exist yet. People need more than a plan. They need to understand what you see, why it matters and why it’s worth committing themselves to.

We’ve come to think of vision as a form of leadership infrastructure. It shapes the decisions you make, the people you hire, the culture you create and ultimately the brand you build. When vision becomes vague, organisations tend to fragment. When it becomes vivid and shared, people can move with far greater conviction."

John "Sinx" Sinclair,
Co-Founder of ustwo,
Faculty Member at Future London Academy

John “Sinx” Sinclair and Matt “Mills” Miller co-founded ustwo in London in 2004. It’s the digital studio behind the Apple Design Award and BAFTA-winning game Monument Valley which they launched in 2014. The series has since surpassed 160 million downloads..

"My biggest leadership lesson is that it's all about the work. I care deeply about our people, and I'm proud of the culture we've built, but a big part of why people join ustwo is to do great work. As a founder, you can't ever lose sight of that.

One of the most meaningful ways you can care for people is to actually give them the opportunity to do work they're super proud of. That means being clear about where the business is going, bringing in the right opportunities and constantly raising the bar on the quality of what we make."

Christophe Egret,
Founding Director of Studio Egret West,
Faculty Member at Future London Academy

Christophe co-founded Studio Egret West in London in 2004. Now 85 people strong, the practice co-designed the Stirling Prize-shortlisted regeneration of Park Hill in Sheffield and has shaped places from Clapham Library to Mayfield Park in Manchester.

"Care for the heartbeat of the practice, constantly making sure the tempo is positive and creative. A practice is like a human organism and needs to be in a good and healthy state."

Elliott Panam-Moody,
Founder of The Brand Identity

Elliott founded The Brand Identity in 2015 and grew it into one of the most popular design resources, publishing standout projects from the industry.

"My biggest lesson is to relinquish control and trust people. The Brand Identity was based purely on my taste and ways of doing things for its first five years while I ran it on my own, so it's fair to say I was very particular and found it difficult to hand over control when other team members came on board – and was also terrible at explaining myself.

While we are still a very small team without layers of management, understanding that every person on the team can do their specific role better than me has been a game changer."

Caroline Matthews,
Co-Founder of Koto

Caroline co-founded Koto in London in 2015. It is a brand and digital agency, ranked among D&AD’s top design agencies, with clients including Amazon, Google and Netflix.

"I find leadership fascinating, because you never stop learning how to lead. However, the red thread for me is to give people real autonomy. Trust them to lead. And encourage authenticity in the process.

Leadership has therefore been about creating enough shared ambition that other people can find answers you would never have reached yourself. That means being honest about the business’ ambitions and setbacks, as well as opinions, even when it is hard. This includes giving talented people genuine responsibility to help us get to the next stage in our evolution. 

People will approach things differently from you. Often better. It’s something to embrace."

Katy Cowan,
Founding Editor of Creative Boom

Katy founded Creative Boom in Manchester in 2009. Today it is a leading independent art and design platform, dedicated to supporting and inspiring creative people everywhere.

"My biggest lesson is that leadership doesn't have to mean building a big team. I've deliberately kept Creative Boom small and worked with brilliant freelancers rather than hiring, and it's taught me that leading is really about being clear on what you stand for and then trusting good people to be part of that.

The other lesson is slower and less glam: consistency beats anything else. Showing up every week for 17 years is why I'm still here. That, and sticking to our original mission: to celebrate and inspire creatives, and offer a sanctuary away from the madness of creative life."

Kristy Campbell,
Founder of Pink Pony Creative

Kristy founded Pink Pony Creative in 2019 in Auckland after a 100-day Instagram design challenge. The branding and packaging agency works with ambitious brands that are courageous enough to become what they were always meant to be.

And it's really fun to scale a business and share the success with others. Celebrating with people is always so much better. I’ll be honest though, having a team comes with its own challenges, but the rewards are so much larger. Even more so now as a mother. The business kept running while I was on maternity leave, and it still does on the days I need to leave a little earlier to pick up my son.

So my biggest lesson from being a founder is to let go of doing it all yourself. The right team doesn't dilute your vision, it takes it further than you ever could alone."

Mike Branson,
Founding Partner of Pearlfisher,
Faculty Member at Future London Academy

Mike co-founded Pearlfisher in 1992. It's a brand design agency that builds the world's most desirable brands, including Cadbury and Coca-Cola.

"My biggest lesson is the art of letting go without losing what matters. Founders begin with a deep conviction about why their business should exist and what it could become. I’ve learned that, as the business evolves, the founder must evolve too – moving from doing to enabling, to stewarding, while remaining clear about the purpose, values and standards that should endure.

If you never let go, genuine succession cannot happen. But letting go is not simply withdrawing, it requires care, judgement and timing, so that what matters is understood and carried forward. Letting go does not mean caring less. It means creating the space, authority and confidence for others to lead – and accepting that they may do so differently from you."

Sylvester Chauke,
Founder of DNA Brand Architects

Sylvester founded DNA Brand Architects in Johannesburg in 2012. It's Apple Music’s PR agency of record in Africa and was the only African agency on Adweek’s list of the world’s fastest-growing agencies.

"I learned that it doesn't necessarily get easier as the business gets bigger.

When I started DNA 14 years ago, I assumed the startup years would be the hardest. You are building something from nothing, finding clients, finding people, establishing credibility and trying to survive.

The last two years have probably humbled me more than the first 12.

My biggest lesson has therefore been that growth requires the founder to keep growing too. You cannot lead the company you have today with exactly the same thinking that built the company you had five years ago. Every new stage requires a sharper, more disciplined and sometimes completely different version of you."

Kate Shepherd,
Co-Founder of The Future Collective

Kate co-founded The Future Collective in 2019, building it around a manifesto: “Design for Better”. The B Corp-certified creative consultancy works with clients including Audi and Oracle.

"I learned leadership the hard way, often from being on the receiving end of poor leadership. Those battle scars taught me everything I didn't want to become. So when we founded TFC, we promised that nobody would be crying in the toilets because of the way they were treated at work. But, if I'm honest, the pendulum may have swung too far the other way.

Through our Leadership Futures research with Henley Business School, I've heard C-suite leaders say again and again that empathy and emotional intelligence are now central to great leadership. But empathy without clarity isn't enough. People deserve to feel supported, and they also deserve to know what's expected of them, where they stand, and when something isn't working.

Clarity is one of the kindest things a leader can offer."

Roman Stikkelorum,
Co-Founder of Verve

Roman co-founded Verve in The Hague in 2007 while still a student at the Royal Academy of Art. What began as a student start-up is now a digital-first agency working with Miro, citizenM and Unilever, and was named Agency of the Year at the European Design Awards in 2018 and 2022.

"My biggest lesson is to trust your gut twice. Once when you pick the people, and once when you leave them alone.

After almost 20 years, you develop a nose for talent. You feel it in a couple of conversations. I've learned to trust that instinct instead of arguing it away with spreadsheets.

The second part is harder. Once you've picked great people, you have to actually let them be great. That means guardrails, a big stage, and then keeping your hands in your pockets. Early on, I wanted to touch everything, and all it did was make brilliant people smaller. These days I see it this way: if I have to manage you closely, one of us made a mistake. Usually me, during the hiring."

Kelly Mackenzie,
Founder of White Bear

Kelly founded White Bear in 2015 and led it to Creativepool’s Small Agency of the Year title in 2022. That year, she was also named one of Startups Magazine’s Top 22 Female Founders.

"Your team is everything.

In more than 10 years of running White Bear, I’ve hired some incredible people and, if I’m being truthful, a few people I probably shouldn’t have.

The best people I’ve hired have also taught me to let go. As a creative founder, that can be incredibly difficult. White Bear was my baby, and for a long time I felt I needed my fingerprints on everything. Hiring brilliant people and actually trusting them to fly freed me up to do the things the business needed from me next: build our profile, bring in brilliant clients and nurture the team.

The flip side of all of this has been learning not to let the wrong people overstay their welcome. I’ve done that before because I wanted things to work out, and it was a serious lesson. One person rowing in a different direction can affect an entire team.

So my biggest leadership lesson is probably this: hire brilliant humans, not just brilliant CVs. Trust them enough to give them real freedom, invest in the relationships between them, and when someone isn't right for the team, don't wait too long to act."

Thierry Brunfaut,
Co-Founder of Base Design,
Faculty Member at Future London Academy

Thierry co-founded Base Design in Brussels in 1993 and grew it into an international studio with offices in New York, Geneva and Melbourne that works for Apple, MoMA and Chanel.

Claudia Boggio,
Founding Partner of Infinito,
Alumna of the Executive Programme at Future London Academy

Claudia co-founded Infinito in Lima in 2005. The Peruvian branding consultancy has won more than 20 international awards, including Pentawards, and now has offices in Lima, Madrid and Stockholm.

"My biggest leadership lesson has been learning how to lead other leaders – the people who now lead the company alongside me. In the beginning, I led by doing: designing, solving problems and staying close to every detail. As Infinito grew, that approach became limiting. I had to move from being the person with the answers to creating the conditions for others to make good decisions and lead in their own way.

This transition has required me to let go of control without losing direction, trust perspectives different from my own and be much more intentional about clarity, communication, and alignment. I’ve also learned that my energy affects the entire team. Leadership is not only about the decisions I make, but also how I listen, respond to uncertainty, and create space for others."

Tyson Stenglein,
Co-Founder of Space Between,
Alumnus of the Executive Programme at Future London Academy

Tyson went from AFL premiership winner with West Coast to co-founding the Melbourne studio Space Between in 2010. Its creative partners include Nike, Virgil Abloh, Maison Margiela and Valentino.

"Before entering the creative industry, I was a professional athlete, and one lesson has stayed with me: you can only control what you can control. As a founder, there will always be external noise and circumstances you can’t change. I’ve learned to put my energy into the decisions I can influence, how I respond and how I support the people around me.

Running a business has added another perspective I live by: things are rarely as good – or as bad – as they seem. That’s helped me keep a level head through both the highs and the difficult periods. When things are going well, it reminds me to stay grounded and keep planning. When they’re challenging, it gives me the perspective to work through the problem without letting it become all-consuming.

Together, those ideas have shaped how I lead. My job is to bring clarity and steadiness, so the team can focus on doing great work."

Kerry Bolt,
Co-Founder of B&B studio

Kerry co-founded B&B studio in London in 2009. The agency behind the Isle of Wight Tomatoes. and Pip & Nut won the DBA Design Effectiveness Grand Prix in both 2014 and 2024.

"My biggest lesson is that nothing stays the same, and there's no formula.

As a founder, you have to expect the unexpected and keep adapting. The business changes, people change, clients change and the world around you changes. What worked before won't necessarily be what the business needs next.

You get more comfortable with that over time. Rather than waiting for the point where everything's figured out, you accept that change is simply part of leading a business."

Tamara Parraguez,
Founder of Love&Fear,
Alumna of the Executive Programme at Future London Academy

Tamara founded Love&Fear in Santiago, drawing on 16 years of turning brands into emotional ecosystems that don't just sell, they resonate.

"Becoming a founder changes your entire life. Your brain shifts into a mode you can't undo. I've always seen the big picture before the details, but after three years of running my own studio, one of my biggest dreams, I now live with one foot in the present and the other in the future.

You become a pattern detector. Everything connects back to your business somehow: politics, new music, technology, the climate crisis. All of it shapes how society evolves and how people behave, and if it doesn't affect you directly, it will affect your clients. It might sound overwhelming, but I love it, because it pushes me to be creative and strategic in new ways."

Sam Bompas,
Co-Founder of Bompas & Parr,
Faculty Member at Future London Academy

Sam co-founded Bompas & Parr with Harry Parr in London in 2007. They grew it from a two-person jelly operation into a food and experience design studio whose clients include Coca-Cola and LVMH, best known for pioneering "architectural jelly".

"Abraham Lincoln is supposed to have said 'The best way to predict the future is to make it.' We turn it on its head – and make the future by predicting it."

Emily Heyward,
Co-Founder of Red Antler

In 2007, Emily co-founded Red Antler, the New York branding agency behind Casper, Allbirds and Hinge. She was named one of Entrepreneur’s Most Powerful Women in 2019.

"My biggest lesson has been to hire people who know more than you do in the areas that are not your expertise, and trust them to do what they do best. Hire them even before you feel like you can afford to hire them. I firmly believe every founder is only as good as the team they build around themselves."

Kate Dawkins,
Founder of Kate Dawkins Studio

Kate founded Kate Dawkins Studio in 2015. Her work spans the giant 360° “audience pixels” of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Ceremonies, Elton John’s Las Vegas show and the Platinum Jubilee.

"One of the biggest lessons of being a founder is trusting your own judgement.

Being a solo founder has its moments! Most of the time, you have to find the answers yourself, without someone alongside you to reassure you. That’s when I draw on the experience I’ve built over years of doing the work: asking questions, solving problems, and seeing ideas through to delivery.

Listening to others, keeping an open mind and being challenged are essential parts of leadership. But ultimately, the decision rests with me. I have to trust my judgement and be strong in my convictions, because those decisions shape both the work and the future of the studio."

Augustinas Paukštė,

Co-Founder of andstudio

Augustinas co-founded andstudio in Vilnius in 2016 with Domas Mikšys. In ten years it has become one of the Baltics’ leading design studios, working with IKEA, NordVPN and Puma, and winning ADC Europe and European Design Awards.

"Don’t become the bottleneck.

As a founder, your instinct is to protect quality by being involved in everything. But at some point leadership becomes the opposite – building a team that can make great decisions without you. I’m still learning this one."

This article was created to celebrate Creative and Design Leaders who build businesses that last.

Thank you to our amazing Executive Programme faculty and brilliant founders from around the world for sharing their insights.