Fearless Creative Leadership

Global CMO of McDonald's, Morgan Flatley, discusses the importance of creativity and innovation in the company. They reflect on their journey of discovering creativity and their competitive nature. The chapter explores how McDonald's brings their values to life and emphasizes the significance of servant leadership. Flatley reflects on career shifts and finding fulfillment in their current role. They discuss the evolution of leadership in the digital age and the importance of difficult conversations. The chapter also explores promoting a fun and supportive environment and the role of AI in unlocking creativity at scale.

Edited highlights of our full conversation. How creative are you? Morgan Flatley is the Global CMO of McDonald’s. McDonald’s is one of the most visible, valuable, and influential brands in the world. Since the company’s birth, it’s been powered by creative thinking and innovation. Today, that’s more true than ever. Leadership is an awesome responsibility. Do it well or do it badly, you will change people’s lives, either way. The creative industries have some exceptional leaders. At their heart lies a passion for creating an environment in which others can unlock their gifts. A passion, as Morgan describes it, for nurturing creative thinking, for protecting it and giving it a space to grow. In the middle of all that, it is sometimes easy to overlook everything that you bring to the table. To underestimate your own gifts. I was fortunate to spend a good part of 2006, 7 and 8 in the company of Sir Ken Robinson. His TED Talk, “Do School Kill Creativity?” has been watched 75 million times. I’ve included a link in the episode notes. His basic belief that we are all born creative, resonates so powerfully with people that whenever I was with him, he was stopped over and over again by strangers who told him that he had changed their lives. He died much too young and much too soon. My definition of creativity comes from him. Original thinking that has value. In my work, I have learned that most leaders don’t fully recognize their own extraordinary abilities. And many of the very best leaders instinctively feel that they are not creative. I have lived that reality myself. Surrounded by world-class creative ideators and talent, it is easy to believe that we lack their gifts until someone helps us to see ourselves differently. I was fortunate to have someone do that for me. Today, helping leaders to see all of their strengths is one of the most rewarding parts of what I do. Creative thinking comes in many forms. And its value is unlocked exponentially when, as leaders, we gain the confidence to see ourselves as we truly are. Powerfully creative in our own right. This does not make creative leadership a competition. It makes it an equation focused on the people that work for us. An equation that says recognizing our own talent can make us even better at unlocking theirs.

Edited highlights of our full conversation. How creative are you? Morgan Flatley is the Global CMO of McDonald’s. McDonald’s is one of the most visible, valuable, and influential brands in the world. Since the company’s birth, it’s been powered by creative thinking and innovation. Today, that’s more true than ever. Leadership is an awesome responsibility. Do it well or do it badly, you will change people’s lives, either way. The creative industries have some exceptional leaders. At their heart lies a passion for creating an environment in which others can unlock their gifts. A passion, as Morgan describes it, for nurturing creative thinking, for protecting it and giving it a space to grow. In the middle of all that, it is sometimes easy to overlook everything that you bring to the table. To underestimate your own gifts. I was fortunate to spend a good part of 2006, 7 and 8 in the company of Sir Ken Robinson. His TED Talk, “Do School Kill Creativity?” has been watched 75 million times. I’ve included a link in the episode notes. His basic belief that we are all born creative, resonates so powerfully with people that whenever I was with him, he was stopped over and over again by strangers who told him that he had changed their lives. He died much too young and much too soon. My definition of creativity comes from him. Original thinking that has value. In my work, I have learned that most leaders don’t fully recognize their own extraordinary abilities. And many of the very best leaders instinctively feel that they are not creative. I have lived that reality myself. Surrounded by world-class creative ideators and talent, it is easy to believe that we lack their gifts until someone helps us to see ourselves differently. I was fortunate to have someone do that for me. Today, helping leaders to see all of their strengths is one of the most rewarding parts of what I do. Creative thinking comes in many forms. And its value is unlocked exponentially when, as leaders, we gain the confidence to see ourselves as we truly are. Powerfully creative in our own right. This does not make creative leadership a competition. It makes it an equation focused on the people that work for us. An equation that says recognizing our own talent can make us even better at unlocking theirs.

How do you say goodbye? Brad Simms is the President and CEO of GALE Partners. They describe themselves as strategic storytellers. GALE was founded in 2014 with seven people in Canada. Today, the agency is 734 people across 11 offices. It was this year named #5 in the Ad Age A List, and as Adweek’s Breakthrough Media Agency of the Year. GALE has above average talent retention rates. But over the course of nine years, something like 1,300 people have spent time at the agency. Put another way, almost 600 people have left the company since it started. The creative industries are a case study in dynamic organizations. Change is not just inevitable but essential. It is both the fuel and the consequence of creative thinking and innovation. In that environment, people will come and others will leave. And that is as it should be, both for personal growth and for the growth of the business. There are two variables in that equation. When they leave, and how. The question of when is for another day. The question of how is as important. And often, significantly more so. For many years, the view was that four or five jobs in a thirty-five year career represented a reasonable timeline. Time to learn, time to influence and to impact. A win-win. Back then, the idea that you would return to a company that you had worked for before was limited only to those few who realized that leaving had been a mistake, and raced back to the safety of the known. Often within days. Today, creating the conditions in which employees can boomerang is a practice so common that it has an actual name. And companies with a proven ability to rehire former employees gain distinctive competitive advantages. Institutional knowledge, cultural fit, team casting, and speed of impact being just four. Today, when someone leaves, the question of whether you, as the leader, are respectful and grateful for the time they spent at your company, will have more impact on whether they want to come back than anything that you do while they are there. And more to do with who else might want to join you in the first place.

Edited highlights of our full conversation. How do you say goodbye? Brad Simms is the President and CEO of GALE Partners. They describe themselves as strategic storytellers. GALE was founded in 2014 with seven people in Canada. Today, the agency is 734 people across 11 offices. It was this year named #5 in the Ad Age A List, and as Adweek’s Breakthrough Media Agency of the Year. GALE has above average talent retention rates. But over the course of nine years, something like 1,300 people have spent time at the agency. Put another way, almost 600 people have left the company since it started. The creative industries are a case study in dynamic organizations. Change is not just inevitable but essential. It is both the fuel and the consequence of creative thinking and innovation. In that environment, people will come and others will leave. And that is as it should be, both for personal growth and for the growth of the business. There are two variables in that equation. When they leave, and how. The question of when is for another day. The question of how is as important. And often, significantly more so. For many years, the view was that four or five jobs in a thirty-five year career represented a reasonable timeline. Time to learn, time to influence and to impact. A win-win. Back then, the idea that you would return to a company that you had worked for before was limited only to those few who realized that leaving had been a mistake, and raced back to the safety of the known. Often within days. Today, creating the conditions in which employees can boomerang is a practice so common that it has an actual name. And companies with a proven ability to rehire former employees gain distinctive competitive advantages. Institutional knowledge, cultural fit, team casting, and speed of impact being just four. Today, when someone leaves, the question of whether you, as the leader, are respectful and grateful for the time they spent at your company, will have more impact on whether they want to come back than anything that you do while they are there. And more to do with who else might want to join you in the first place.

Edited highlights of our full conversation. How do you say goodbye? Brad Simms is the President and CEO of GALE Partners. They describe themselves as strategic storytellers. GALE was founded in 2014 with seven people in Canada. Today, the agency is 734 people across 11 offices. It was this year named #5 in the Ad Age A List, and as Adweek’s Breakthrough Media Agency of the Year. GALE has above average talent retention rates. But over the course of nine years, something like 1,300 people have spent time at the agency. Put another way, almost 600 people have left the company since it started. The creative industries are a case study in dynamic organizations. Change is not just inevitable but essential. It is both the fuel and the consequence of creative thinking and innovation. In that environment, people will come and others will leave. And that is as it should be, both for personal growth and for the growth of the business. There are two variables in that equation. When they leave, and how. The question of when is for another day. The question of how is as important. And often, significantly more so. For many years, the view was that four or five jobs in a thirty-five year career represented a reasonable timeline. Time to learn, time to influence and to impact. A win-win. Back then, the idea that you would return to a company that you had worked for before was limited only to those few who realized that leaving had been a mistake, and raced back to the safety of the known. Often within days. Today, creating the conditions in which employees can boomerang is a practice so common that it has an actual name. And companies with a proven ability to rehire former employees gain distinctive competitive advantages. Institutional knowledge, cultural fit, team casting, and speed of impact being just four. Today, when someone leaves, the question of whether you, as the leader, are respectful and grateful for the time they spent at your company, will have more impact on whether they want to come back than anything that you do while they are there. And more to do with who else might want to join you in the first place.

Emma Armstrong, CEO of FCB New York, discusses the power of trust and responsibility in creative industries. She emphasizes client relationships, creativity fueled by trust, and putting the other person's interests first. The podcast explores moments of creativity, risk-taking tendencies, relationship with fear, and the challenges of being the CEO of an advertising agency. Armstrong also reflects on her leadership style, personal growth journey, and concerns about the future.

Edited highlights of our full conversation. What are you responsible for? Emma Armstrong is the CEO of FCB New York. Most recently, the office was named Agency of the Year at the Clio Awards. Both as an office and as a company, the last few years have been stellar by anyone’s standards. There are always many reasons for a company’s success, particularly when that success is sustained - the hardest kind to achieve. In my conversation with Emma, she described client relationships in a way that stayed with me long after we had said goodbye. Unlocking creative thinking and innovation is hard to do when you are in a vendor-supplier relationship. Because, while creativity is the most powerful business problem solver we have, it requires conditions and an environment not always present when one side is telling the other what to do. Creativity and innovation are fueled by trust. And trust happens when you believe that the person on the other side of the table, or the screen, cares - genuinely cares - about your well-being. The creative industries have many people who do not engender trust. They demand more for less - more output for less money. More commitment for less respect. But the true and full power of creativity is unleashed when all parties take seriously the responsibility that each of us has to the person across the table. Brand, agency, employer, employee. Parent, child, friend. When both of us can put the other person’s interests first, well, that’s when the world is changed.

Edited highlights of our full conversation. What are you responsible for? Emma Armstrong is the CEO of FCB New York. Most recently, the office was named Agency of the Year at the Clio Awards. Both as an office and as a company, the last few years have been stellar by anyone’s standards. There are always many reasons for a company’s success, particularly when that success is sustained - the hardest kind to achieve. In my conversation with Emma, she described client relationships in a way that stayed with me long after we had said goodbye. Unlocking creative thinking and innovation is hard to do when you are in a vendor-supplier relationship. Because, while creativity is the most powerful business problem solver we have, it requires conditions and an environment not always present when one side is telling the other what to do. Creativity and innovation are fueled by trust. And trust happens when you believe that the person on the other side of the table, or the screen, cares - genuinely cares - about your well-being. The creative industries have many people who do not engender trust. They demand more for less - more output for less money. More commitment for less respect. But the true and full power of creativity is unleashed when all parties take seriously the responsibility that each of us has to the person across the table. Brand, agency, employer, employee. Parent, child, friend. When both of us can put the other person’s interests first, well, that’s when the world is changed.

This episode is a rebroadcast of a conversation I had in January of 2020 with Marc Pritchard, the CMO of P&G. In a pre-pandemic world, leaders with jobs as visible and demanding as Marc’s were not talking about the importance of being vulnerable very much. His willingness to do so then stood out. Based on everything that has happened since then to change our understanding of leadership, Marc’s beliefs were unbelievably prescient. Here is that conversation in full. Are you willing to be vulnerable? Marc Pritchard is the CMO of Procter & Gamble -- the largest advertiser in the world. Over 4 billion people buy P&G brands which means the choices the company makes have staggering human, as well as business, implications. Marc’s leadership journey has brought him to a position of enormous influence. As you’ll hear, that journey has been marked by his willingness to look at himself honestly. To listen to other people’s observations about his leadership, and to consistently raise his own expectations of himself. This episode is called, “The Vulnerable Leader”. After Marc and I had finished our interview he asked me why I’d started Fearless. My answer surprised him and so I thought I’d share it with you. I explained that in my work, I’ve learned that exceptional leaders share three traits.  They’re very clear about the difference they want to make. They recognize and use their strengths - and they’re not afraid of their weaknesses.    Which makes them more focused, more confident and more honest. But, even the most exceptional leaders take many years to reach this level of self-awareness.  And, as I explained to Marc, my purpose in my work is to help leaders get there earlier in their careers. So they have more time to maximize their impact. And more time to make a bigger difference.  This podcast allows me to help listeners understand that fear is part of everyone’s leadership journey.  Even the most accomplished and acclaimed. You might suffer from imposter syndrome or self-doubt. You might have fallen into the habit of focusing on your weaknesses or ignoring your strengths. You might not want to be at the center of attention, and step back at times when you should step forward. You might, as in Marc’s case, have developed a personal narrative that is incomplete. If you experience any of these, you are not alone.  What separates the unforgettable leaders from the forgettable ones is their willingness to be open to new possibilities about themselves. And their ability to use those insights to raise their own expectations of what they’re capable of.   Marc’s willingness to look at himself honestly is the foundation on which his leadership is built. His vulnerability to admit what he has seen has allowed him to unlock the talents of others. And has helped him raise his own expectations for himself. This podcast is also raising its own expectations of itself. And over the weeks and months ahead, my hope is that these conversations and the insights they provide will help you realize what you are capable of. And help you become that leader sooner.