Paving the Way to a Successful Architecture Career: Sarah Lebner (Interview)

Paving the Way to a Successful Architecture Career is a short series by Chaim Lieder, a recent job-seeking Bachelor’s graduate based in Melbourne. Chaim launched this initiative to re-frame his own challenges into an opportunity to help others in the same position.

Interview 1: Sarah Lebner

Sarah Lebner is the Principal Architect at multidisciplinary Canberra firm, Light House Architecture and Science. She is the author of 101 Things I Didn’t Learn in Architecture School; And wish I’d known before my first architecture job, and the founder of myfirstarchitecturejob.com. Sarah was recently awarded the 2020 AIA National Emerging Architect Prize.

What are the most important skills for students, graduates, and emerging architects to develop as they embark on their careers?

Solidify your soft skills

We often overlook the soft skills; they are so undervalued. Particularly the skill of understanding things about yourself like how you learn best and your strengths and weaknesses. Other soft skills such as communication and organization are also really important. These skills are highly regarded by employers and can be improved just like any other skill.

What are some unconventional ways students, graduates, and emerging architects can elevate their careers?

Proactive upskilling

Seek out opportunities to consciously hone your soft skills. They can be developed in a myriad of ways such as by taking courses on things like effective leadership or communication, reading books, listening to podcasts and simply observing industry leaders. It's about self-assessing your skills in all these areas and proactively seeking ways to improve them, rather than relying on experience to do all the learning for you.

Supercharge your strengths

We often think about improving our weaknesses, but you can really elevate your career if you apply as much energy to supercharging your strengths. Sure, you can improve the things you think you’re weak at to remain competitive, but if you can also recognize your strengths and supercharge them like an elite athlete, you'll become outstanding in that niche aspect of your work or personality.

What do you see as a challenge and opportunity facing the next generation of architects and how can they approach it?

I think the way we consume media is vastly changing and there's a real challenge with how the architecture industry engages with and presents its value to the public. The challenge then becomes an opportunity as emerging generations are savvier and have a more advanced understanding of media and how to engage with it compared to older generations. I think that's something that emerging architects should be quite aware of. There are so many platforms and ways that we communicate these days and as an industry, if we want to stay relevant, we need to engage with that and utilize it to evidence our value to the public.

What is a mistake one should avoid as they progress through their architecture career?

A rising tide lifts all boats

Be cautious of quick criticism about other architects. Early in our careers, it's very easy to pass judgment on other architects/companies that are doing something differently or producing a different end product. As I’m progressing in my career, I'm learning more about giving people the benefit of the doubt and understanding that all architects are trying to do the best they can. Criticizing other architects can very directly damage your career because it’s a small industry and things inevitably come back around. From an industry perspective, this behaviour is how we get the reputation as an egotistical non-collaborative industry. There could be a quantum shift if we all band together and stop doing that, truly giving each other the benefit of the doubt and being there to support each other.

What was a transformational moment in your career?

When my architecture director resigned from our multidisciplinary practice leaving the opening of a principal architect. At the time I wasn't really ready for the position, but I was the only obvious person to step into it. And I often talk about working out how you can turn a no into a yes. As in, it wasn’t about blindly stepping into the position. It was about saying okay, I can do this if I can find a way to support myself in the areas where I'm not ready. For me, that was about setting up a mentoring relationship and finding some other technical resources.

Another transformational moment was winning the national Emerging Architect Prize purely just for psychological reasons. It was quite validating having the industry recognizing and valuing what you're doing, that's just been a huge thing for me.

What is the best piece of advice you have received?

One that sticks with me was to look after yourself because no one else will. It may sound harsh, but it stuck with me because it came from a very caring employer. His point was that in our relationships, in our work, in everything, it doesn't matter how much we care for each other and support each other, we're still very much in our minds and our worlds. And at the end of the day, the only person that's going to get you where you want to be, or speak up when something needs to be said, is you.

To learn more about Sarah’s book, click here.

To join Sarah’s membership program, visit The Architect Project.

Read the next article in this series, with Adam Haddow, here.