MIKE TOWNSON

References

I'm lucky that I have worked with some of the best, here is what they have kindly said about me.

Mike is a great design leader who I really enjoyed working with. He’s the guy you want at the helm when you need a design team built up from scratch - he’s top notch at hiring and design thinking process / culture. He also has the courage to be contrarian, asking what users really want, calling out unsaid assumptions, and voicing the hard questions. I hope to work with Mike again one day.
David Lifson - The Knot Worldwide

Mike is an incredible design leader and a rare human. In the 3 years I reported to him at XO Group/The Knot Worldwide, I’ve become a stronger and more confident designer and I owe a lot of that to him. He always pushed me and the rest of the team to stretch and grow, while showing that he cared about us personally and believed in our potential. I also learned a lot just by being around him as he has a wealth of knowledge about design, future thinking, relationship building, collaboration, OKRs and so many other things (he’s one of those people you could talk to about anything and he’ll teach you something you didn’t know). I never had to fight to feel heard in the organization because Mike did such a great job at advocating for the value of our work and building bridges between design and other disciplines. When tough conversations came up, Mike would always make everyone feel heard while focusing the conversation on what’s really important. As Mike worked on expanding our team, I was very impressed by each new hire he’d bring in. What a talent for building a team of skilled but humble and empathetic designers! I will really miss working with Mike and look forward to seeing the great things he'll accomplish next.
Thais Amaral - The Knot Worldwide

I reported to Mike for almost 3 years. During that time, our company (XO Group) was acquired and our team abruptly shifted focus to a brand new aspect of our Registry business, which Mike helped build from scratch as the design lead. Given any challenge, Mike expertly balances business objectives with the needs of our users, and is adept at connecting the two. He is a remarkably talented designer with a deep knowledge of various tools that can be applied to solve any problem. As a people manager, there are few like him. Whether it's fighting for deserved compensation or sticking up for someone in a meeting, Mike always looked out for us. He has a knack for asking the right questions that help you find the better solution without dictating it. I consider myself extremely lucky to have been influenced by Mike's character and leadership. Mike often recommends the book "Turn the Ship Around." The author describes the "leader-leader" approach, in which leaders are nurtured at all levels, thereby unlocking potential, as opposed to the "leader-follower" approach, in which leaders simply tell others what to do. The book gave me the vocabulary to describe my past experiences, and it's clear that Mike subscribes to the "leader-leader" mentality. As a measure of a leader's success, the book suggests that an organization does not miss the leader when they depart. While Mike will be dearly missed at TKWW, he has effectively groomed his direct reports to be such leaders that we will not miss a step in continuing the success he personally helped to create. That we can confidently press on is a testament to his positive impact on us. Mike is a seasoned design leader and everything a people manager should be. Any organization would be lucky to have him.
Chris Hadley - The Knot Worldwide