Bridging Gaps

Organizations promote individuals who have demonstrated expertise, judgment, reliability, and a willingness to take on more responsibility. But the skills that made you successful as an individual contributor don’t automatically prepare you to make decisions with incomplete information, protect your team’s energy and focus, navigate competing pressures, or create the conditions for a team to do its best work.

I know this transition firsthand. I’ve spent more than two decades working in the animation and games industry, leading more than a dozen teams across 10+ AAA productions and the many disciplines that come together to make them.

And I repeatedly saw the same thing: The biggest challenges weren’t talent gaps.

They were often leadership gaps.

Unclear communication. Fragile trust between disciplines. Decisions bottle-necked at the top. Teams absorbing pressure that should have been managed at the leadership layer. Strong individual contributors suddenly expected to lead without having been given the tools to make that transition.

That experience changed how I think about leadership.

In creative studios, leaders emerge where the work happens—at the intersection of art, technology, and production—and they shape decisions that push the team forward or keep it stuck.

When leadership is strong at that level, teams collaborate earlier, make decisions faster, and move ideas forward with greater confidence.

When it isn’t, even exceptional talent can stall.

That’s why I created Up to Lead.

I help new and emerging leaders navigate the Promotion Gap: developing the leadership capability to lead effectively without losing the craft, creativity, and expertise that got them there in the first place.

If you’re a new Lead, an emerging leader, or someone responsible for developing the next generation of creative leaders, learn more about how you can bridge those gaps.

Create things that matter.