Fearless Creative Leadership

Sir Andrew Strauss is the former Captain of the England cricket team which he led to become the number one team in the world for the first time in England's history. He then became England's Director of Cricket and he's recognized as the architect of the country's first ever one day World Cup victory. In 2019, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for his services to charity, sport, and cricket. Being captain of a cricket team requires the same skills needed to run a business. Amplified. Managing world class talent while your work is being broadcast, and your success and failures, both personal and collective, are being recorded, analyzed and critiqued in real time, requires a range of rare skills and temperament. Unlocking the potential of others while taking responsibility for the outcome is at the heart of the attributes required for the job. Andrew and I met in London a few days ago, and as you'll hear, our conversation covered a lot of ground, both professional and the deeply personal. From his achievements to the loss of his wife. By the time Andrew Strauss turned 33, he'd achieved what every cricket fan in England grows up dreaming of. Captaining your country to victory in Australia. In my lifetime, it has only happened three times. Seven years later, he lost his wife to cancer. Most of us do not achieve so much so young. Nor lose so much so early. For Andrew, the combination has encouraged him to ask questions of himself earlier in his life than most people do. Unlocking creativity in others means building trust with those around us. They want to know who we are and what matters to us. Fulfilling our own potential means answering those same questions. And in my experience, that happens when we ask ourselves this. What else do I want to know about myself? Most leaders strive for success relentlessly, head down, and only later do we take stock of the choices we've made. How will you judge if you've lived a good life or not? What else do you want to know about yourself?

Who do you trust? Jim Stengel is the former CMO of P&G, and he's now a hugely successful author, speaker, coach, consultant, and advisor. He's also the host of the brilliant CMO Podcast. In our conversation, Jim and I started to lay the framework for how we think that leadership is going to have to evolve as the confidence in most institutions, including government, continues to deteriorate. Being creative on demand is perhaps one of the hardest things that we ask any human being to do. Because every act of creativity requires an emotional leap by its creator. That's why the best creative thinking usually comes when you have confidence in yourself and trust in the environment around you. Now, it's impossible for any of us to predict with any certainty what the next four years are going to look like. What's reasonable to expect is that they will not be "normal." So in these circumstances, it's very likely that some of the people around you are going to feel a lot less safe than they have before. As leaders, creating an environment that people can trust, regardless of what's going on in the world, will be more critical than ever before. And that starts with giving people reasons to trust you. Establishing trust is a simple equation. Say what you mean, then do what you say, and do it consistently. So what do you stand for? And what will you stand for when the chips are down, and the pressure is on? Why should people trust you? Get that right, and I promise you, you'll change your corner of the world for everyone around you.

Welcome to the first episode of 2025. A year that promises to be unlike any other on so many levels. This episode is designed as a provocation, an inspiration, and a roadmap for the leaders of businesses, for whom unlocking creative thinking is critical. Over the last four weeks, I've talked to 12 exceptional leaders from a diverse set of experiences and perspectives. I've asked them how the best leaders will lead in 2025. From those conversations, I've identified the three leadership practices that will be critical to leaders of creative businesses this year.

Karl Lieberman, Global Chief Creative Officer at Wieden+Kennedy, shares insights on fostering a culture that embraces creativity over conformity. He discusses the importance of creating a safe space for open expression and how it enhances innovation. Lieberman emphasizes that leadership should welcome unpredictability and diverse perspectives, rejecting the security of predictability. The conversation also touches on balancing professionalism with a playful approach in advertising, and how independence within creative teams fosters authentic relationships and long-term success.

What are you willing to compromise? Lina Polimeni is the Chief Corporate Brand Officer at Eli Lilly and Company. This is a business whose work is often the difference between life and death, where they are trying to cure cancer, and where the outcome is very personal. In the middle of that reality, your own leadership journey is fueled by a lot of food for thought. No one can lead effectively without compromise. But what we choose to compromise has a huge part to play in whether we're successful. If what we end up sacrificing is a pathway to discovering that we are already enough… If what we end up sacrificing is a road to realizing that the best version of who we are can help others become the best version of themselves… If that is what we are compromising, then the cost of that will be the realization that we behaved as others wanted us to. And when they are a part of our past, remembered or forgotten, what we will be left with is a journey that is not the one we started out on. A destination that is not where we wanted to go. And a dream that is always around the corner. We can be what others want, or we can be who we want to be. We always have that choice.

Edited highlights of our full length conversation. What are you willing to compromise? Lina Polimeni is the Chief Corporate Brand Officer at Eli Lilly and Company. This is a business whose work is often the difference between life and death, where they are trying to cure cancer, and where the outcome is very personal. In the middle of that reality, your own leadership journey is fueled by a lot of food for thought. No one can lead effectively without compromise. But what we choose to compromise has a huge part to play in whether we're successful. If what we end up sacrificing is a pathway to discovering that we are already enough… If what we end up sacrificing is a road to realizing that the best version of who we are can help others become the best version of themselves… If that is what we are compromising, then the cost of that will be the realization that we behaved as others wanted us to. And when they are a part of our past, remembered or forgotten, what we will be left with is a journey that is not the one we started out on. A destination that is not where we wanted to go. And a dream that is always around the corner. We can be what others want, or we can be who we want to be. We always have that choice.

Are you centered? Kerry Sulkowicz is the Past-President of the American Psychoanalytic Association, and the Founder and Managing Principal of Boswell Group. They provide leadership advice to boards and CEOs. Kerry and I have been friends for a long time, and he has taught me much about the psychodynamic aspects of leadership. Whenever we talk, his advice strikes me as clear and straightforward, and always very human. Being centered doesn't happen through accident, chance, or hope. It happens by intent. And that intent is driven by recognizing two obvious truths. Leadership is lonely. And leadership is stressful. Much, much more so than many are willing to admit publicly. The old-world view is that leadership demands that you project strength, certainty, invincibility. Even in the face of threats that can feel like they are existential - because these days, for many businesses, they might be. If some days that means you feel like you're a leader in a fight for survival, well, that's not surprising. Because that's exactly how your brain responds to that set of circumstances. And under that kind of stress, the part of your brain that's responsible for executive function, for risk assessment, and problem-solving, and for planning, suddenly starts to develop tunnel vision. And at the same time, our amygdala kicks in and suddenly survival gets added to the emotional maelstrom, and then finally comes the impulse to hurry up and do something. Anything. Being centered is the shelter in that storm. It's held up by a strong sense of self, by awareness and honesty about how you respond under stress, and it's helped by having a clear and multi-faceted definition of success. Those foundations, when combined with a willingness to take a little time to turn down the short term noise, and dilute the adrenaline fueled feelings of urgency, will give you the ability to lean on yourself and think things through. Leadership is sometimes about taking action and it is sometimes not. But it is always about being centered. So, how well do you know yourself?

Edited highlights of our full length conversation. Are you centered? Kerry Sulkowicz is the Past-President of the American Psychoanalytic Association, and the Founder and Managing Principal of Boswell Group. They provide leadership advice to boards and CEOs. Kerry and I have been friends for a long time, and he has taught me much about the psychodynamic aspects of leadership. Whenever we talk, his advice strikes me as clear and straightforward, and always very human. Being centered doesn't happen through accident, chance, or hope. It happens by intent. And that intent is driven by recognizing two obvious truths. Leadership is lonely. And leadership is stressful. Much, much more so than many are willing to admit publicly. The old-world view is that leadership demands that you project strength, certainty, invincibility. Even in the face of threats that can feel like they are existential - because these days, for many businesses, they might be. If some days that means you feel like you're a leader in a fight for survival, well, that's not surprising. Because that's exactly how your brain responds to that set of circumstances. And under that kind of stress, the part of your brain that's responsible for executive function, for risk assessment, and problem-solving, and for planning, suddenly starts to develop tunnel vision. And at the same time, our amygdala kicks in and suddenly survival gets added to the emotional maelstrom, and then finally comes the impulse to hurry up and do something. Anything. Being centered is the shelter in that storm. It's held up by a strong sense of self, by awareness and honesty about how you respond under stress, and it's helped by having a clear and multi-faceted definition of success. Those foundations, when combined with a willingness to take a little time to turn down the short term noise, and dilute the adrenaline fueled feelings of urgency, will give you the ability to lean on yourself and think things through. Leadership is sometimes about taking action and it is sometimes not. But it is always about being centered. So, how well do you know yourself?

What is your pain for? Taban Shoresh is the Founder of The Lotus Flower, a UK-based charity that supports women and girls that have been displaced by conflict, and helps them to build sustainable futures. Since 2016, the charity's projects have impacted more than 60,000 women, girls, and community members. Every now and then, you meet someone whose story stops you in your tracks. Taban's story starts with her being arrested in Iraq at the age of four. Three weeks later, she's ordered onto a bus that will take her to the place where she and other members of her family will be buried alive. At the end of 2021, before Russia invaded the Ukraine or the war in Gaza, the number of forcibly displaced people worldwide stood at 89.3 million. There were 27.1 million refugees globally, half of whom were aged under 18, which makes Taban's story one of millions and completely unique. She has experienced staggering trauma, she has known realities that I'm sure I would not have survived, and she has taken all of that pain and turned it into creative leadership of the most consequential kind. As you'll hear, for reasons both global and personal, she's in a hurry. All of us have suffered pain. What we use it for is a question that will stay with me for a long time after this conversation.

Edited highlights of our full length conversation. What is your pain for? Taban Shoresh is the Founder of The Lotus Flower, a UK-based charity that supports women and girls that have been displaced by conflict, and helps them to build sustainable futures. Since 2016, the charity's projects have impacted more than 60,000 women, girls, and community members. Every now and then, you meet someone whose story stops you in your tracks. Taban's story starts with her being arrested in Iraq at the age of four. Three weeks later, she's ordered onto a bus that will take her to the place where she and other members of her family will be buried alive. At the end of 2021, before Russia invaded the Ukraine or the war in Gaza, the number of forcibly displaced people worldwide stood at 89.3 million. There were 27.1 million refugees globally, half of whom were aged under 18, which makes Taban's story one of millions and completely unique. She has experienced staggering trauma, she has known realities that I'm sure I would not have survived, and she has taken all of that pain and turned it into creative leadership of the most consequential kind. As you'll hear, for reasons both global and personal, she's in a hurry. All of us have suffered pain. What we use it for is a question that will stay with me for a long time after this conversation.