Erik Michielsen: What does it mean to be a leader in what you do?

Hammans Stallings: Where I work, innovation consulting, design, is not hierarchical and almost by definition, it probably wouldn't be successful if someone were to sort of tell everyone what to do. So, leading doesn't come from the top in our space. In fact, it comes from the ability to influence without control and to accomplish things that the team wouldn't have gotten to without your perspective. So, I'd say leadership is almost like an improv act. It's influencing the direction of things without saying no and so I think saying no destroys this -- this magical kind of place that design innovation requires. So, leadership is something that happens with people knowing about it and sort of getting the work done without losing people and, you know, getting the most out of them, solving the client problem the best.