Senior managers in large practices who become remote from the running of projects become less effective, believes Kirsten Lees, the managing partner of Grimshaw’s London studio. "At Grimshaw it is all about the projects," she states.
All of the company’s 19 partners continue to be practising architects. For Lees, leadership is something that evolves out of what you do every day – running a project in a timely and appropriate way.
"Moving to a senior management position grows and overlaps with what you have done at project level," she adds, "but you have to learn to look more strategically at what’s coming around the corner. It’s about clarity, communication and protecting the office."
Lees will speaking about 'Learning to Lead' on the first day of this year’s RIBA Future Leaders programme, Developing a Leadership Mindset, on 28 March.
She cautions against being too hands-on as a leader. "I was micro-managing at the beginning," she admits. "You have to learn to move away from that and trust others. You have to focus more on project reviews and key milestones, and encourage others to take decisions."
"We design though teamwork," Lees affirms. "Good ideas can come from everyone, so we have to make sure we are listening."
Her faith in her colleagues is reciprocated: Lees became a managing partner following a unanimous selection vote by fellow partners. Elections for managing partners take place every three years and, in presidential fashion, only two consecutive terms are allowed.
Lees has set herself three key objectives for her tenure as managing partner.
The first is to maintain the highest quality of design and innovation and not to simply rest on the company’s laurels. Grimshaw does not have a recognisable style, Lees explains, and still takes a "first principles" approach to its new projects.
The second is to sustain a genuine diversity of projects in terms of sectors, location and scale, and diversity in the design teams that work on them. And the third is office culture: Lees wants to foster a climate that allows everyone to bring their best to work every day while being truly collaborative.
Lees was responsible for drafting guidance for Grimshaw’s Women in Architecture group. It is committed to providing day-to-day support for female staff in areas such as recruitment and parenting, and ensuring equal opportunities at all career levels.
She has long been an active mentor for female architects, and is involved in the Equilibrium Network. It brings together women from across the built environment to promote gender equality and identify actions that can make a tangible difference to diversity in construction firms.
"I think it is fantastic that there is so much of an agenda now in the industry, with everyone looking at what they can do," she enthuses. "It has been interesting to learn about other professions too. We are in a very different place to engineering, for instance, where there are still barriers to entry. But architecture still has a long way to go."
Future Leaders is a three-part programme, consisting of three half-day events at two-month intervals, designed to provide early career professionals with a comprehensive introduction to leadership. All events take place at the RIBA, 66 Portland Place, London W1B 1AD. The first event has sold out but you can join the waiting list by emailing practice@riba.org.
Developing a Leadership Mindset on 28 March 2019 (sold out)
Leading Teams on 16 May 2019
Leading Change on 18 July 2019
Thanks to Kirsten Lees, Managing Partner, Grimshaw Architects.
Text by Neal Morris. This is a Professional Feature edited by the RIBA Practice team. Send us your feedback and ideas
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Posted on 28 February 2019.
