Exponential design leadership (DLX)

In 2023, I joined the Executive Programme for Design Leaders at Future London Academy, a business program designed for experienced design leaders, built to stretch their thinking and provoke systems thinking.

The art of herding tigers

Future London Academy creates a space where design leaders can challenge assumptions, debate openly, and do the hard work of unlearning.

“Would you recognize your soul in the dark?”

The programme opened with a question from John Amaechi’s Promises of Giants. In an era of climate crisis and accelerating AI, that question felt all the more urgent. Designers can no longer hide behind craft — we’re called to take responsibility for finding solutions to complex global challenges.

Five modules, one thread

The DLX curriculum is structured to progress from self to world:

1. Person. Cultivating self-awareness and ethical leadership.
2. Product. Designing for long-term impact.
3. Team. Building cultures of trust and creative autonomy.
4. Company. Embedding design as a strategic driver.
5. World. Applying design to systemic challenges.

But the real curriculum was the cohort itself: a global group of design leaders whose perspectives fundamentally reshaped how I think about leadership, power, and possibility.

While the program didn’t give me answers, it challenged me to ask deeper questions. It reinforced that design leadership, at its best, operates at the intersection of humanity, strategy, and planetary thinking. It’s where I’ve chosen to work.

 Connect: me@alexandertoporov.com · linkedin