Fearless Creative Leadership

Edited highlights of our full conversation. How do you find the right people? Nick Law is the Global Lead for Design and Creative Tech at Accenture Song. Nick has had a storied career. He was Global Chief Creative Officer at R/GA. Chief Creative Officer of Publicis Groupe. And the VP, Marcom Integration at Apple, before joining Accenture Song in early 2022. He has led and unlocked creativity across thousands of people. He’s seen what works. And what doesn’t. In my experience, the very best leaders understand three things. Their business, their people and themselves. But not in that order. Most leaders prioritize their understanding of the business. After all, it's the reference point that most people use when measuring the success or otherwise of an individual leader. So, leaders rightly worry about the vision, the strategy, the execution and the performance of the organization. They pour themselves into KPIs and P&Ls. But getting those numbers to sing, to really sing, is the consequences of two things. How well you understand your people. And how well you understand yourself. The creative thinking and innovation that every modern business depends on is amplified a thousand fold when its people trust and believe in the leaders of that business. Better visions, better strategies, better systems will move the needle a bit by themselves. But only a bit. And nothing like as far as when your people believe in you. And what drives that belief? Your courage, your confidence, your consistency. And your humanity. And all of those depend on how well you understand yourself. So if you’re struggling to find the right people, start by finding yourself and deciding what really matters to you. And then say it out loud so that your people can find you.

Has leadership changed you? Or the people around you? Philippe Krakowsky is the CEO of IPG. He runs a company of 58,000 people across more than 100 businesses. He worked at IPG for almost two decades before taking on the role in January 2021. He was known as the corporate shrink and the plumber. Deutsch New York even made a bumper sticker once with his photograph on it that read, “1-800-CALL-KRAKOWSKY. Got a problem? Call Philippe.” Despite all this, despite knowing and being known by almost everyone, when he took the job of CEO, he noticed that some people suddenly changed around him. Philippe, as you’ll hear, is human and a realist. His mantra, ‘Hey, show up with reality and we’ll figure it out,” struck a chord with me. Too often, leaders over-complicate. Sometimes, the situation. Sometimes, themselves. That’s not surprising. Leadership is complicated at the best of times. And it’s really easy to lose perspective. Step into a highly visible leadership role, and you are rare indeed if you are can hold on to a clear understanding of your strengths during the first few months. Typically, you become hyper aware of your perceived weaknesses, and it can take a long time to regain your self awareness and confidence that got you the job in the first place. But, even more challenging is what often happens to those around you when your new role suddenly changes your org chart relationship to them. When you now hold the power. That’s when your ability to overcome your own uncertainty becomes critical so that you can evaluate their behavior towards you objectively. Only then can you hold them to account. Only then will you have the confidence to ensure that they speak their truth to your power. How do you do that? How do you make sure you’re focused on their performance and not yours? Well, having a leadership philosophy goes a long way. Looking for an example? “Hey, show up with reality and we’ll figure it out,” is a pretty good place to start.

Edited highlights of our full conversation. Has leadership changed you? Or the people around you? Philippe Krakowsky is the CEO of IPG. He runs a company of 58,000 people across more than 100 businesses. He worked at IPG for almost two decades before taking on the role in January 2021. He was known as the corporate shrink and the plumber. Deutsch New York even made a bumper sticker once with his photograph on it that read, “1-800-CALL-KRAKOWSKY. Got a problem? Call Philippe.” Despite all this, despite knowing and being known by almost everyone, when he took the job of CEO, he noticed that some people suddenly changed around him. Philippe, as you’ll hear, is human and a realist. His mantra, ‘Hey, show up with reality and we’ll figure it out,” struck a chord with me. Too often, leaders over-complicate. Sometimes, the situation. Sometimes, themselves. That’s not surprising. Leadership is complicated at the best of times. And it’s really easy to lose perspective. Step into a highly visible leadership role, and you are rare indeed if you are can hold on to a clear understanding of your strengths during the first few months. Typically, you become hyper aware of your perceived weaknesses, and it can take a long time to regain your self awareness and confidence that got you the job in the first place. But, even more challenging is what often happens to those around you when your new role suddenly changes your org chart relationship to them. When you now hold the power. That’s when your ability to overcome your own uncertainty becomes critical so that you can evaluate their behavior towards you objectively. Only then can you hold them to account. Only then will you have the confidence to ensure that they speak their truth to your power. How do you do that? How do you make sure you’re focused on their performance and not yours? Well, having a leadership philosophy goes a long way. Looking for an example? “Hey, show up with reality and we’ll figure it out,” is a pretty good place to start.

Edited highlights of our full conversation. Has leadership changed you? Or the people around you? Philippe Krakowsky is the CEO of IPG. He runs a company of 58,000 people across more than 100 businesses. He worked at IPG for almost two decades before taking on the role in January 2021. He was known as the corporate shrink and the plumber. Deutsch New York even made a bumper sticker once with his photograph on it that read, “1-800-CALL-KRAKOWSKY. Got a problem? Call Philippe.” Despite all this, despite knowing and being known by almost everyone, when he took the job of CEO, he noticed that some people suddenly changed around him. Philippe, as you’ll hear, is human and a realist. His mantra, ‘Hey, show up with reality and we’ll figure it out,” struck a chord with me. Too often, leaders over-complicate. Sometimes, the situation. Sometimes, themselves. That’s not surprising. Leadership is complicated at the best of times. And it’s really easy to lose perspective. Step into a highly visible leadership role, and you are rare indeed if you are can hold on to a clear understanding of your strengths during the first few months. Typically, you become hyper aware of your perceived weaknesses, and it can take a long time to regain your self awareness and confidence that got you the job in the first place. But, even more challenging is what often happens to those around you when your new role suddenly changes your org chart relationship to them. When you now hold the power. That’s when your ability to overcome your own uncertainty becomes critical so that you can evaluate their behavior towards you objectively. Only then can you hold them to account. Only then will you have the confidence to ensure that they speak their truth to your power. How do you do that? How do you make sure you’re focused on their performance and not yours? Well, having a leadership philosophy goes a long way. Looking for an example? “Hey, show up with reality and we’ll figure it out,” is a pretty good place to start.

Why do people follow you? In the last month, my mother died and the mother of my country died.  Loss makes us look back. And look forward. It’s encouraged me to ask two questions.  What made me who I am?  And who do I want to be going forward?

Who do you want to be? And what are you waiting for? I say all the time on this podcast and in my work, we do not have to be defined by the past or the expectations of others. We can all decide who we want to be and act with intention to be that person. Too often we got stuck by an imperfect view of who we are and why we are that way. Frozen by fear of change, or the truth or an excuse without real substance and which has become a habit. But our future selves are waiting to be written, to be lived and be loved. Don’t wait too long.

How much do you know about what’s happening at your company?  Mark Read is the CEO of WPP. At last month’s Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, WPP was named the most Creative Company of the Year. Mark took over the role in 2018 from WPP’s founder, Sir Martin Sorrell. It was one of the most publicized and dramatic changes in leadership that the advertising and marketing industries have ever seen.  Taking the company from those turbulent times, to one of relative stability and success, has required a realistic, pragmatic approach. Leadership of any creative business is a balancing act. Between dreams and reality. Belief and skepticism. The known and the unknown.  Where you are on each of those scales depends on circumstances that can change by the day and sometimes faster than that. Which means sometimes you have to make decisions based on instinct. That’s fine, to a point. But as flawed human beings, even the best leaders among us are sometimes let down by their instincts.  When you’re looking for a place from which to start the process of deciding what happens next, I have found that the best leaders prefer to begin with the truth. In fact, they seek it out. As Mark says, when you’re in charge, that’s often difficult to find.  But if you’re going to build scalable, sustainable success, finding out what’s really happening is a critical starting point.  That might be difficult and sometimes painful in the short run. And a lot of leaders by-pass seeking out the truth because it makes life more complicated for a while.  But starting with the truth pays for itself in big and small ways. Including in your ability to look yourself in the mirror.

Edited highlights of our full conversation. How much do you know about what’s happening at your company?  Mark Read is the CEO of WPP. At last month’s Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, WPP was named the most Creative Company of the Year. Mark took over the role in 2018 from WPP’s founder, Sir Martin Sorrell. It was one of the most publicized and dramatic changes in leadership that the advertising and marketing industries have ever seen.  Taking the company from those turbulent times, to one of relative stability and success, has required a realistic, pragmatic approach. Leadership of any creative business is a balancing act. Between dreams and reality. Belief and skepticism. The known and the unknown.  Where you are on each of those scales depends on circumstances that can change by the day and sometimes faster than that. Which means sometimes you have to make decisions based on instinct. That’s fine, to a point. But as flawed human beings, even the best leaders among us are sometimes let down by their instincts.  When you’re looking for a place from which to start the process of deciding what happens next, I have found that the best leaders prefer to begin with the truth. In fact, they seek it out. As Mark says, when you’re in charge, that’s often difficult to find.  But if you’re going to build scalable, sustainable success, finding out what’s really happening is a critical starting point.  That might be difficult and sometimes painful in the short run. And a lot of leaders by-pass seeking out the truth because it makes life more complicated for a while.  But starting with the truth pays for itself in big and small ways. Including in your ability to look yourself in the mirror.

Edited highlights of our full conversation. How much do you know about what’s happening at your company?  Mark Read is the CEO of WPP. At last month’s Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, WPP was named the most Creative Company of the Year. Mark took over the role in 2018 from WPP’s founder, Sir Martin Sorrell. It was one of the most publicized and dramatic changes in leadership that the advertising and marketing industries have ever seen.  Taking the company from those turbulent times, to one of relative stability and success, has required a realistic, pragmatic approach. Leadership of any creative business is a balancing act. Between dreams and reality. Belief and skepticism. The known and the unknown.  Where you are on each of those scales depends on circumstances that can change by the day and sometimes faster than that. Which means sometimes you have to make decisions based on instinct. That’s fine, to a point. But as flawed human beings, even the best leaders among us are sometimes let down by their instincts.  When you’re looking for a place from which to start the process of deciding what happens next, I have found that the best leaders prefer to begin with the truth. In fact, they seek it out. As Mark says, when you’re in charge, that’s often difficult to find.  But if you’re going to build scalable, sustainable success, finding out what’s really happening is a critical starting point.  That might be difficult and sometimes painful in the short run. And a lot of leaders by-pass seeking out the truth because it makes life more complicated for a while.  But starting with the truth pays for itself in big and small ways. Including in your ability to look yourself in the mirror.

How have you been changed by the last two years?  Simon Cook is the CEO of Cannes Lions.  Cannes is an institution. One built on in-person connections. Like many organizations dependent on human contact, it has struggled in the face of a two year long, global pandemic. Organizations reflect their leaders. Style. Sensibilities. Ethics. Values. Priorities and Intention. All of these come from or are influenced by the person with the authority to say yes or no. The Cannes Lions Festival has built a reputation for many things over the years. At its best, it shines a very bright light on the power of creativity to drive both business and change. And it acts as a shaper and predictor of what comes next. It has enormous influence. Amidst, all that, one word no one has ever used to describe Cannes is humble. Creativity is fueled by confidence. The willingness to boldly go where no one has gone before. But is is shaped and guided by humility. The recognition that creativity for creativity sake is not only wasteful, it is irresponsible. The understanding that when you have enormous impact, how you use that impact has wide and far reaching implications. Until 2020 showed up on our doorstep, confidence was not a scarce resource. But the flood of humility that has arrived in the last two years gives hope that the power of creativity can now be brought to bear in ways that are filled more with hope than hubris. If the Cannes Lion Festival does indeed reflect its leader, its role in guiding and shaping the future will become even more valuable.