Edited highlights of our full conversation. Can you hear yourself think? DeEtta Jones is the founder of one of the world’s leading EDI training and strategy consultancies. She’s seen leadership and leaders through many lenses. And she’s learned that the best of them are not necessarily the ones making the most noise. Leadership is changing in real time. I see evidence everywhere, every day. The beliefs we have grown up with about leadership - that it starts with standing in front of a group and selling them on a vision, that your success depends on your ability to put everyone else first and yourself second, that your confidence and certainty is the fuel on which the race to the future is run. There is still some truth in these. You still need to be a reference point, a compass, a constant. But if you try to do those things and be those things before you have done the quiet work of understanding who you are, before you are clear about what matters to you, before you can be honest about when (and why) you get in your own way, then you are building your leadership on quicksand. Knowing who you are and who you want to be are foundations strong enough to support not just your future, but that of anyone that matters to you.

Are you taking care of yourself? Nancy Hill is the CEO of Marcus Thomas, and the former CEO of the 4As. She was named by Advertising Age as one of the ‘100 Most Influential Women in Advertising History’. Nancy recently wrote an article for AdAge. The link is in the show notes for this episode. In the piece, she describes discovering that she was suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Leadership is lonely. I’m hoping that we can change that over the coming months and years but for now, it’s a truth. Have a plan, know the answers, don’t show weakness. All of these are the expectations when you agree to be the leader. And while it’s true these expectations are placed on you by others, they are even more emphatically placed on you by, well, you. The needs of everyone else become your greatest concern. If there’s time left over you’ll worry about yourself then. The only flaws in that thinking are that it doesn’t scale and it isn’t sustainable. What’s the alternative? How do you build a lasting foundation for your leadership that allows you to unlock your own potential and the potential of others? In 1870, global life expectancy was less than 30 years. 1870 was only 150 years ago. Today, we have reached the point that biologically, if we avoid serious disease and unhealthy lifestyle choices, our bodies are capable of lasting 150 years. Already, the life expectancy of a child born in the West means that they will live long into the 22nd century. By the time we reach the 22nd century, life expectancy will almost certainly take us well into the 23rd. That means children born today will have great grandchildren who will live in the era of Star Trek. Boldly going where no one has gone before. The future is coming at us faster and will last longer. A leadership style, philosophy, paradigm that places your own emotional and physical well being behind the needs of everyone else, may feel selfless in the moment, but is actually designed to minimize the depth and length of the impact you could have. Should have. The era of ‘get to 60 and stop’ is over. The era of ‘get to 60 and start’ - not just a new chapter but a new book - is already here. Will you be ready to meet it? Will you be able to? Physically? Emotionally? They say that every journey begins with a single step. For years, I believed that meant movement forward. But what I’ve learned is that the first step for any leader needs to be to stop. To pause. Because, if you want to make a difference, if you want to drive creative, innovative and economic success for your organization, if you want to unlock the full potential of the people and the business for which you are responsible, then step 1 is to understand what you need.

Edited highlights of our full conversation. Are you taking care of yourself? Nancy Hill is the CEO of Marcus Thomas, and the former CEO of the 4As. She was named by Advertising Age as one of the ‘100 Most Influential Women in Advertising History’. Nancy recently wrote an article for AdAge. The link is in the show notes for this episode. In the piece, she describes discovering that she was suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Leadership is lonely. I’m hoping that we can change that over the coming months and years but for now, it’s a truth. Have a plan, know the answers, don’t show weakness. All of these are the expectations when you agree to be the leader. And while it’s true these expectations are placed on you by others, they are even more emphatically placed on you by, well, you. The needs of everyone else become your greatest concern. If there’s time left over you’ll worry about yourself then. The only flaws in that thinking are that it doesn’t scale and it isn’t sustainable. What’s the alternative? How do you build a lasting foundation for your leadership that allows you to unlock your own potential and the potential of others? In 1870, global life expectancy was less than 30 years. 1870 was only 150 years ago. Today, we have reached the point that biologically, if we avoid serious disease and unhealthy lifestyle choices, our bodies are capable of lasting 150 years. Already, the life expectancy of a child born in the West means that they will live long into the 22nd century. By the time we reach the 22nd century, life expectancy will almost certainly take us well into the 23rd. That means children born today will have great grandchildren who will live in the era of Star Trek. Boldly going where no one has gone before. The future is coming at us faster and will last longer. A leadership style, philosophy, paradigm that places your own emotional and physical well being behind the needs of everyone else, may feel selfless in the moment, but is actually designed to minimize the depth and length of the impact you could have. Should have. The era of ‘get to 60 and stop’ is over. The era of ‘get to 60 and start’ - not just a new chapter but a new book - is already here. Will you be ready to meet it? Will you be able to? Physically? Emotionally? They say that every journey begins with a single step. For years, I believed that meant movement forward. But what I’ve learned is that the first step for any leader needs to be to stop. To pause. Because, if you want to make a difference, if you want to drive creative, innovative and economic success for your organization, if you want to unlock the full potential of the people and the business for which you are responsible, then step 1 is to understand what you need.

Edited highlights of our full conversation. Are you taking care of yourself? Nancy Hill is the CEO of Marcus Thomas, and the former CEO of the 4As. She was named by Advertising Age as one of the ‘100 Most Influential Women in Advertising History’. Nancy recently wrote an article for AdAge. The link is in the show notes for this episode. In the piece, she describes discovering that she was suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Leadership is lonely. I’m hoping that we can change that over the coming months and years but for now, it’s a truth. Have a plan, know the answers, don’t show weakness. All of these are the expectations when you agree to be the leader. And while it’s true these expectations are placed on you by others, they are even more emphatically placed on you by, well, you. The needs of everyone else become your greatest concern. If there’s time left over you’ll worry about yourself then. The only flaws in that thinking are that it doesn’t scale and it isn’t sustainable. What’s the alternative? How do you build a lasting foundation for your leadership that allows you to unlock your own potential and the potential of others? In 1870, global life expectancy was less than 30 years. 1870 was only 150 years ago. Today, we have reached the point that biologically, if we avoid serious disease and unhealthy lifestyle choices, our bodies are capable of lasting 150 years. Already, the life expectancy of a child born in the West means that they will live long into the 22nd century. By the time we reach the 22nd century, life expectancy will almost certainly take us well into the 23rd. That means children born today will have great grandchildren who will live in the era of Star Trek. Boldly going where no one has gone before. The future is coming at us faster and will last longer. A leadership style, philosophy, paradigm that places your own emotional and physical well being behind the needs of everyone else, may feel selfless in the moment, but is actually designed to minimize the depth and length of the impact you could have. Should have. The era of ‘get to 60 and stop’ is over. The era of ‘get to 60 and start’ - not just a new chapter but a new book - is already here. Will you be ready to meet it? Will you be able to? Physically? Emotionally? They say that every journey begins with a single step. For years, I believed that meant movement forward. But what I’ve learned is that the first step for any leader needs to be to stop. To pause. Because, if you want to make a difference, if you want to drive creative, innovative and economic success for your organization, if you want to unlock the full potential of the people and the business for which you are responsible, then step 1 is to understand what you need.

What triggers you? Kate Rouch is the Chief Marketing Officer at Coinbase. October was Mental Health Month. But the truth is, every month should be. And when you’re the leader, every month is. Leadership, at its best, is a selfless act. A desire to help others reach a future that is better than the present. Many, many things can get in the way. Most of them we know about before we start. A few others show up along the way. But the one that we all carry with us, often unrecognized or worse, ignored, is our mental health. We focus on the challenges and outcomes, the trials and the tasks, believing what we’ve been told, that anything is possible. If you want it badly enough, and work for it hard enough, you can will that future into existence, so the story goes. Except the story leaves out a crucial part - our neurobiology. The completely, utterly, entirely unique programming that makes us who we are. Why does that music make you cry? Why do these words make you angry? Why does that response scare you, intrigue you, excite you? What is making you afraid? The programming might come from this lifetime. A father that left, a sister that died, a dog that never left your side. Or, as the evidence increasingly suggests, it might have been passed down to you from generations before, hard-wired into your DNA before birth, created by events you did not experience and pain you did not know firsthand. And yet, we drive ourselves forward, determined to succeed, carrying baggage and burdens that would stun a herd of bison. Ignoring the fact that our programming controls us, causing our body to react and our mind to contract. During those few moments when we are triggered, we are out of control of our feelings. That’s not a lack of discipline or determination. It’s biology. So, try this instead. Acknowledge your feelings. Find comfort in the absolute truth that you are not broken or inadequate or alone. Find confidence in the knowledge that with the right help, we have the ability to rewire our brains, if we want to. So start to pay attention to what you feel and when. It’s the beginning of the journey that matters most. Self discovery. And from there, all things are possible.

What triggers you? Kate Rouch is the Chief Marketing Officer at Coinbase. October was Mental Health Month. But the truth is, every month should be. And when you’re the leader, every month is. Leadership, at its best, is a selfless act. A desire to help others reach a future that is better than the present. Many, many things can get in the way. Most of them we know about before we start. A few others show up along the way. But the one that we all carry with us, often unrecognized or worse, ignored, is our mental health. We focus on the challenges and outcomes, the trials and the tasks, believing what we’ve been told, that anything is possible. If you want it badly enough, and work for it hard enough, you can will that future into existence, so the story goes. Except the story leaves out a crucial part - our neurobiology. The completely, utterly, entirely unique programming that makes us who we are. Why does that music make you cry? Why do these words make you angry? Why does that response scare you, intrigue you, excite you? What is making you afraid? The programming might come from this lifetime. A father that left, a sister that died, a dog that never left your side. Or, as the evidence increasingly suggests, it might have been passed down to you from generations before, hard-wired into your DNA before birth, created by events you did not experience and pain you did not know firsthand. And yet, we drive ourselves forward, determined to succeed, carrying baggage and burdens that would stun a herd of bison. Ignoring the fact that our programming controls us, causing our body to react and our mind to contract. During those few moments when we are triggered, we are out of control of our feelings. That’s not a lack of discipline or determination. It’s biology. So, try this instead. Acknowledge your feelings. Find comfort in the absolute truth that you are not broken or inadequate or alone. Find confidence in the knowledge that with the right help, we have the ability to rewire our brains, if we want to. So start to pay attention to what you feel and when. It’s the beginning of the journey that matters most. Self discovery. And from there, all things are possible.

This week, we’re re-airing a conversation I had with Tiffany Rolfe early in 2022. In the eighteen months since we published this episode, the world has grown even more complicated and uncertain. And the line between work and home even more blurred.  Tiffany has added the responsibilities of Global Chair of R/GA to her Global Chief Creative Officer role.   What we need from our leaders is increasing all the time. As Tiffany asks, “How do you make sure you’re taking care of yourself in all this too?” Here’s Tiffany Rolfe - re-loaded. Where does work end and life begin? Tiffany Rolfe is the Global Chief Creative Officer at R/GA, a job she took on in the early stages of the pandemic as part of a new leadership team. Two years ago, the Ad Age A List recognized R/GA as the Comeback Agency of the Year. This year, they are now ranked second among all agencies. Tiffany’s email signature reads, Mom and Global Chief Creative Officer. I speak for myself when I say that before we all withdrew into our homes in early 2020, I was aware only conceptually of how women who are parents juggle that with their careers. But two years of working via Zoom has given many of us insights into people’s lives that were previously unimaginable for their candor and vulnerability. This conversation is a living example of the challenges and gifts that have emerged from the last two years. The line between work and home has been blurred beyond any reasonable hope of recognition. No matter how powerful a microscope you apply, it is almost impossible to see the separation any more between leader and human being. The destruction of this separation can be liberating if you’re willing to create your own definition of the work-life balance. If you’re not, it will be very hard as you try in vain to keep up with a dangerously out of date view of where work ends and life begins. The day is not only for work. The day is for living. What that means is entirely for you to decide.

Edited highlights of our full conversation. This week, we’re re-airing a conversation I had with Tiffany Rolfe early in 2022. In the eighteen months since we published this episode, the world has grown even more complicated and uncertain. And the line between work and home even more blurred.  Tiffany has added the responsibilities of Global Chair of R/GA to her Global Chief Creative Officer role.   What we need from our leaders is increasing all the time. As Tiffany asks, “How do you make sure you’re taking care of yourself in all this too?” Here’s Tiffany Rolfe - re-loaded. Where does work end and life begin? Tiffany Rolfe is the Global Chief Creative Officer at R/GA, a job she took on in the early stages of the pandemic as part of a new leadership team. Two years ago, the Ad Age A List recognized R/GA as the Comeback Agency of the Year. This year, they are now ranked second among all agencies. Tiffany’s email signature reads, Mom and Global Chief Creative Officer. I speak for myself when I say that before we all withdrew into our homes in early 2020, I was aware only conceptually of how women who are parents juggle that with their careers. But two years of working via Zoom has given many of us insights into people’s lives that were previously unimaginable for their candor and vulnerability. This conversation is a living example of the challenges and gifts that have emerged from the last two years. The line between work and home has been blurred beyond any reasonable hope of recognition. No matter how powerful a microscope you apply, it is almost impossible to see the separation any more between leader and human being. The destruction of this separation can be liberating if you’re willing to create your own definition of the work-life balance. If you’re not, it will be very hard as you try in vain to keep up with a dangerously out of date view of where work ends and life begins. The day is not only for work. The day is for living. What that means is entirely for you to decide.

What do you know about who you want to be? Rick Brim is the Global Chief Creative Officer at adam&eveDDB. Rick was on the podcast four and half years ago in early 2019. I called that episode, “The ‘I Don’t Know’ Leader”, to highlight Rick’s point that it’s okay for leaders not to know the answer every time. I suspect, if you asked him today, he’d feel the same way. As would I. Leaders are not supposed to have all the answers. But Rick has been changed by the last four years. The leadership journey is personal. And complicated, because it involves other people. And sometimes it’s overwhelming, because all the gaps in your leadership are filled with emotion. And a lot of that is the emotion that comes in the middle-of-the-night darkness that keeps us all awake. The last four years have brought most of us a hosepipe full of emotions. And every day the news adds more angst and anxiety and uncertainty to that drink. For some people, the answer is to meet that with a determination to focus on the task in front of them. To get back to work and to deliver results, come what may. That comes, inevitably and eventually, with a heavy price - for them and the people around them. But for others, the last four years and the maelstrom we live in today have given them the chance to learn about themselves. What matters and what else they are capable of. They have discovered, to use Rick’s words, a clearer perspective of the person they want to be. They know that. And that, I promise you from the bottom of my heart, is the beginning of everything. What do you know about who you want to be? What questions are you asking of yourself and about yourself?

Edited highlights of our full conversation. What do you know about who you want to be? Rick Brim is the Global Chief Creative Officer at adam&eveDDB. Rick was on the podcast four and half years ago in early 2019. I called that episode, “The ‘I Don’t Know’ Leader”, to highlight Rick’s point that it’s okay for leaders not to know the answer every time. I suspect, if you asked him today, he’d feel the same way. As would I. Leaders are not supposed to have all the answers. But Rick has been changed by the last four years. The leadership journey is personal. And complicated, because it involves other people. And sometimes it’s overwhelming, because all the gaps in your leadership are filled with emotion. And a lot of that is the emotion that comes in the middle-of-the-night darkness that keeps us all awake. The last four years have brought most of us a hosepipe full of emotions. And every day the news adds more angst and anxiety and uncertainty to that drink. For some people, the answer is to meet that with a determination to focus on the task in front of them. To get back to work and to deliver results, come what may. That comes, inevitably and eventually, with a heavy price - for them and the people around them. But for others, the last four years and the maelstrom we live in today have given them the chance to learn about themselves. What matters and what else they are capable of. They have discovered, to use Rick’s words, a clearer perspective of the person they want to be. They know that. And that, I promise you from the bottom of my heart, is the beginning of everything. What do you know about who you want to be? What questions are you asking of yourself and about yourself?