Fearless Creative Leadership

"The Fear Seeker".  15 minute edited highlight of our full conversation. Brad Hiranaga is a disruptor and a change agent. Working inside one of the world’s most storied and established companies, he is bringing about systemic change to the way General Mills shows up in the world.  Unlocking creative and innovative thinking at scale requires not just an ability to take risks but a willingness to search for them.

"The Trust Maker". Marc Maltz describes himself as an organizational clinician, and he’s brilliant at getting the CEOs of tech companies and their senior teams to work together more effectively. Marc has become a good friend and I have huge respect for his work and how he does it and I thought it would be invaluable to hear his thinking on some of the issues I see every day in my own work. Whether you’re writing code or ads, whether you’re building platforms or teams, the need to unlock creative and innovative thinking sits at the heart of the world’s most valuable businesses. And what makes that heart beat is trust. This episode is called “The Trust Maker.”

"The Trust Maker". 15 minute edited highlight of our full conversation. Marc Maltz is an organizational clinician, and he’s brilliant at getting the CEOs of tech companies and their senior teams to work together more effectively. I have huge respect for his work and I thought it would be invaluable to hear his thinking on some of the issues I see every day in my own work. Whether you’re writing code or ads, whether you’re building platforms or teams, the need to unlock creative and innovative thinking sits at the heart of the world’s most valuable businesses. And what makes that heart beat is trust.

"The Less-Is-More Leader". This podcast has listeners in 84 countries. Most of those are pretty open, democratic societies where freedom of thought and movement are both expectations and rights. Born and raised in Russia, Leonid Sudakov had neither in his formative years. His father was not allowed a passport until he was 50. Leonid didn’t meet a foreigner until he was 16, when he moved to Moscow carrying with him a bag of potatoes and his wits.  From these beginnings he has become an exceptionally creative and thoughtful leader, unlocking innovative and creative thinking at every stop, including 3 years as the global CMO for Mars Petcare, a $20 billion global business. We are all heavily influenced by our upbringing. Whether we use those experiences as catalysts or obstacles depends on how we see them.

"The Unreasonable Man".  I’ve learned a lot in the three years since I started this podcast. Carl Johnson was my second interview. I was re-reading the transcript the other day and was struck by the fact that so much of what Carl said was timeless. The insights and understanding he offered haven’t decayed. In fact, I find that they are more valuable than ever. So I’m going to replay that interview. Whether you’ve listened to it before or not, I’d encourage you to hear what he has to say.

"The Opportunity Creator".  Dame Carolyn Fairbairn is the Director-General of the Confederation of British Industry. The CBI represents 190,000 British businesses, and campaigns the government for policies that support the needs of companies up and down the land. When Dame Carolyn took the job in the summer of 2015, a vote on whether Britain should leave Europe was a David Cameron election promise. A year later, Brexit had become the greatest driver of uncertainty and hostility in the British economy. Almost four years after that, it still is.  It’s much easier to lead when things are going well, the future is clear and results are trending up.  It’s a different story when you’re faced with endless uncertainty and personal attacks. In those conditions, staying the course and showing up every day requires something more than short-term goals. Something more than quarterly earnings reports or the next industry award.  You’ve got to be clear of the difference you want to make.

"The Female Leader".  Caroline is one of the co-founders of Have Her Back Consulting. They describe themselves as a culture consultancy, and they work with brands and companies to advance gender equity for women while driving business outcomes. Have Her Back was formed in the slipstream of Times’s Up and MeToo. For many, the realization that systemic harassment has been going on every day for years has hit like a tidal wave.  In that tsunami, I’ve found it easy to understand the issues intellectually. But, I’ve sometimes found it difficult to fully feel what it is like to be someone who has experienced them first-hand. My conversation with Caroline changed that. This episode is called, “The Female Leader”.

"The Vulnerable Leader".  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.

"The Vulnerable Leader." A 15 minute edited version of our full-length conversation.

“The Creativity Catalyst”.  Simon Cook is the Managing Director of Cannes Lions. In my experience, it is the most valuable business week of the year, the convergence of people and ideas creating new networks of both the neural and personal kind. Simon and the Cannes Lions team believe that creativity is a catalyst for business and personal growth. If you’ve listened to this podcast before you know that I do too. Passionately. In fact it’s why this podcast exists. To unlock the most powerful fuel available to the business world - creativity - through the most valuable levers - business leaders. This is not an easy challenge. It is not a straight line. For the simple reason that creativity confuses people.