Part 2: Honest, Realistic, and Optimistic Leadership Advice from Friends of IDEO

The creative leadership advice continues. In Part 2, creative leaders including IDEO partners, alumni, and IDEO U instructors share hard-won lessons on relationships, reflection, and staying human as we move into 2026. Host Mina Seetharaman and IDEO Partner Ilya Prokopoff share reactions and builds on each leader's advice.

Many of the leaders featured on this episode have been guests on the podcast. Find links to their episodes at ideou.com/blogs/inspiration.

Guests on this episode:

Grace Hwang (linkedin.com/in/the-grace-hwang) — Design Leader; Former IDEO Associate Partner; Co-Founder, Upturn Health

Michelle Lee (linkedin.com/in/michellesklee) — Partner and Executive Managing Director, IDEO; IDEO U Instructor: Creative Thinking for Complex Problem Solving

Sara Kalick (linkedin.com/in/sarakalick) — Founder, The Possible: IDEO U Instructor: From Superpowers to Great Teams

Jenn Maer (linkedin.com/in/jenn-maer-b2a45b2) — Co-founder and Chief Creative Officer, Knitted; IDEO U Instructor: Storytelling for Influence

Jennifer Riel (linkedin.com/in/jenniferriel) — Adjunct Professor, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto; Former Head of Global Strategy, IDEO; IDEO U Instructor: Designing Strategy & Activating Strategy

Susie Wise (linkedin.com/in/susie-wise-33b4a0) — Designer, Design for Emergence; Author, Design for Belonging

Takashi Wickes (linkedin.com/in/takashiw) — Founding Designer, Open Studio; IDEO U Instructor: Prototyping for AI

YC Sun (linkedin.com/in/yichengsun) — Senior Design Director, Healthcare and Wellbeing, IDEO

Dabney Hailey (linkedin.com/in/dabneyhailey) — Founder and Principal, Hailey Group; Lecturer, MIT Sloan

Amy Bonsall (linkedin.com/in/abonsall) — Founder, Light Actions at Collective; IDEO U Instructor: Designing a Business

Frederik Pferdt (linkedin.com/in/fgpferdt) — Former Chief Innovation Evangelist, Google; author of What’s Next is Now
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