The table is a myth: Shannon Leahy on building real influence in content design

During our recent Office Hours session, Shannon Leahy shared her experiences and insights about content design leadership, career development, and building influence in large organizations.

As Senior Content Design Lead at Capital One, Shannon has spent over 15 years working at the intersection of words, strategy, and design. Her approach cuts through typical industry advice to offer practical strategies for content designers at every career stage. At Capital One, she leads content design initiatives in a highly regulated industry, balancing user needs with complex business requirements.

You may remember Shannon as one of the panelists at our recent Growing In Content 2024 conference, where she participated in the insightful panel discussion on Leadership in AI: Beyond the Hype and Hesitation.

While we've captured the main highlights here, this Office Hours session was rich with detailed examples, specific techniques, and nuanced advice that went beyond what we can cover in this article. For those interested in diving deeper, we've compiled a comprehensive PDF that includes the complete Q&A from the session. Grab the PDF via the form below:

Building influence through authentic leadership

The myth of "getting a seat at the table"

In the content design field, there's often discussion about gaining influence within organizations. Shannon takes a refreshingly different view, challenging the common narrative about "getting a seat at the table":

The table is a myth. It's made up. At the end of the day, we all want people to understand what we do, and we want to work with others to do cool shit together. Product designers feel misunderstood. Researchers feel misunderstood. Hell, product managers feel misunderstood. Legal and compliance and marketing too.

This perspective marks a fundamental shift from how many content designers think about gaining influence. Rather than trying to claim authority or fight for position, Shannon suggests building influence through practical work and authentic relationships.

Meeting people where they are

When it comes to working with new teams or stakeholders, Shannon emphasizes starting with what's possible in the moment while recognizing that exclusion isn't always intentional:

More often than not, people haven't had malicious intent when they haven't included me (or CDs on my teams) in meetings, conversations, or projects. It was honest-to-goodness 'this is my first time working with someone who does this kind of work, and I'm figuring things out.'

This approach requires patience and empathy. Instead of demanding immediate recognition, Shannon advocates for demonstrating value through action:

If I got added to a project late, and designs were already done, and all I had time to do was rewrite a handful of strings? I flagged all of my questions and suggestions--whether it was about word choice or bigger structural or strategy questions. And then I worked with them to figure out what we could and couldn't address now.

Building trust through consistent value

Through this patient, value-focused approach, teams naturally began to see the benefits of including content design earlier in their processes. They started inviting Shannon to:

[...] join brainstorm sessions. 'You always ask really good questions, we need you to come ask the hard questions!' They invited me to the meetings with legal and compliance, with tech. 'You've got this way of figuring out what everyone's trying to say or accomplish, and finding a compromise that works!'

Creating reciprocal relationships

Shannon emphasizes that building influence isn't just about getting content designers included - it's about fostering genuine two-way partnerships:

They want to feel seen and included, too. So, as much as I ask to be included, I try to extend those invitations and model inclusive behavior in equal measure for my teammates and partners.

This approach transforms the traditional power dynamic from one of competing for influence to building collaborative relationships that benefit everyone involved.

Making smart career moves

Understanding the current landscape

Drawing from her observations of the content design job market, Shannon identifies several key trends:

From my unscientific observations on LinkedIn: Remote jobs are in the minority. So, so, so many companies are re-introducing requirements to be on site in an office at least a couple days a week... I feel like I'm seeing more individual contributor roles than people manager roles... I feel like I'm also seeing more player-coach roles popping up where someone will have direct reports AND still be expected to carry a decent sized load of day-to-day project work.

Evaluating opportunities

When it comes to assessing job opportunities, especially during uncertain times, Shannon offers a nuanced perspective:

Sometimes, the stars all align, and you find that magical job that offers you professional and personal fulfillment across multiple dimensions [...]

Sometimes, a job only satisfies some of your must-haves and you make trade-offs.

And sometimes, a job is simply the means by which you earn a paycheck and pay your bills and have money to fund the things that do give you joy and energy and fulfillment.

She breaks down different types of career moves:

Sometimes a job is "the next step to advancing to the next level"

Sometimes, it's a lateral move

Sometimes, it's a step to something a little junior [...] but, maybe that lateral move or taking on something a little junior gives you more work-life balance, and it's worth it to rebalance your life in that way.

Understanding job levels across companies

Shannon provides valuable insight into how job levels can vary significantly between organizations:

I know of some VPs of design from Capital One who, when they went to FAANG companies, were leveled at director in the new job. It wasn't necessarily a ding on them, it was just how the levels at two different companies ended up mapping to each other.

She shares her own experience navigating different leveling systems:

I was a senior manager when I left Capital One in 2022, which is the level right before director. When I was at Adobe, I was a senior manager 1... their progression went from senior manager 1, to senior manager 2, to director. Coming back to Capital One in 2024, I was leveled back at senior manager.

It's been really helpful to talk to other people at other companies about what expectations look for more senior folks. That’s helped me “translate” what I do and what my job title and level might look like at a bigger company or a smaller company, a company in a different industry, etc.

From what I’ve seen for large companies in tech or tech-adjacent in the US, I generally assume that manager/senior manager as a people manager works out to be staff/senior staff as an IC. director-level people manager is roughly principal IC.

Finding your own path

Shannon pushes back against the pressure to master every new tool or trend:

It's taken me nearly all 15 years of my career so far to give myself the permission to not be an expert in every single freaking aspect of content. There is not enough time for me—or anyone—to reasonably do that.

Instead, she suggests focusing on what genuinely interests you:

Some content designers LOVE to also be able to write and code. I'm not one of them. Some content designers LOVE to go deep in Figma. I'm not one of them. Some content designers LOVE content modeling and CMSes. I'm not one of them.

What matters most, Shannon emphasizes, are the fundamental skills that remain valuable over time:

There are so many jobs and roles out there that require core skills that stand the test of time--writing for your audience; creating content that's clear, accessible, conversational, and can help someone move on to the next task or step; using different kinds of research and feedback to inform your recommendations; working with lots of different people, in kind and compassionate ways; centering trust, safety, and ethics in how you design and write things.

Navigating enterprise complexity

Working with legal and compliance

In highly regulated industries like financial services, content designers face unique challenges. Shannon draws from her experience at Capital One to illustrate how to balance regulatory requirements with user needs:

Banking/fintech is very heavily regulated. So I'm always trying to find out who my legal, compliance, and risk partners are... Sometimes, it's hard to be as transparent as we want to be... because there might be a federal regulation we're trying to balance against.

She's developed a systematic approach to working with legal teams:

1. Get to know my lawyers and product partners and what they care about
2. Try to better understand what the regulations actually say vs what is our interpretation and application of them
3. Try to better understand when feedback is must-do from a legal requirement POV and what's more subjective based on personal preference
4. Show them results from research
5. Annotate my content reqs so that they understand why I will or will not implement feedback they gave

This methodical approach has proven particularly effective:

#5 works like a charm! When I can show them, "hey, you gave me feedback that said the content like this. X is against brand standards. people explained topic Y like this in research. SO, based on that, here is my edit. By saying it like this, it's easier for people to understand while also capturing the spirit/intent of your suggestion."

Managing timeline challenges

Enterprise projects often face delays and complex stakeholder dynamics. Shannon emphasizes the importance of maintaining perspective:

First thing that comes to mind is: giving yourself and your team a lot of grace... In really big, matrixed, enterprise orgs, there's often so many people and teams that come into play for a project...it just kinda comes with the territory. It's not necessarily a reflection on you, personally, that a project might be moving slowly.

She notes that some factors are simply beyond individual control:

Sometimes, things happen that are out of your control and are "way above your pay grade." [...] If the federal government has a new regulation for banks, and X change has to happen by a certain date, that's that. I've had projects get paused before because focus needed to switch to meeting some new government mandate and that's where my partner teams got diverted to.

Building stakeholder relationships

Rather than viewing enterprise complexity as an obstacle, Shannon approaches it as an opportunity for learning and improvement:

If there's something I can control or influence, I try really hard to meet the people who might be involved, get to know their POV, and start to try to brainstorm together ways we can start to change processes short-term, medium-term, and long-term.

She advocates for an incremental approach to change:

I'll note, this takes time to build the relationships and trust, and to start to do little experiments to change ways of working. I tend to err on the side of baby steps--I like to do a series of small changes over time vs. wide sweeping change in one go.

Practical research strategies

Working without dedicated researchers

Even in large organizations, content designers don't always have access to dedicated research resources. Shannon shares a range of creative approaches for gathering insights:

In times when I haven't had a researcher and/or access to a tool like UserTesting, I've done these things for research:

• Read competitor websites
• Looked at subreddits about the topic/industry, to observe pain points, emotions, assumptions, etc.
• Looked at forums or other related sites [...] to see what questions people ask and answer
• Read app store reviews
• Done focus groups or listening sessions with customer service agents
• Interviewed sales/business development team

Leveraging internal knowledge

Shannon particularly emphasizes the value of connecting with customer-facing teams:

I really love getting to talk to agents and sales reps, because they talk so frequently with customers... they're a gold mine of insights! And they often find it really interesting to take part in research in this way.

Quick testing methods

For immediate feedback needs, Shannon shares several lightweight approaches:

I'll also figure out other ways to get my content in front of people, like:

• I'll post a screenshot or message in an internal Slack channel and ask for feedback...
• I'll ask people on my team to read something out loud to me and observe where they stumble, hesitate, make a confused face
• On days when I go into the office, I might ask someone to read over my shoulder and then brainstorm a couple alternatives with me out loud

She shares an inspiring example of creative testing:

One colleague, who used to work in corporate communications, printed off an intranet page they were working on, and sat outside a cafeteria in one of our office buildings...and then asked passerby if they could read the draft content and do a quick highlighter test.

Content testing techniques

Shannon has developed several go-to tactics for testing content specifically:

Some of my go-to tactics include:

• Talk bubbles or conversation scripting
• Highlighter tests
• Asking people to read content out loud to me
• A good old-fashioned usability test where questions about content are woven in part and parcel with completing tasks

Building content systems

Starting with clear scope

When it comes to creating style guides and content systems, Shannon emphasizes the importance of starting small and being realistic:

Be really, really clear about initial scope and prioritization. It's so tempting to see something like Adobe's Spectrum or Shopify Polaris, and be sad about not achieving that level of detail out of the gate.

Instead of trying to build everything at once, she recommends a focused approach:

So, break it down. Maybe start with: what are the top 3-5 questions I consistently get about content stuff? And answer those questions first.

Building for your organization

Shannon's experience with organizational content design spans several major companies. At Capital One, she saw the evolution of their content practice:

Content design started circa 2014, when Steph Hay was hired to build the team/function. Content design started as a centralized practice--we all reported up through our content design leader [...] Then in...2016/2017/2018-ish, we moved to being decentralized, mostly.

She describes how the structure evolved over time:

Today, the practice overall is still decentralized, but there are pods of "centralized" practices in a couple different design teams. I used to lead one of those pods doing that hybrid approach of reporting into a specific design team and leader, but then keeping the CDs together. To strike the balance of being embedded and getting that context, but also "having someone who does what I do!" in your corner.

Using existing resources

Shannon encourages content designers to leverage existing resources rather than starting from scratch:

Definitely look at existing style guides for inspo... or even point people to that guidance if you're short on time.

She emphasizes the importance of consistency over perfection:

I personally don't have very strong opinions about punctuation in bullet lists except to pick a rule or two and follow them consistently. I usually defer to the style guide that the brand and design teams use at whatever company I'm at.

Leading content teams

Understanding the full scope of management

The transition to management involves much more than just career progression. Shannon emphasizes the emotional and interpersonal demands of the role:

Being a manager is really, really hard. In addition to talking about design work, you're talking to people about their performance, their compensation. These are topics that are very sensitive and very personal. Are you ready to talk about these types of things, in good times AND in bad times? Going into management isn't just about getting that next promotion and advancing up in level.

Shifting from IC to leadership

One of the biggest adjustments in moving to management is the change in day-to-day work. Shannon shares her personal experience with this transition:

Assess how much hands-on work you still want to do, and what you want that work to look like. I struggled at first with not being the person who was in the weeds for every single project, and that my work wasn't "sexy" or "flashy" enough anymore. Sometimes, being a manager has [...] meant I'm in Figma less and in decks and intranet pages more. My "big thing" might not be a feature release in an app--it might be a new piece of documentation about prioritization and engagement models.

Building inclusive practices

Shannon sees exciting opportunities in broader leadership roles:

I'm very biased and LOVE when content designers step into design leadership roles managing multidisciplinary teams. That can also be an option, depending on company size/team size/your interests/how supportive the org is for that kind of transition.

From the Q&A: Shannon's complete answers

While we've covered the main themes from our session with Shannon above, some questions and answers deserve to be shared in full. Here are four particularly insightful exchanges from our discussion:

Shannon LeahySenior Content Design Lead @ Capital One

In my content design and UX roles, I've worked on teams where the CD practice was already established. In those teams, they used either the same role expectations as product designers or had the same base expectations as product designers while incorporating some CD-specific nuances for certain dimensions (for example, craft-specific skills for product design spikes in visual design, content design spikes in writing, and both CD and PD are expected to conduct research.) In these instances, CDs and PDs also already had salary parity before I joined the company or design org.

Now, on to growing influence and authority as a content designer.

First and foremost, it's always been about meeting people where they are. More often than not, people haven't had malicious intent when they haven't included me (or CDs on my teams) in meetings, convos, projects, etc. ** It was honest-to-goodness "this is my first time working with someone who does this kind of work, and I'm figuring things out and don't always know what to do or when to include them."

So, if I got added to a project late, and designs were already done, and all I had time to do was rewrite a handful of strings? I flagged all of my questions and suggestions--whether it was about word choice or bigger structural or strategy question. And then I worked with them to figure out what we could and couldn't address now. Sometimes, that meant all I could do was rewrite some strings.

More often than not, my teammates and partners would say, "oh man, that's a good point. that's a good question. I wish we'd been able to have you ask this question 2 weeks ago!" And then they started asking me to join brainstorm sessions. "You always ask really good questions, we need you to come ask the hard questions!" They invited me to the meetings with legal and compliance, with tech. "You've got this way of figuring out what everyone's trying to say or accomplish, and finding a compromise that works!"

I met them where they were, and helped them in the moment, while also not compromising on doing my job. And when they started to see my superpowers in action, they started to bring me into more and more convos, earlier and earlier.

I also try to ask for what I need. When I do meet and greets with people, or as we get into a routine of having regular 1:1 conversations, I tell people "this is how I like to work. These are the meetings I need to be in. Put me on the meeting series so I have it on my calendar. If there's ever a meeting conflict, we'll work together to make a call on when I join and when I skip."

As a manager and as an IC, I am very clear about prioritization and making sure that CDs don't get over-stretched. I can't be on every single project every single time. And I set that expectation for my directs when I have them, too. My general rule of thumb is 2-3 projects happening at the same time. And it's a mix of leading or co-leading work and consulting on work. That way, people don't get overwhelmed with trying to do the equivalent of 5, 10, 15+ people's worth of work and fall into the trap of being the support person for everything. They get time and space to go deep on a project or two and be the lead, and can stay pretty shallow on something else.

** On whether exclusion is accidental or intentional: Sometimes, it is intentional and people are being treated with disrespect. If it's that kind of situation, and we've exhausted other options to come to understanding and compromise, I try my very hardest to take my team members off that work if at all possible.

A bonus thought about "getting respect" and getting a seat at the table: I used to buy hard into the "seat at the table" thing. In the last couple years, I have vehemently rejected the seat at the table metaphor. The table is a myth. It's made up. At the end of the day, we all want people to understand what we do, and we want to work with others to do cool shit together. Product designers feel misunderstood. Researchers feel misunderstood. Hell, product managers feel misunderstood. Legal and compliance and marketing too. They can be, and are, intimidated by our lingo and methods and processes. They want to feel seen and included, too. So, as much as I ask to be included, I try to extend those invitations and model inclusive behavior in equal measure for my teammates and partners.

Shannon LeahySenior Content Design Lead @ Capital One

Such a good question, and it's something I've encountered in my pre-Capital One, pre-UX days (working in small, locally owned businesses) and even being in a big company. Sometimes, I work with researchers, and sometimes, I'm the one running the research! It happens!

In times when I haven't had a researcher and/or access to a tool like UserTesting, I've done these things for research:

• Read competitor websites
• Looked at subreddits about the topic/industry, to observe pain points, emotions, assumptions, etc.
• Looked at forums or other related sites (ex: Credit Karma) to see what questions people ask and answer, how they frame up answers
• Read app store reviews
• Done focus groups or listening sessions with customer service agents
• Interviewed sales/business development team (did this all the time when I was still in the content marketing world, to help inform our website, blog, and email newsletter content)

TL;DR: I've employed creative tactics where I can get stories from primary and/or secondary sources. I really love getting to talk to agents and sales reps, because they talk so frequently with customers... they're a gold mine of insights! And they often find it really interesting to take part in research in this way.

I'll also figure out other ways to get my content in front of people, like:

• I'll post a screenshot or message in an internal Slack channel and ask for feedback... I do this a lot with the content community practice Slack channel at work right now
• I'll ask people on my team to read something out loud to me and observe where they stumble, hesitate, make a confused face
• On days when I go into the office, I might ask someone to read over my shoulder and then brainstorm a couple alternatives with me out loud

One colleague, who used to work in corporate communications, printed off an intranet page they were working on, and sat outside a cafeteria in one of our office buildings...and then asked passerby if they could read the draft content and do a quick highlighter test.

Shannon LeahySenior Content Design Lead @ Capital One

First thing that comes to mind is: giving yourself and your team a lot of grace... In really big, matrixed, enterprise orgs, there's often so many people and teams that come into play for a project...it just kinda comes with the territory. It's not necessarily a reflection on you, personally, that a project might be moving slowly.

Related, but also maybe a bit of a tangent? Sometimes, things happen that are out of your control and are "way above your pay grade." In working in financial services, I've learned there are things that happen sometimes that just have to happen. If the federal government has a new regulation for banks, and X change has to happen by a certain date, that's that. I've had projects get paused before because focus needed to switch to meeting some new government mandate and that's where my partner teams got diverted to.

I've really had to make an effort to separate the speed of a project, and if/when something ships, from my personal identity and worth. I used to feel so crushed that I couldn't just make things happen (all one of me, lol).

As I've become more senior--both as a people manager and now individual contributor--I try to explain and verbalize why a project might be delayed. So that people understand and learn about the bigger process or policy things that might be driving a timeline. I also try to reassure people that they aren't alone and that this has happened to me and others in the design team before.

I've also tried to be really intentional about learning and planning for the areas that I can really control and influence, and getting better about acknowledging and then letting go of the things I can't really control or influence.

If there's something I can control or influence, I try really hard to meet the people who might be involved, get to know their POV, and start to try to brainstorm together ways we can start to change processes short-term, medium-term, and long-term.

I'll note, this takes time to build the relationships and trust, and to start to do little experiments to change ways of working. I tend to err on the side of baby steps--I like to do a series of small changes over time vs. wide sweeping change in one go.

Another thing that's a bit of a tangent, but I find it to be very inter-related to this topic: I also adjust how I "manage up" and report up and out about work that gets delayed or outright paused.

For example, if my team and I are heading into performance management season, and we're working on our self-reviews, and we had a big project that was gonna be one of our key results and now it's in limbo... I'll make sure to include what the new projected launch date is and continue to reinforce (a) these are the metrics we'll be measuring, this is the impact we anticipate for customers and the business; (b) here is the incredible work the team did to meet customer and biz needs; and (c) remember, things were delayed because of XYZ reason, which was out of our control.

I still play up what has been accomplished to date, because that still matters.

Shannon LeahySenior Content Design Lead @ Capital One

First of all: congrats are in order for getting a job offer - that is no small feat, especially right now in our year 2024.

I'd want to better understand what "not 100% sold on means." What is giving this person pause, and why? And how much of what is giving this person pause is a non-negotiable deal breaker? And how do the things that give this person pause stack up against the pros/cons of the current work situation?

What is this person willing to tolerate short-term vs long-term? What trade-offs are they willing to make? What trade-offs are they not willing to make?

Sometimes, the stars all align, and you find that magical job that offers you professional and personal fulfillment across multiple dimensions (ex: the work is interesting and meaningful; the company's mission and values line up squarely with yours; you have a supportive manager, skip level manager, and team; the design org maturity is where you like it; the team size is where you like it; etc. etc. etc.).

Sometimes, a job only satisfies some of your must-haves and you make trade-offs.

And sometimes, a job is simply the means by which you earn a paycheck and pay your bills and have money to fund the things that do give you joy and energy and fulfillment.

Sometimes a job is "the next step to advancing to the next level" Sometimes, it's a lateral move Sometimes, it's a step to something a little more junior …but, maybe that lateral move or taking on something a little junior gives you more work-life balance, and it's worth it to rebalance your life in that way

All to say: this person needs to sit with "what do I need most right now, inside and outside of work? Will this new job get me closer to what I need or further away from it?"

I'd want them to go in the direction that gets them to the most important thing.

Per my last email, the podcast from the lovely Sara Wachter-Boettcher and Jen Dionisio of Active Voice, has some really great episodes that dig into these really meaty self-reflection and career reflection questions.

Continue learning with Shannon

Our session with Shannon was packed with real talk about content design leadership - the kind that comes from years of figuring things out in the trenches. What makes her advice different is how practical it is. She's interested in what actually works when you're dealing with real teams and real constraints.

Want more insights from our session with Shannon? Download the complete Q&A PDF using the form below:

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About the author

Peter LegierskiFounder of Working In Content

Peter is the co-founder of Working In Content, a vibrant online community dedicated to the world of Content Design, Content Strategy and UX Writing.

You can connect with him on LinkedIn.