Fearless Creative Leadership

Edited highlights of our full length conversation. What is your leadership for? Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is the Junior Senator from the State of New York. Running for public office places you in a spotlight that is white hot. Being clear why you've made the choice to run in the first place is table stakes for creating the life you want to live and the legacy you want to leave behind. In too many companies and for too many people, leadership is seen as the thing that comes next for those who are willing to stick around. The inevitability of rising up the org chart into a role that comes with more everything is too rarely challenged by company or individual. Leadership is a privilege. An opportunity to make the biggest difference for the most people, that most of us will ever have. Marty Baron of the Washington Post described it as a responsibility. Mark Thompson, when he was at the New York Times, described leadership as the act of running towards the gunfire. Cecile Richards, formerly of Planned Parenthood, described herself as blessed to have been one of the really privileged few that could do what she thought needed doing. In industries where awards, wins, and results are to the fore, and success is often measured by how many and how much, I'm hoping that some of these conversations will also stir thoughts of what. What do I want to make better? What do I want to change? What difference do I want to make for the people around me? Because, as my work continues to evolve and my understanding continues to deepen, what I increasingly know to be true is that the awards, the wins, and the results are directly connected to the whats. That the leaders who are clearest about what difference they want to make are the ones who have the most evidence of having made it. Literally and figuratively. So, what is your leadership for?

What do you think and why? Tom O'Keefe and Jeff King are two of the four partners who have just merged their respective businesses, OKRP and Barkley. Mergers are a forcing function for open-mindedness. And for doing things differently. The ability to accept the need to do things differently, to truly change perspectives, is a never ending leadership challenge. In my experience, you have to be pretty clear about your own point of view in order to embrace new ones. Worry too much about providing strong leadership, and the temptation to stick to our beliefs — even in the face of evidence or views to the contrary — becomes almost like a drug. An addiction to being right or first or better. This is perhaps the most damaging characteristic that any leader can possess. And too much of it will ensure you're not a leader of very many or very much for very long. When we are clear about why we think what we think, when we are free of insecurity or hubris or ego, then we can assess an alternative path with an open mind. Mergers provoke the need to lead through this lens. Tom's outline for unleashing the creative potential of the newly formed business is filled with best practice. But regardless of external forcing functions — like mergers — being clear about why we think what we think is table stakes for the most fearless leaders. So what do you think? And what will it take for you to see things from a different perspective?

Edited highlights of our full length conversation. What do you think and why? Tom O'Keefe and Jeff King are two of the four partners who have just merged their respective businesses, OKRP and Barkley. Mergers are a forcing function for open-mindedness. And for doing things differently. The ability to accept the need to do things differently, to truly change perspectives, is a never ending leadership challenge. In my experience, you have to be pretty clear about your own point of view in order to embrace new ones. Worry too much about providing strong leadership, and the temptation to stick to our beliefs — even in the face of evidence or views to the contrary — becomes almost like a drug. An addiction to being right or first or better. This is perhaps the most damaging characteristic that any leader can possess. And too much of it will ensure you're not a leader of very many or very much for very long. When we are clear about why we think what we think, when we are free of insecurity or hubris or ego, then we can assess an alternative path with an open mind. Mergers provoke the need to lead through this lens. Tom's outline for unleashing the creative potential of the newly formed business is filled with best practice. But regardless of external forcing functions — like mergers — being clear about why we think what we think is table stakes for the most fearless leaders. So what do you think? And what will it take for you to see things from a different perspective?

Edited highlights of our full length conversation. What do you think and why? Tom O'Keefe and Jeff King are two of the four partners who have just merged their respective businesses, OKRP and Barkley. Mergers are a forcing function for open-mindedness. And for doing things differently. The ability to accept the need to do things differently, to truly change perspectives, is a never ending leadership challenge. In my experience, you have to be pretty clear about your own point of view in order to embrace new ones. Worry too much about providing strong leadership, and the temptation to stick to our beliefs — even in the face of evidence or views to the contrary — becomes almost like a drug. An addiction to being right or first or better. This is perhaps the most damaging characteristic that any leader can possess. And too much of it will ensure you're not a leader of very many or very much for very long. When we are clear about why we think what we think, when we are free of insecurity or hubris or ego, then we can assess an alternative path with an open mind. Mergers provoke the need to lead through this lens. Tom's outline for unleashing the creative potential of the newly formed business is filled with best practice. But regardless of external forcing functions — like mergers — being clear about why we think what we think is table stakes for the most fearless leaders. So what do you think? And what will it take for you to see things from a different perspective?

How vulnerable is too vulnerable? Anselmo Ramos is the Co-Founder and Creative Chairman of GUT, a global independent creative agency that's headquartered in Miami, and with six other offices around the world. Months after being named the Independent Agency Network of the Year at last year's Cannes Lions, GUT announced it was being acquired by the tech company Globant. GUT was recently named one of the most innovative companies in the world by Fast Company. For a company that is barely six years old, its story and success are remarkable. It's also built on a very specific ethos. Businesses measure success by many metrics, and as a leader, you live with most of them every day. In most companies, seeing the leaders cry in public would be a strong indicator that things were heading in the wrong direction. Or worse. For many staff members, it would be traumatic to witness such a public display of human emotion from their leaders. This conversation with Anselmo has made me think hard about the humanity side of the leadership equation. How vulnerable is too vulnerable? The answer, of course, depends on the culture that you have created. If your culture is based on deep and enduring emotional trust, you give people the ability to show up as complex, multifaceted humans, to show up as whole beings. In a world in which Artificial Intelligence will soon be able to mimic — or more — much of what passes for 'creative' in inverted commas, our ability as a species to separate ourselves from the servers, will depend on whether we can unleash 'human creativity', that capacity which no technology can replace. Human creativity comes from the soul. And souls have feelings. How do you measure those?

Are you conscious of your choices? Kara Swisher is the most effective and successful tech journalist of our lifetimes. She's the host of the podcast 'On with Kara Swisher' and the cohost of the Pivot podcast with Scott Galloway. Over the last thirty years, she has interviewed everyone who matters in tech, multiple times. And she's just written her third book, titled Burn Book: A Tech Love Story. In a world of white men with giant bank accounts and even bigger egos, how did this 5 feet 2 inch, self-described, liberal lesbian mother of four, end up as the most influential and insightful reporter of the technology age? As you'll hear, Kara puts it down to curiosity, confidence, and understanding the choices available to her. Leadership is the art of unlocking the potential of others. But our success at doing that, first depends on our ability to unlock the potential in ourselves. If you're listening to this podcast, you have choices. Given its reach around the world, some of you have more than others. But all of us, all of us, have more choices than we think. Too many times we doubt ourselves, see only the obstacles, respond only to the fear, the one that makes us believe that we don't have the ability, the experience, the confidence, or the right to choose a different path. We let others decide our future. We wait for approval, or acceptance, or acknowledgement that we have passed some undefined, moving line test. But when we choose to take a different path - one that recognizes that life is a journey; that what we do with it depends on the decisions we make, not those that we let others make for us. When we make that choice to take a different path, then we show up differently. We start to discover that our future is waiting for us to create it. That the choices we make will determine the impact that we make and the one we leave behind. To be a leader is a choice. To make a difference is a choice. To define our own journey is a choice. So choose your future. And then create it. In Kara's words, "be defined by that the choices you have." It is the human equivalent of lighting the blue touch paper. And the results will light up the sky.

Edited highlights of our full length conversation. Are you conscious of your choices? Kara Swisher is the most effective and successful tech journalist of our lifetimes. She's the host of the podcast 'On with Kara Swisher' and the cohost of the Pivot podcast with Scott Galloway. Over the last thirty years, she has interviewed everyone who matters in tech, multiple times. And she's just written her third book, titled Burn Book: A Tech Love Story. In a world of white men with giant bank accounts and even bigger egos, how did this 5 feet 2 inch, self-described, liberal lesbian mother of four, end up as the most influential and insightful reporter of the technology age? As you'll hear, Kara puts it down to curiosity, confidence, and understanding the choices available to her. Leadership is the art of unlocking the potential of others. But our success at doing that, first depends on our ability to unlock the potential in ourselves. If you're listening to this podcast, you have choices. Given its reach around the world, some of you have more than others. But all of us, all of us, have more choices than we think. Too many times we doubt ourselves, see only the obstacles, respond only to the fear, the one that makes us believe that we don't have the ability, the experience, the confidence, or the right to choose a different path. We let others decide our future. We wait for approval, or acceptance, or acknowledgement that we have passed some undefined, moving line test. But when we choose to take a different path - one that recognizes that life is a journey; that what we do with it depends on the decisions we make, not those that we let others make for us. When we make that choice to take a different path, then we show up differently. We start to discover that our future is waiting for us to create it. That the choices we make will determine the impact that we make and the one we leave behind. To be a leader is a choice. To make a difference is a choice. To define our own journey is a choice. So choose your future. And then create it. In Kara's words, "be defined by that the choices you have." It is the human equivalent of lighting the blue touch paper. And the results will light up the sky.

Avery Baker is the former President and Chief Brand Officer of Tommy Hilfiger. Six months after she stepped down from her position at Tommy, we talk about her desire to empower others and why it's an essential skill to demonstrate as a leader. We also discuss the new leadership paradigm that we have developed together for creative and innovative businesses. We call it 'Partnership Leadership'.

Edited highlights of our full conversation. Avery Baker is the former President and Chief Brand Officer of Tommy Hilfiger. Six months after she stepped down from her position at Tommy, we talk about her desire to empower others and why it's an essential skill to demonstrate as a leader. We also discuss the new leadership paradigm that we have developed together for creative and innovative businesses. We call it 'Partnership Leadership'.

Edited highlights of our full conversation. Avery Baker is the former President and Chief Brand Officer of Tommy Hilfiger. Six months after she stepped down from her position at Tommy, we talk about her desire to empower others and why it's an essential skill to demonstrate as a leader. We also discuss the new leadership paradigm that we have developed together for creative and innovative businesses. We call it 'Partnership Leadership'.