Fearless Creative Leadership

Edited highlights of our full conversation. Nancy Reyes is the CEO of TBWA\Chiat\Day New York and Chris Beresford-Hill is the agency's Chief Creative Officer. None us succeed alone. And the bigger the ambition, the more we need other people to reach it. The age of the iconic, solo, white male leader are almost behind us. Not a moment too soon. Welcome to the age of leadership partnership. And if you think what came before was challenging, well, as the song goes, you ain't seen nothing yet. As humans, we want so badly to belong, that we're attracted - almost compulsively - by the idea of partnership. It is a light calling us home. Or to the flame. There are many, many kinds of partnerships. Strategic. Impulsive. Circumstantial. Convenient. And those that are deeply, deeply personal. Successful and satisfying partnerships are rare. So rare, that when we find them we should take some time to understand why they work. As you will hear, their relationship embodies two of the most critical elements of any successful and sustainable partnership. First, you've got to like each other. Because you're going to spend a lot of time having difficult conversations and making hard decisions. And second, once the decision is made - whether you agreed or not - you've got to develop the ability to support each other. Love and the ability to disagree well. Sometimes it's just that simple. And that complicated. How well does your partnership work?

Will Travis is the Founder of Elevation Barn. They describe themselves as a global network united to elevate each other's clarity of purpose for personal, business and philanthropic goals. Will works with individual leaders. And I think the conversation about individual purpose is really important. Businesses talk a lot about purpose. Most do very little about it. They pre-sell or post rationalize. But very few change the way they spend money as a result of their purpose. What the best businesses do have in common is that they are intentioned. They're clear about where they're trying to get to and the journey that will get them there. In my experience, that's often enough to achieve significant competitive advantage and serious success. There are a lot of highly effective leaders who have discovered the same thing about their own lives. Declare your intention for your business, define the journey it will take to get there, and you can often attract the kind of talent and funding that you'll need. The only limitation is that it leaves an important bit out of the equation. You. What matters to you? Who do you want to be? Will's work at the Elevation Barn really resonates with me. Like Will, I meet leaders who have become incredibly good at fitting square pegs into round holes. Often, they are the square peg. They have adapted themselves to the needs of the business. They conform to a set of expectations created by someone else for someone else in some other moment. They do what they think they should, conscious of a growing sense of disconnection, but never stopping to ask themselves, what matters to me? Who do I want to be? Life is short. Nothing is guaranteed. Let us hope the lasting lessons of the last 16 months are at least that. What do you want to do with your time here? What legacy do you want to leave behind? Leadership is an opportunity to unlock the potential of people and to shape the world in the process. One of those people whose potential you unlock, can be you.

Edited highlights of our full conversation. Will Travis is the Founder of Elevation Barn. They describe themselves as a global network united to elevate each other's clarity of purpose for personal, business and philanthropic goals. Businesses talk a lot about purpose. Most do very little about it. They pre-sell or post rationalize. But very few change the way they spend money as a result of their purpose. What the best businesses do have in common is that they are intentioned. They're clear about where they're trying to get to and the journey that will get them there. In my experience, that's often enough to achieve significant competitive advantage and serious success. There are a lot of highly effective leaders who have discovered the same thing about their own lives. Declare your intention for your business, define the journey it will take to get there, and you can often attract the kind of talent and funding that you'll need. The only limitation is that it leaves an important bit out of the equation. You. What matters to you? Who do you want to be? Will's work at the Elevation Barn really resonates with me. Like Will, I meet leaders who have become incredibly good at fitting square pegs into round holes. Often, they are the square peg. They have adapted themselves to the needs of the business. They conform to a set of expectations created by someone else for someone else in some other moment. They do what they think they should, conscious of a growing sense of disconnection, but never stopping to ask themselves, what matters to me? Who do I want to be? Life is short. Nothing is guaranteed. Let us hope the lasting lessons of the last 16 months are at least that. What do you want to do with your time here? What legacy do you want to leave behind? Leadership is an opportunity to unlock the potential of people and to shape the world in the process. One of those people whose potential you unlock, can be you.

David Kolbusz is the Chief Creative Officer at Droga5 in London. He's worked for many of the most iconic agencies in the advertising industry. BBH, Goodby Silverstein, Wieden & Kennedy and Droga. Most of the time, he's found a great fit. Occasionally, he hasn't. But at every step of the way he's brought a distinctive perspective and point of view. David talks about the fact that he does not consider himself a risk taker. But he is absolutely willing to see the status quo for what it is. An artifice. And a falsehood. Leading inside the lines is a choice. Pushing against them is another. But recognizing they don't actually exist is perhaps the most powerful starting point for any form of creative leadership. In a world in which everything we thought we knew has been thrown up in the air, playing by an old set of artificial rules will get us to one place fast - a broken version of the past. Leading the future starts when you imagine the world without rules. And let the most powerful force of all - your imagination - run wild.

Edited highlights of our full conversation. David Kolbusz is the Chief Creative Officer at Droga5 in London. He's worked for many of the most iconic agencies in the advertising industry. BBH, Goodby Silverstein, Wieden & Kennedy and Droga. Most of the time, he's found a great fit. Occasionally, he hasn't. But at every step of the way he's brought a distinctive perspective and point of view. David talks about the fact that he does not consider himself a risk taker. But he is absolutely willing to see the status quo for what it is. An artifice. And a falsehood. Leading inside the lines is a choice. Pushing against them is another. But recognizing they don't actually exist is perhaps the most powerful starting point for any form of creative leadership. In a world in which everything we thought we knew has been thrown up in the air, playing by an old set of artificial rules will get us to one place fast - a broken version of the past. Leading the future starts when you imagine the world without rules. And let the most powerful force of all - your imagination - run wild.

Stephanie Mehta is the Editor-in-Chief of Fast Company. They study, explore, analyze and report on innovation like no other media brand. Stephanie has been a writer almost since birth. Like the rest of us, she's learned how to lead through trial and error and experience and asking and listening. Leadership used to be a two dimensional, top down, hierarchical practice. I say. You do. Today, it is a three dimensional role, powered by a leader's ability to use influence and in which they are the visionary, guide, architect, storyteller, as well as the supporter of multiple constituencies. Today, the leader is expected to have a point of view or to be clear - and credible - about why they don't. The best way and, in fact, the only way, for leaders to navigate this complexity, is to establish a set of principles that guide them in moments of crisis and consternation. If you take the time to define your principles now - when things are quiet and the microphone isn't being pushed in your face - you will dramatically increase the chances that what you come up with when the heat is on, will be clear, consistent and compelling. Three words by which to measure anyone's leadership. And which increase the chances that whatever you say, you can live with the consequences of having said it.

Edited highlights of our full conversation. Stephanie Mehta is the Editor-in-Chief of Fast Company. They study, explore, analyze and report on innovation like no other media brand. Stephanie has been a writer almost since birth. Like the rest of us, she's learned how to lead through trial and error and experience and asking and listening. Leadership used to be a two dimensional, top down, hierarchical practice. I say. You do. Today, it is a three dimensional role, powered by a leader's ability to use influence and in which they are the visionary, guide, architect, storyteller, as well as the supporter of multiple constituencies. Today, the leader is expected to have a point of view or to be clear - and credible - about why they don't. The best way and, in fact, the only way, for leaders to navigate this complexity, is to establish a set of principles that guide them in moments of crisis and consternation. If you take the time to define your principles now - when things are quiet and the microphone isn't being pushed in your face - you will dramatically increase the chances that what you come up with when the heat is on, will be clear, consistent and compelling. Three words by which to measure anyone's leadership. And which increase the chances that whatever you say, you can live with the consequences of having said it.

Faith Popcorn is a futurist. To many of us she is the original and still the best. She told Kodak about digital imagery, Ford about electric cars and Coke about bottled water before any of them existed. In the 1980s she told P&G that everything would be home delivered. In every case they either laughed or threw her out of the room. That's the price of forecasting change. The ability to see the future is, by definition an uncertain science. No matter how often you are right, you will be wrong far more often. And yet it is the what-ifs that we get remembered for. The what-ifs that change lives. Life is short. And unpredictable. And we have much less control over it than we think. Leadership is an opportunity to make a difference while we're here. Developing your appetite for the unlikely and redefining your view of the impossible make you an infinitely better leader of any business that depends on creative thinking and innovation. What do you think will definitely not happen over the next five years? And are you sure?

Edited highlights of our full conversation. Faith Popcorn is a futurist. To many of us she is the original and still the best. She told Kodak about digital imagery, Ford about electric cars and Coke about bottled water before any of them existed. In the 1980s she told P&G that everything would be home delivered. In every case they either laughed or threw her out of the room. That's the price of forecasting change. The ability to see the future is, by definition an uncertain science. No matter how often you are right, you will be wrong far more often. And yet it is the what-ifs that we get remembered for. The what-ifs that change lives. Life is short. And unpredictable. And we have much less control over it than we think. Leadership is an opportunity to make a difference while we're here. Developing your appetite for the unlikely and redefining your view of the impossible make you an infinitely better leader of any business that depends on creative thinking and innovation. What do you think will definitely not happen over the next five years? And are you sure?

Jenny Just is the Co-Founder of PEAK6 Investments. She's been described as the most successful business woman you've never heard of. A recent study by the World Health Organization reveals that working more than 55 hours a week causes a significant increase in premature death. If that's true, it's just one more reason why leaders should make decisions faster. And why they need to create an environment in which it's easier for others to make decisions faster too. What's the reason that decisions often take too long to get made? Risk. Risk of failure for sure. But also, and no less importantly, the risk of being wrong. The human fear that is often hidden behind a carefully designed wall of over-analyzed data and needlessly complex strategies. What's worse than being wrong? Allowing risk to prevent you from discovering that you might be right.