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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Are You Conscious Of Your Choices?
Kara Swisher is the most effective and successful tech journalist of our lifetimes.
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.
This week’s guest is Avery Baker. She’s 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'.
Sarah Moffat is the Global Chief Creative Officer of Turner Duckworth - a design company that was formed in London in 1992 by David Turner and Bruce Duckworth.
Bruce and David are still around, but they don’t run the business any more. In late 2018 they handed over the reins to two long-term employees - Joanne Chan who became CEO and to Sarah.
New title, new responsibilities, new expectations. How do you make that transition successfully?
This episode is called “The ‘Do You, Boo’ Leader”.
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.
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 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.
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.
This episode is called, “The Unreasonable Man”.
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.
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”.
“You can't believe it happened, except it happened. I think they thought they were being complimentary at the time. I have been told that I am fuckable by people that I work with. I could go on and on and on. I think what startles people is at least two of those examples happened within the last two years.”
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.
This episode is called, “The Vulnerable Leader”.
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.
Marcel Marcondes is the U.S. Chief Marketing Officer for Anheuser-Busch.
He wants to make a difference. He’s clear about what that looks like. And he’s deliberate about bringing others into that journey.
This episode is called, “The Focused Leader”.
This is my conversation with Trey Laird - the founder of Laird and Partners. His company works with many of the world’s most iconic fashion, beauty, and luxury, brands.
Trey is a pioneer. And as you’ll hear, he steps in to possibility.
"The Creative Leader"
Sir Martin Sorrell has been called many things in the 34 years since he founded WPP.
Some people have described him to me as the most supportive and insightful leader they’ve ever worked for.
Others have been much less charitable. Much less.
I wanted some insight into the complexities of a leader who drives so much opinion. To better understand how he sees himself.
What I learned surprised me.
This is the 100th episode of ‘Fearless Creative Leadership’.
So what stands out 100 episodes in? What makes fearless creative leaders successful? If you’ve listened to even a few of these conversations you’ll know there are many themes. But, two show up over and over again.
The best leaders are hopeful.
And the best leaders listen.
And that’s a real change in how the role of leadership has been defined for the last fifty years.
In this episode, I sit down with my guests from Episode 1 - Justin Stefano and Philippe von Borries, the founders of Refinery29 - about what they've learned in the two years since our first conversation.
Note: We talk about Zappos management structure and philosophy. It's called Holocracy.
Emmanuel Andre is the Chief Talent Officer of Publicis Groupe. They own iconic companies such as Bartle Bogle Hegarty, Fallon, and Leo Burnett.
Collectively, Publicis employs 80,000 people and are working to change themselves from being a traditional holding company to a unifying platform.
Emmanuel is pragmatic, philosophical and an artist. His decisions affect the lives of many people every day.
This episode is called, “The People Leader”.
Ruth Browne is the CEO of the Ronald McDonald House in New York. And she is surrounded by death. This Ronald McDonald House on the upper east side of Manhattan, is built to accommodate 95 families living there at any one time. And the reason that the overwhelming majority of those families are there? They have a child who is being treated for cancer.
As Ruth describes it, “our primary mission is cancer.”
Leading this kind of organization, in which the outcome of the work is life and death, it would be easy to be afraid. Of your own judgement. Of the consequences of decisions. Of the accuracy of the information on which you based the decisions. And the talent of the staff on whom you depend to carry out those decisions.
And yet, Ruth Browne is not afraid. She makes decisions quickly. And laughs easily.
This episode is called, “The Believer”.
Pam Kaufman is the President of Viacom Nickelodeon Consumer Products. Her job is to lead worldwide licensing and merchandising for Viacom Media Networks and Paramount Pictures. Before that she was the Chief Marketing Officer for Nickelodeon.
She’s relentlessly forward-looking, caring and, as you’ll hear, prepared. She believes in the power of great people, and great leadership teams. And she isn’t afraid of telling them what they need to know to get better.
The episode is called, “The Courageous Conversationalist”.
Brian Collins is instantly memorable. He’s a designer by profession, practice and passion. He is an original thinker, and a storyteller. He founded and owns an award winning business. And he’s a man of a thousand voices. You’ll hear what I mean.
He also asks compelling questions.
This episode is called “The Existentialist”.
It’s hard to follow a legend. Sometimes because they’re unique. Sometimes because history is written by the winners and they write themselves that way.
John Hegarty - Sir John Hegarty - is the former. A true original thinker and the creative head of what - for a number of years - was one of the most creative companies of all time.
Following a legend is a challenge. Following a legend who is still a powerful presence in your industry requires a strong sense of self. You also need an understanding of what you can bring to the table.
Pelle Sjoenell has both. As the worldwide chief creative officer of Bartle Bogle Hegarty his job is to replace a legend.
Doing that, he has learned, is not about taking credit, but about taking responsibility.
This episode is called, “The Successor”.
I’m just back from the Cannes Lions festival of creativity and recorded some podcasts while I was there. This is the first of them.
In this conversation I’m joined in the Vice Penthouse overlooking the Croisette in Cannes by three people who have previously been guests on ‘Fearless’ - Nils Leonard of Uncommon, Alex Goat of Livity and Mohan Ramaswamy of Work & Co. And by Spencer Baim, who is the Chief Brand Officer of Vice Media.
And this episode is called “Owned By No One - Part 1”.
Josh Wyatt is the CEO of Neuehouse. They describe themselves as a private cultural and collaborative space for prominent creatives, artists and entrepreneurs. A lot of people I know have launched and run their businesses from spaces they’ve rented at Neuehouse.
Josh is intentioned, thoughtful and present. He cares about what he does today. And he cares about the impact that has on tomorrow.
So, this episode is called, “The Legacy Builder”.
