There has been a great development for you at Scout24. Would you share your journey with us? 

Indeed. In February, I celebrated my fifth anniversary at Scout24, which made me very proud. Starting as UX Designer on a professional level in 2019, I developed to the senior level in 2021 and became a Lead UX Designer in 2023. Now I am Team Lead. On my journey I could always count on the backing of my different managers. With their coaching, they drove me to peak performance. I am really very grateful for the trust that has been placed in me.  

When did you first consider taking a leadership role? 

I think the idea of me taking the path of leadership started to grow a year and a half ago.  

Why did you want to move from being a technical expert to a leader? 

Frankly, I was uncertain in the beginning. People around me already saw me as a leader or even looked up to me, but I thought that you need a special skill to be a leader. A skill given by nature, so to say. Then I was able to take part in Scout’s Grow program, where I learned a different truth. 

You completed our internal Grow / Leadership program. How did the program influence your professional ambitions and goals? 

I also said this to the trainer: To put it in a nutshell, the training gave me confidence. You can learn what it means to lead people and motivate them to get up every day and give their best. Another important thing for me was that I learned to let go. I have replaced the desire to be proud of what I’ve achieved with the pride in my people when they have performed really well. That is a great feeling. 

What role did your colleagues and/or your manager play on your path to becoming a leader? 

First, my manager made me aware there was such a program. When I expressed interest in people leadership and still felt uncertain about it, she explained that the program would cover exactly that and that it will help me figure out if that’s what I really want. In addition to my manager, other colleagues and managers also supported me, and I had a great, keen junior colleague in the team who wanted to learn everything from me in the form of mentoring and ultimately took over big projects from me. This already was a good training. Finally, my manager nominated me for the program. 

In which way have you been supported by Scout24 in your development as a leader? 

I really feel that I am trusted. There was a limit of seats for the Grow program. The company gave me one of them. Later, when I applied for the Team Lead role, I experienced a fair process.

Which skills do you think are most important to be a good leader? 

The ability to actively listen is definitely key, as well as clear communication. In my first months as Team Lead, I learned that you can easily be misunderstood. Your people long for clarity. You should also not be bothered by repeating yourself over and over again. Integrity is another key skill. Not to put aside, of course, is business acumen and the question of how to transfer it to the team. For me, it is important that my team knows our business drivers. Otherwise, I could not trust them to make the right design decisions.  

What advice would you give to future leaders at Scout24? 

Act according to our culture values and especially to our leadership values. It might sound cheesy, but I truly belief in these values and support them. The values are well thought through, credible and authentic. I am proud to work for a company that not only has values written down on paper, but truly lives them.