Jobye-Kyle Karmaker

4: OWNERSHIP this comes with collaboration when the vision and design is clear and hopefully you've achieved the buy-in from your team, trust can be given to your team to implement and improve on any part of the project that they are given. Design should be a framework that

Allows experts in their field the opportunity to shine, this is like a feedback loop... You do this bit well it'll pay for itself, ideas and improvements will flow from your team. Ownership does not mean walking into a room, spouting out a bunch of ideas, and say "just do that"

To me this is similar playing point guard in basketball, you can pass the ball to whom ever you want, but the best point guards set their teammates up in the right position for them to succeed, passing at the right time is just as important

5: ALWAYS PUSH TO IMPROVE the best directors I've worked with give good feedback and where needed offer ways to make something even better without dumping on what you've already done, always trying to push quality that shows in the details.

6: MORALE I've noticed that being clear and honest with your team (avoiding marketing spiel in meetings) keeps the team on-side when things inevitably get tough, involve them. Show emotion, show that you care. BE PRESENT. I've seen CD's not get involved after their initial idea

These are the worst... If they don't care to follow up, why should you?! They suck the life out of a team and remove them selves from being useful to the team. The CD job should be to bring the creative vision together as a whole and make sure it work, not drop the mic.

From what I can tell the latest #GDC2019 talk from @Carrillo_GD on the soft skills of being a designer highlight this muuuuch better than I ever could. So you should treat yourself and check it out maybe @Official_GDC will even make it available for free!!

I use some of these points when trying to identify creative directors and designers I'd like to work with... It doesn't always work as you have to be around them to see this in the first place. But I find if your designers / CD tick these boxes in the positive you have a good one