Fearless Creative Leadership

"The Honest CEO". A 15 minute edited highlight of our full-length conversation. Joanne McKinney is the CEO of Burns Group- an advertising brand consultancy and innovation company. She's worked on the agency and client side. She's lived and worked in the US and in Europe. She's started her own company, been named one of 24 global agency innovators by The Internationalist, and has succeeded at every step of her career. And while doing all that she's been a wife and a mother to two children. She's a year into being a CEO. She's smart, self aware and honest.

"The Boy Scout". I first interviewed Eric Baldwin two years ago when he and his new partner Jason Bagley came on the show, 6 months  after they had been named to run Wieden + Kennedy Portland. I wanted to talk to him this time about what he’s learned about leadership two years later with two agency of the year titles under their belt as well as being named Fast Company’s most innovative marketing company of the year and just this week being named agency of the year by the One Show. We’ve worked together closely over those two years and Eric Baldwin is one of the most honest people I know. But even he lies. Which in his case is particularly surprising.  Because Eric is a Boy Scout. Literally.

"The Boy Scout". A 15 minute edited highlight of our full-length conversation. I first interviewed Eric Baldwin two years ago when he and his new partner Jason Bagley came on the show, 6 months after they had been named to run Wieden + Kennedy Portland. I wanted to talk to him this time about what he's learned about leadership two years later with two agency of the year titles under their belt as well as being named Fast Company's most innovative marketing company of the year and just this week being named agency of the year by the One Show. We've worked together closely over those two years and Eric Baldwin is one of the most honest people I know. But even he lies. Which in his case is particularly surprising.  Because Eric is a Boy Scout. Literally.

"The Dancer". Julie Kent has not always been Julie Kent. The Kent name was suggested to her by Mikail Baryshnikov when he asked her to co-star in his film The Dancers just after he had watched her audition for the American Ballet Theatre in New York.  Julie went on to become the longest-serving ballerina in American Ballet Theatre’s 75-year history, and performed as a principal dancer for 23 years.  She has danced in well over 100 ballets, been named one of People Magazine’s “50 Most Beautiful People”, and in 2016, she became the Artistic Director of The Washington Ballet.  She is a world-renowned star by any definition.

"The Dancer". A 15 minute edited highlight of our full-length conversation. Julie Kent has not always been Julie Kent. The Kent name was suggested to her by Mikail Baryshnikov when he asked her to co-star in his film The Dancers just after he had watched her audition for the American Ballet Theatre in New York.  Julie went on to become the longest-serving ballerina in American Ballet Theatre’s 75-year history, and performed as a principal dancer for 23 years.  She has danced in well over 100 ballets, been named one of People Magazine’s “50 Most Beautiful People”, and in 2016, she became the Artistic Director of The Washington Ballet.  She is a world-renowned star by any definition.

"The Transparent Leader".  Nancy Dubuc is the CEO of Vice Media. When she took over the job just under a year ago, she was inheriting two of the hardest circumstances for any leader. She was replacing the founder. And she was stepping into a crisis. Actually several. There were reports that there was a pattern of sexual harassment at Vice among senior male executives and that HR had been unsupportive about the complaints. The company had missed its revenue targets by more than $100 million. And New York Magazine published a story that claimed that Vice had been “built on a bluff”. Taking over in that environment meant defining the future and providing hope. It meant keeping what was working and changing what was not. Most of all, it meant bringing people together and establishing trust.

"The Transparent Leader". A 15 minute edited highlight of our full-length conversation. Nancy Dubuc is the CEO of Vice Media. When she took over the job just under a year ago, she was inheriting two of the hardest circumstances for any leader. She was replacing the founder. And she was stepping into a crisis. Actually several. There were reports that there was a pattern of sexual harassment at Vice among senior male executives and that HR had been unsupportive about the complaints. The company had missed its revenue targets by more than $100 million. And New York Magazine published a story that claimed that Vice had been “built on a bluff.” Taking over in that environment meant defining the future and providing hope. It meant keeping what was working and changing what was not. Most of all, it meant bringing people together and establishing trust.

"The Removal Men".    If you’re interested in unlocking creativity in the people around you then Wieden + Kennedy is a real-time case study. Like all great creative companies, it is three-dimensional, and no two sides look the same. Understanding how and why it works means looking at it from several angles.   In earlier episodes, I’ve talked to Colleen DeCourcy, who has a global perspective; Eric Baldwin and Jason Bagley, who had just taken over the leadership of Wieden in Portland; and Jesse Johnson and George Felix, about how the agency/client relationship works when Wieden is at its best.  This episode is a conversation with Neal Arthur and Karl Lieberman, who run W+K New York.   They came together just over three years ago, following a long period of uncertainty in the leadership of that office. Since joining forces, they have provided focus, consistency, care and hope. They also have clear expectations of themselves and those around them.

  "The Removal Men". A 15 minute edited highlight of our full-length conversation. If you're interested in unlocking creativity in the people around you then Wieden + Kennedyis a real-time case study. Like all great creative companies, it is three-dimensional, and no two sides look the same. Understanding how and why it works means looking at it from several angles. In earlier episodes, I've talked to Colleen DeCourcy, who has a global perspective; Eric Baldwin and Jason Bagley, who had just taken over the leadership of Wieden in Portland; and Jesse Johnson and George Felix, about how the agency/client relationship works when Wieden is at its best. This episode is a conversation with Neal Arthur and Karl Lieberman, who run W+K New York.   They came together just over three years ago, following a long period of uncertainty in the leadership of that office. Since joining forces, they have provided focus, consistency, care and hope. They also have clear expectations of themselves and those around them.

"The More-Than-Me Leader".  Alex Goat is the CEO of Livity, a self-described, "youth-led creative network”. Their purpose is to create a more positive life for young people by partnering with marketing, talent and policy clients. Their goal is to make youth culture that creates change. Alex is on a mission to make the world better. It gets her up in the morning and it keeps her up at night.