Fearless Creative Leadership

Edited highlights of our full conversation. Jan Jacobs and Leo Premutico are the Founders of Johannes Leonardo. They describe themselves as a creative and effectiveness agency who exist to create a world of courageous brands. However you define the company, they’ve demonstrated exceptional courage and produced relentless creativity for 14 years. Their starting point for both comes not from leaning in but stepping back. In years to come, historians will write about this period as one of unprecedented change. An epoch that separated what came before from what is still to be defined. Today, we live with two new realities.  Yesterday was an unreliable indicator of what today became. And tomorrow, anything is possible. Leading a business that thrives in that kind of environment has become exponentially more challenging than it was even six months ago.  ‘Everyone stay home.’ That created a level playing field that is now officially over. Now comes the hard part, redesigning your company so that it can win when there are no rules, no norms, no references, no comps and no best practices. Now, leaders are really going to have to lead. Which makes Leo’s recognition of listening as a creative act, an invaluable building block in the road to the future. If you’re listening to this podcast, I’m willing to bet that your company is filled with brilliant minds. Listening to them to get help with the answers is a good place to start. Listening to them to get help with the questions is even better. And makes whatever you come up with, not only original, but a competitive advantage.

President Emma Armstrong, co-CCO’s Gabriel Schmitt and Michael Aimette, and their Chief Strategy Officer, Todd Sussman, are the leadership team of FCB New York. This summer, the Cannes Lions named FCB The Network of the Year. The agency’s journey over the last eight years has seen it transformed from a company that most people didn’t care about to one that now stands as a reference point for how to unlock creative thinking on a global scale. FCB is a case study for growing a business by first defining and then living through a strategy. But, when I meet the company’s leaders - whether at the global level or those responsible for running offices - I’m always struck by the human connection between them. According to a recent McKinsey report, 15 million US workers - and counting - have left their jobs since April of this year. The “Great Resignation” as it’s now being called has become one of the most disruptive forces in business since the 2008 financial crash, with potentially deeper and longer lasting consequences. People no longer want to work at jobs they’re not interested by. Which seems like an obvious statement except that for decades, and maybe forever, that hasn’t been the case. In fact the company - employee contract has long been built around the understanding that many aspects of many jobs would be intellectually and emotionally unsatisfying but would come with the promise of something better in the future. That equation doesn’t work in the same way any more. As a leader, how you rewrite that equation depends on how you see the world yourself. Are you, as Emma describes, curious about the power of creativity and where the world is going next? And are you taking people on that journey of discovery and possibility? Or are you working to meet the expectations of someone’s else’s over-promise? And then you have to ask yourself, is that really leading at all? Curiouser and curiouser.

Edited highlights of our full conversation. President Emma Armstrong, co-CCO's Gabriel Schmitt and Michael Aimette, and their Chief Strategy Officer, Todd Sussman, are the leadership team of FCB New York. This summer, the Cannes Lions named FCB The Network of the Year. The agency’s journey over the last eight years has seen it transformed from a company that most people didn’t care about to one that now stands as a reference point for how to unlock creative thinking on a global scale. FCB is a case study for growing a business by first defining and then living through a strategy. But, when I meet the company’s leaders - whether at the global level or those responsible for running offices - I’m always struck by the human connection between them. According to a recent McKinsey report, 15 million US workers - and counting - have left their jobs since April of this year. The “Great Resignation” as it’s now being called has become one of the most disruptive forces in business since the 2008 financial crash, with potentially deeper and longer lasting consequences. People no longer want to work at jobs they’re not interested by. Which seems like an obvious statement except that for decades, and maybe forever, that hasn’t been the case. In fact the company - employee contract has long been built around the understanding that many aspects of many jobs would be intellectually and emotionally unsatisfying but would come with the promise of something better in the future. That equation doesn’t work in the same way any more. As a leader, how you rewrite that equation depends on how you see the world yourself. Are you, as Emma describes, curious about the power of creativity and where the world is going next? And are you taking people on that journey of discovery and possibility? Or are you working to meet the expectations of someone’s else’s over-promise? And then you have to ask yourself, is that really leading at all? Curiouser and curiouser.

Gail Gallie is the Co-Founder of Project Everyone where she works alongside the writer and director, Richard Curtis. Project Everyone is a not-for-profit communications agency that creates campaigns and supports partners to raise awareness, inspire action and drive accountability for the Global Goals of the United Nations. Their mission is to accelerate progress towards a fairer world by 2030, where extreme poverty has been eradicated, climate change is properly addressed, and injustice and inequality are unacceptable. Gail’s own energy is infectious. Even across a Zoom from three thousand miles away, she lifted my sense of possibility. As you’ll hear, there have been phases in her career where that hasn’t been the case. And, like many leaders, she’s had times where she’s found herself out of sync with the organization she was running. But through her journey, she has created a life in which her leadership both reflects and empowers her as a human being. In my experience, that is all too rare. Most leaders relentlessly prioritize solving their company’s problems over their own personal development. Leadership is a moving target. And if you’ve listened to this podcast before, you’ll know that great leadership requires that more than one thing be true at once. You have to care about others. And you have to care about yourself. And sometimes, not in that order.

Edited highlights of our full conversation. Gail Gallie is the Co-Founder of Project Everyone where she works alongside the writer and director, Richard Curtis. Project Everyone is a not-for-profit communications agency that creates campaigns and supports partners to raise awareness, inspire action and drive accountability for the Global Goals of the United Nations. Their mission is to accelerate progress towards a fairer world by 2030, where extreme poverty has been eradicated, climate change is properly addressed, and injustice and inequality are unacceptable. Gail’s own energy is infectious. Even across a Zoom from three thousand miles away, she lifted my sense of possibility. As you’ll hear, there have been phases in her career where that hasn’t been the case. And, like many leaders, she’s had times where she’s found herself out of sync with the organization she was running. But through her journey, she has created a life in which her leadership both reflects and empowers her as a human being. In my experience, that is all too rare. Most leaders relentlessly prioritize solving their company’s problems over their own personal development. Leadership is a moving target. And if you’ve listened to this podcast before, you’ll know that great leadership requires that more than one thing be true at once. You have to care about others. And you have to care about yourself. And sometimes, not in that order.

Keesha Jean-Baptiste is the Senior Vice President, Chief Talent Officer at Hearst Magazines. During her career, she’s also been the Senior Vice President of Talent, Engagement and Inclusion at the American Association of Advertising Agencies (4A’s) and the Director of Talent and Human Resources at Wieden and Kennedy. Keesha is brilliant. She is brave. And she is black. And all three of those attributes make her an extraordinarily insightful and powerful advocate for the work that companies need to undertake if their workforces are truly going to reflect society. Today, that work falls under the heading of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion or DEI - and there are many businesses that are filled with good intentions and meaningful efforts to improve their DEI performance. In some cases these efforts lead to tangible and lasting results. In others the work has little impact on the hiring practices or culture of the business. The difference in whether the work works, frequently comes down to one variable. The leader. I don’t think it’s ever been harder to be a leader. Less is certain and more is expected. There is less to rely on and more to invent. There are fewer shadows to disappear into and many more bright lights to bring the truth into sharp relief. One of the truths is that it’s still disproportionately harder to be a minority in America. And if that fact is going to change, actually change, we need leaders who are willing to step forward and who know what to do when they find themselves standing in that light. My conversation with Keesha covers a lot of ground. She talks openly about her own upbringing, about childhood events that shaped her, and about how she sees the challenges and opportunities that leaders face today, as they struggle to come to terms with what’s needed in DEI committed companies. It’s a conversation that’s filled with practical advice about a sensitive and complex topic. It’s a conversation that will make you a better leader.

Edited highlights of our full conversation. Keesha Jean-Baptiste is the Senior Vice President, Chief Talent Officer at Hearst Magazines. During her career, she’s also been the Senior Vice President of Talent, Engagement and Inclusion at the American Association of Advertising Agencies (4A’s) and the Director of Talent and Human Resources at Wieden and Kennedy. Keesha is brilliant. She is brave. And she is black. And all three of those attributes make her an extraordinarily insightful and powerful advocate for the work that companies need to undertake if their workforces are truly going to reflect society. Today, that work falls under the heading of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion or DEI - and there are many businesses that are filled with good intentions and meaningful efforts to improve their DEI performance. In some cases these efforts lead to tangible and lasting results. In others the work has little impact on the hiring practices or culture of the business. The difference in whether the work works, frequently comes down to one variable. The leader. I don’t think it’s ever been harder to be a leader. Less is certain and more is expected. There is less to rely on and more to invent. There are fewer shadows to disappear into and many more bright lights to bring the truth into sharp relief. One of the truths is that it’s still disproportionately harder to be a minority in America. And if that fact is going to change, actually change, we need leaders who are willing to step forward and who know what to do when they find themselves standing in that light. My conversation with Keesha covers a lot of ground. She talks openly about her own upbringing, about childhood events that shaped her, and about how she sees the challenges and opportunities that leaders face today, as they struggle to come to terms with what’s needed in DEI committed companies. It’s a conversation that’s filled with practical advice about a sensitive and complex topic. It’s a conversation that will make you a better leader.

Julia Goldin is the Global Chief Product & Marketing Officer at The LEGO Group. How do you lead a business that depends on play? How do you deliver results today and build for tomorrow? How do you find yourself when your whole company is watching? And how do you build a team that dreams of possibility when the whole world is craving certainty? Leadership is a lot about pushing the boundaries. And if you’re not doing that, you’re not actually leading. You’re just managing someone else’s problems. But even if you show up every day willing to imagine new possibilities and fueled by a clear vision of a new future, you can only do that by yourself for so long. Eventually, if you’re going to change the world, you’re going to need help. And the more that those people are able to explore and adapt, the more they are willing to see change as an ally not a threat, the greater the success they will help you create. Encouraging the people around you to think and behave like children requires flexibility. On how you see them. And how you see yourself. In a world that’s suddenly so serious, that seems risky and maybe even absurd. But the adults haven’t done that great recently. Maybe it’s time to let the children inside all of us see what they can do.

Edited highlights of our full conversation. Julia Goldin is the Global Chief Product & Marketing Officer at The LEGO Group. How do you lead a business that depends on play? How do you deliver results today and build for tomorrow? How do you find yourself when your whole company is watching? And how do you build a team that dreams of possibility when the whole world is craving certainty? Leadership is a lot about pushing the boundaries. And if you’re not doing that, you’re not actually leading. You’re just managing someone else’s problems. But even if you show up every day willing to imagine new possibilities and fueled by a clear vision of a new future, you can only do that by yourself for so long. Eventually, if you’re going to change the world, you’re going to need help. And the more that those people are able to explore and adapt, the more they are willing to see change as an ally not a threat, the greater the success they will help you create. Encouraging the people around you to think and behave like children requires flexibility. On how you see them. And how you see yourself. In a world that’s suddenly so serious, that seems risky and maybe even absurd. But the adults haven’t done that great recently. Maybe it’s time to let the children inside all of us see what they can do.

Gerry Graf is the Co-Founder of Slap Global. They describe themselves as a business accelerator fueled by creativity. Gerry is best known as the founder of Barton F. Graf 9000 - which he built into one of the most acclaimed advertising agencies in America. Business Insider named Gerry “The Most Creative Man in Advertising”. Newsweek called him one of the “New Don Drapers”. PBS featured Barton as one of the new innovative shops in “The Real Mad Men of Madison Ave”. Forbes named Barton one of the 14 Most Influential Agencies in America. Fast Company named Barton one of the Most Innovative Advertising Agencies and Gerry one of the 100 Most Creative People in Business. And AdAge included Barton in their A-List issue 8 out of 9 years and named Gerry one of the 50 “biggest and best thinkers and doers from 20 years of advertising and consumer culture.” Despite all of this, the company closed after ten years. Success and failure are cousins. So are risk and fear. You can’t have one without the other. How we see them and what we learn from them shape the course of our lives. In a pre-pandemic world, a lot of leaders got their titles as a rite of passage or a reward for longevity. They weren’t leaders at all. They were in the right place at the right time, and the playbook they used was well thumbed and easy to follow. We’re living in a time in which the rules are different. Many of them no longer exist. And yet so many leaders are still trying to turn the clock back to 2019. Most of the references we hear today are about returning. But the winners will be those who re-imagine. Human beings, by nature, are creatures of habit and risk adverse. And the status quo is a compelling drug. But leadership has always been about looking ahead. About telling a story, building trust and keeping people moving forward. There’s risk involved in all of that. You might be wrong. It might not work. Which is when leaders step forward and try again. Which, when you think of it, sums up the entire history of human evolution. What story do you want to write?