Fearless Creative Leadership

Edited highlights of our full conversation. How do you feel? Tim Mapes is the Chief Marketing and Communications Officer for Delta Airlines .  Delta employs over 90,000 people and puts 4,000 flights into the air every day. As Tim points out, a Delta plane is in the air every second. It is a high-pressure, highly visible job. Behind that job, is a person.  Early in our conversation, it became obvio...

Edited highlights of our full conversation. How do you feel? Tim Mapes is the Chief Marketing and Communications Officer for Delta Airlines .  Delta employs over 90,000 people and puts 4,000 flights into the air every day. As Tim points out, a Delta plane is in the air every second. It is a high-pressure, highly visible job. Behind that job, is a person.  Early in our conversation, it became obvio...

What terrifies you? This episode marks a couple of important moments.  It's the first of a series that I recorded last week at the Cannes Lions festival of creativity.  I have come to learn that Cannes is invaluable on two levels. First, for the people you meet and the relationships you build and develop. Many of the most important and meaningful relationships in my life have been forged and devel...

Are you looking backwards or forwards? Keith Cartwright is the Founder and CCO of CARTWRIGHT , an agency built on the principle of Creative Audacity. He is also Co-Founder of SATURDAY MORNING , an organization built on using creativity to shift negative perceptions in the African American community. Keith was named one the 50 Top Creatives in the Business by Adweek Magazine, and by Campaign Magazi...

Edited highlights of our full conversation. Are you looking backwards or forwards? Keith Cartwright is the Founder and CCO of  CARTWRIGHT , an agency built on the principle of Creative Audacity. He is also Co-Founder of SATURDAY MORNING , an organization built on using creativity to shift negative perceptions in the African American community. Keith was named one the 50 Top Creatives in the Busine...

Edited highlights of our full conversation. Are you looking backwards or forwards? Keith Cartwright is the Founder and CCO of  CARTWRIGHT , an agency built on the principle of Creative Audacity. He is also Co-Founder of SATURDAY MORNING , an organization built on using creativity to shift negative perceptions in the African American community. Keith was named one the 50 Top Creatives in the Busine...

How creative are you? Morgan Flatley is the Global CMO of  McDonald's . McDonald's is one of the most visible, valuable, and influential brands in the world. Since the company's birth, it's been powered by creative thinking and innovation. Today, that's more true than ever. Leadership is an awesome responsibility. Do it well or do it badly, you will change people's lives, either way. The creative...

Edited highlights of our full conversation. How creative are you? Morgan Flatley is the Global CMO of McDonald's . McDonald's is one of the most visible, valuable, and influential brands in the world. Since the company's birth, it's been powered by creative thinking and innovation. Today, that's more true than ever. Leadership is an awesome responsibility. Do it well or do it badly, you will chang...

Edited highlights of our full conversation. How creative are you? Morgan Flatley is the Global CMO of McDonald's . McDonald's is one of the most visible, valuable, and influential brands in the world. Since the company's birth, it's been powered by creative thinking and innovation. Today, that's more true than ever. Leadership is an awesome responsibility. Do it well or do it badly, you will chang...

How do you say goodbye? Brad Simms is the President and CEO of GALE Partners . They describe themselves as strategic storytellers. GALE was founded in 2014 with seven people in Canada. Today, the agency is 734 people across 11 offices. It was this year named #5 in the Ad Age A List, and as Adweek's Breakthrough Media Agency of the Year. GALE has above average talent retention rates. But over the c...

Edited highlights of our full conversation. How do you say goodbye? Brad Simms is the President and CEO of GALE Partners . They describe themselves as strategic storytellers. GALE was founded in 2014 with seven people in Canada. Today, the agency is 734 people across 11 offices. It was this year named #5 in the Ad Age A List, and as Adweek's Breakthrough Media Agency of the Year. GALE has above av...

Edited highlights of our full conversation. How do you say goodbye? Brad Simms is the President and CEO of GALE Partners . They describe themselves as strategic storytellers. GALE was founded in 2014 with seven people in Canada. Today, the agency is 734 people across 11 offices. It was this year named #5 in the Ad Age A List, and as Adweek's Breakthrough Media Agency of the Year. GALE has above av...

What are you responsible for? Emma Armstrong is the CEO of  FCB New York . Most recently, the office was named Agency of the Year at the Clio Awards. Both as an office and as a company, the last few years have been stellar by anyone's standards. There are always many reasons for a company's success, particularly when that success is sustained - the hardest kind to achieve. In my conversation with...

Edited highlights of our full conversation. What are you responsible for? Emma Armstrong is the CEO of FCB New York . Most recently, the office was named Agency of the Year at the Clio Awards. Both as an office and as a company, the last few years have been stellar by anyone's standards. There are always many reasons for a company's success, particularly when that success is sustained - the hardes...

Edited highlights of our full conversation. What are you responsible for? Emma Armstrong is the CEO of FCB New York . Most recently, the office was named Agency of the Year at the Clio Awards. Both as an office and as a company, the last few years have been stellar by anyone's standards. There are always many reasons for a company's success, particularly when that success is sustained - the hardes...

This episode is a rebroadcast of a conversation I had in January of 2020 with Marc Pritchard, the CMO of P&G. In a pre-pandemic world, leaders with jobs as visible and demanding as Marc's were not talking about the importance of being vulnerable very much. His willingness to do so then stood out. Based on everything that has happened since then to change our understanding of leadership, Marc's bel...

Edited highlights of our full conversation. This episode is a rebroadcast of a conversation I had in January of 2020 with Marc Pritchard, the CMO of P&G. In a pre-pandemic world, leaders with jobs as visible and demanding as Marc's were not talking about the importance of being vulnerable very much. His willingness to do so then stood out as so unusual - perhaps even unique. Based on everything th...

What are your priorities? Suzy Deering was the Global Chief Marketing Officer of Ford. Before that, she was the Global CMO of eBay. She's held senior positions at Verizon and Home Depot. And she's been recognized as one of Business Insider's "Top 50 Most Innovative CMOs." The demands of those kinds of jobs can make you lose yourself. Holding on to who you are and being clear about what really matt...

Edited highlights of our full conversation. What are your priorities? Suzy Deering was the Global Chief Marketing Officer of Ford. Before that, she was the Global CMO of eBay. She's held senior positions at Verizon and Home Depot. And she's been recognized as one of Business Insider's "Top 50 Most Innovative CMOs." The demands of those kinds of jobs can make you lose yourself. Holding on to who yo...

Edited highlights of our full conversation. What are your priorities? Suzy Deering was the Global Chief Marketing Officer of Ford. Before that, she was the Global CMO of eBay. She's held senior positions at Verizon and Home Depot. And she's been recognized as one of Business Insider's "Top 50 Most Innovative CMOs." The demands of those kinds of jobs can make you lose yourself. Holding on to who yo...

How are you creating your company's culture? Melissa Waters is the Chief Marketing Officer at Upwork . They describe themselves as the world's work marketplace.  For any business, if your success depends on unlocking creative thinking and innovation, you have to be competitive in the talent wars. The leadership rules for that used to be simple. Create a compelling culture built around in-person ex...

Edited highlights of our full conversation. How are you creating your company's culture? Melissa Waters is the Chief Marketing Officer at Upwork . They describe themselves as the world's work marketplace.  For any business, if your success depends on unlocking creative thinking and innovation, you have to be competitive in the talent wars. The leadership rules for that used to be simple. Create a...

Edited highlights of our full conversation. How are you creating your company's culture? Melissa Waters is the Chief Marketing Officer at Upwork . They describe themselves as the world's work marketplace.  For any business, if your success depends on unlocking creative thinking and innovation, you have to be competitive in the talent wars. The leadership rules for that used to be simple. Create a...

Who are you? Nicolle Pangis is the CEO of Ampersand . They describe themselves as a data-driven TV advertising sales and technology company. In a world increasingly dependent on zeros and ones, a world in which AI is moving so fast that some tech leaders are calling for its development to be suspended, it's all too easy to forget the human side of leadership. To forget that, in fact, leaders are h...

Edited highlights of our full conversation. Who are you? Nicolle Pangis is the CEO of Ampersand . They describe themselves as a data-driven TV advertising sales and technology company. In a world increasingly dependent on zeros and ones, a world in which AI is moving so fast that some tech leaders are calling for its development to be suspended, it's all too easy to forget the human side of leader...