Fearless Creative Leadership

"The Generous Leader."   A 15 minute edited highlight of our full-length conversation. Susan Credle is the global chief creative office of FCB. She is original, open-minded and generous. As the global CCO of a multinational agency, her job is to inspire, teach and hold to account a network of talented individuals most of who work in different cities than the one she calls home - New York. Providing creative leadership to a large network brings different challenges. Building trust with people you see only intermittently is one of the most important. Knowing yourself - your strengths, your weaknesses, your tendencies and, perhaps most importantly, your own heart - is a competitive advantage in any leadership situation. In a complex, organizational structure, it’s even more valuable. So, this week’s theme is self-awareness.

"The Honest Leader".  Mark Thompson has been the CEO of the New York Times for the last six years. For the eight years before that, he was Director General of the BBC. He acts with intention, values the knowledge that comes from mistakes, and cares passionately about the institutions that he is entrusted with and the ideals they represent. Under his leadership, the New York Times has expanded its number of digital subscribers from 668,000 to over 3 million and its total subscriber base to 4 million. These numbers are the reflection of a strategic choice - to focus the purpose of the New York Times on news, not paper. He oversaw a similar evolution at the BBC, guiding the storied and historic broadcaster into the digital age. When you run organizations with the kind of public profile of the New York Times and the BBC, you come under scrutiny. But against historical norms, it takes a certain kind of leadership to stand in the face of relentless attacks from the President of the United States. In the era of so-called #fakenews, and at a time when the truth is suddenly up for debate, the characteristics necessary to lead any organization through a time of radical strategic change, would be easy to put aside.  In our conversation, we cover the role of honesty in modern leadership, the need to create room for people to make mistakes, and Mark's view of where the leaders of Facebook are getting it wrong.

"The Honest Leader".  Mark Thompson has been the CEO of the New York Times for the last six years. For the eight years before that, he was Director General of the BBC. He acts with intention, values the knowledge that comes from mistakes, and cares passionately about the institutions that he is entrusted with and the ideals they represent. Under his leadership, the New York Times has expanded its number of digital subscribers from 668,000 to over 3 million and its total subscriber base to 4 million. These numbers are the reflection of a strategic choice - to focus the purpose of the New York Times on news, not paper. He oversaw a similar evolution at the BBC, guiding the storied and historic broadcaster into the digital age. When you run organizations with the kind of public profile of the New York Times and the BBC, you come under scrutiny. But against historical norms, it takes a certain kind of leadership to stand in the face of relentless attacks from the President of the United States. In the era of so-called #fakenews, and at a time when the truth is suddenly up for debate, the characteristics necessary to lead any organization through a time of radical strategic change, would be easy to put aside.  In our conversation, we cover the role of honesty in modern leadership, the need to create room for people to make mistakes, and Mark's view of where the leaders of Facebook are getting it wrong.

“The Path Finder”.   Skyler Mattson is the President of Wongdoody - a small creative agency that’s been successful for 25 years. She’s also the cofounder of June Cleaver is Dead, the agency’s consultancy whose expertise is in brand experiences for moms.  Skyler is caring, determined and not a surfer. Which, metaphorically, is surprising because she rides the waves of a rapidly changing set of creative industries with great skill and grace. This week’s theme is intention.

”The Path Finder”.   A 15 minute edited highlight of our full length conversation  Skyler Mattson is the President of Wongdoody - a small creative agency that’s been  successful for 25 years. She’s also the cofounder of June Cleaver is Dead, the agency’s consultancy whose expertise is in brand experiences for moms.  Skyler is caring, determined and not a surfer. Which, metaphorically, is surprising because she rides the waves of a rapidly changing set of creative industries with great skill and grace. This week’s theme is intention.   

"The Inner Voice". David Lee is the CCO of Squarespace.   He is thoughtful, self-aware and restless. As you’ll hear, he’s allergic to the status quo.  Which makes David and Squarespace a good fit. In many ways, Squarespace have been at the heart of the democratization of the internet. Unleashing creativity for millions of people who suddenly found they could be the designer of their own web presence.  As a species, human beings crave control.  With control, we can take care of the bottom two layers of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Without it, everything else that we aspire to and yearn for is hopelessly out of reach with the emphasis on the hopeless. This week’s theme is listening.

"The Inner Voice". A 15 minute edit of our full-length conversation David Lee is the CCO of Squarespace.   He is thoughtful, self-aware and restless. As you’ll hear, he’s allergic to the status quo.  Which makes David and Squarespace a good fit. In many ways, Squarespace have been at the heart of the democratisation of the internet. Unleashing creativity for millions of people who suddenly found they could be the designer of their own web presence.  As a species, human beings crave control.  With control, we can take care of the bottom two layers of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Without it, everything else that we aspire to and yearn for is hopelessly out of reach with the emphasis on the hopeless. This week’s theme is listening.

“The Difference Seeker”.      Dan Gardner is the co-founder of Code and Theory - a creatively-led company that creates products, content and campaigns across physical and digital worlds. They have four offices across three continents and a statement on the website that says, “We are always looking for motivated, multi-talented, and organized people to join our diverse team.” Dan has an open-heart, an open-mind and a conscience. He wants to make a difference, and wants to build a company that lets other people contribute. This week’s theme on Fearless is Diversity.

“The Difference Seeker”.      This is a 15 minute edited version of our full conversation. Dan Gardner is the co-founder of Code and Theory - a creatively-led company that creates products, content and campaigns across physical and digital worlds. They have five offices across three continents and a statement on the website that says, “We are always looking for motivated, multi-talented, and organized people to join our diverse team.” Dan has an open-heart, an open-mind and a conscience. He wants to make a difference, and wants to  build a company that lets other people contribute. This week’s theme on Fearless is Diversity.

"The Results Driver".   Nathalie Molina Niño is the CEO of BRAVA Investments and the author of LEAPFROG, which she wrote as a guide to help Women Entrepreneurs succeed. She’s a technologist, a coder, and a business builder. She also describes herself as a storyteller at her heart. She founded Brava Investments on the basis of delivering returns to investors while making a catalytic impact on women in the world. Impact is one of the 13 themes we’ve seen show up regularly in these conversations with the best creative leaders and Impact is this week’s theme on Fearless. You’ll find more of our thinking on Impact on the Fearless Creative Leadership website.