Awaiting Approval. Season 1, Episode 11 : Dr Chris Arnold

Aug 21, 2025

Join Dr. Chris Arnold, a pioneer in ethical marketing and neurodiversity advocate, as he uncovers how ADHD and dyslexia became his superpowers. He shares tales from Saatchi & Saatchi, revealing the art of persuading clients to embrace bravery over fear. Expect a lively discussion on the importance of creativity in leadership, innovative marketing strategies, and the decline of originality in digital media. With anecdotes about 21-foot condoms and glue-based billboards, Arnold delivers a powerful message to challenge mediocrity and embrace unique perspectives.

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INSIGHT

Coping Becomes Strategic Strength

Neurodiversity often forces people to invent coping strategies that become strategic strengths in work.
Chris Arnold says those survival tactics make neurodiverse thinkers more strategic and dimensional in thinking.

ADVICE

Delegate To Amplify What You Do Best

Delegate tasks you are weak at so you focus on your strengths and vision.
Chris Arnold recommends handing off work you can't do well to climb and lead effectively.

ANECDOTE

Creative Orchestra Origin Story

Chris and his wife started Creative Orchestra as an experiment in a cheap slaughterhouse building with 28 creatives.
The studio treated itself like architects of ideas, bringing in diverse creative talent and quickly won notable clients.

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Dr Chris Arnold – Author, Ethical Marketing Pioneer, Neurodiversity Champion (Former Creative Director and Board Director at Saatchi & Saatchi. Founder of Creative Orchestra and Dyversity Lab)

What if your greatest creative strength was the very thing school told you was wrong?

In this energetic, honest, and refreshingly unfiltered conversation, Dr Chris Arnold shares how being ADHD and dyslexic became his superpower - fueling a career that spans radical creative direction, industry-shifting PR stunts, and one of London’s biggest community arts festivals.

We talk about his time at Saatchi & Saatchi, founding multiple agencies, why most creatives are actually “thought architects” - and the art of flipping a client from fear to bravery.

This episode is packed with practical wisdom: how to sell big ideas, delegate with clarity, and stop waiting for permission. Plus: glue-based billboards, 21-foot condoms, and the real reason mediocrity wins (for now).

It’s a bold call to arms for designers, creatives and business leaders to reject average, challenge the status-quo - and lead with purpose, not perfection.

You can connect with Chris on LinkedIn here

This is Awaiting Approval. A podcast about the messy, human side of creative leadership.

Hosted by Adam Jennings - a creative leader with three decades of experience leading teams and projects for global brands including Microsoft, Salesforce, 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, Ancestry, Dolby, BBC and many more - this show features honest, unscripted conversations with the leaders shaping design, storytelling, and innovation today.

These are the conversations you don’t hear in keynotes. The ones about imposter syndrome, trust, failure, confidence, and finding your voice as a leader.

Whether you’re just stepping into creative leadership or you’ve been at it for years, Awaiting Approval is your place to feel seen, challenged, and encouraged.

Awaiting Approval is a Cordial Fox production.Hosted by Adam JenningsProduced by Adam Jennings & Jasmin Egner© Cordial Fox Limited, 2025.

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