2021 Jason Sperling
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ISBN 978-1-4002-2290-2 (eBook)
ISBN 978-1-4002-2289-6 (HC)
Epub Edition April 2021 9781400222902
Library of Congress Control Number: 2021934462
Printed in the United States of America
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CONTENTS
Guide
MIKE ALDERSONCofounder and Chief Creative Officer, Man vs. Machine
DAVID ANGELOPresident, David & Goliath
MARQUIS AVERYCreative Director, TikTok
SARAH MAY BATESVP, Creative Director, RPA; Director, Podcaster, Founder, Yay With Me
JENI BRITTON BAUERFounder, Chief Creative Officer, Jenis Ice Cream
SAM BERGENChief Creative Officer, Beats by Dre
EZ BLAINEExecutive Creative Director, ChowNow
JONATHAN CAVENDISHProducer, Bridget Joness Diary, Elizabeth: The Golden Age; Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle; Founder, The Imaginarium Studios
MARCELLA COADCreative Director, Amazon
RICK COLBYformer President, Executive Creative Director, Colby & Partners Dentsu
SUSAN CREDLEGlobal Chief Creative Officer, FCB Global
ALICIA DOTTER360 Senior Creative Director, Amazon
MATT DRENIK Creative Director, SOUTH Music; Recording Artist, Sony Music Entertainment
AVA DUVERNAYExecutive Producer, Queen Sugar; Director, When They See Us, Selma, A Wrinkle in Time
JEFF GILESSenior Editor, Vanity Fair
JEFF GOODBYPresident, Goodby Silverstein Advertising
DAVIS GUGGENHEIMProducer and Director, Deadwood, Melrose Place, An Inconvenient Truth, Waiting for Superman, It Might Get Loud
SUSAN HOFFMANChairman, Wieden & Kennedy
JON IKEDAVP, Acura Brand Officer and former Lead Designer, Acura
LANCE JENSENExecutive Vice President, Chief Creative Officer, Hill Holliday
MARGARET JOHNSONCCO and Partner, Goodby Silverstein & Partners
MARGARET KEENEExecutive Creative Director, Mullen LA
BRIAN KELLEYCo-Executive Producer, The Simpsons
ROB LADUCAExecutive Producer, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse; Effects Animator, Star Wars: Episode VIReturn of the Jedi
TIM LEAKEChief Marketing Officer, RPA
MICHAEL LEJEUNECreative Director, Metro Los Angeles
EMILY MCDOWELLFounder, Creative Director, Emily McDowell & Friends; Author, There Is No Good Card for This
SCOTT MARDERExecutive Producer, Rick and Morty, The Mick, Always Sunny in Philadelphia
BRIAN MILLERCreative Director, The Walt Disney Company/Global Marketing
SEEMA MILLERCofounder, President, Wolfgang
DUNCAN MILNERFormer Global Creative President, Media Arts Lab, MAL For Good
KRISTEN GROVE MLLERCreative Director, 72andSunny
CHUCK MONNGroup Creative Director, Media Arts Lab
RAVI NAIDOOFounder, Interactive Africa, Design Indaba
SURESH NAIRGlobal Chief Strategy Officer, Grey Worldwide
TIM NUDDEditor-in-Chief, Muse by Clio
SAM OLIVERGroup Creative Director, Apple
CHRIS ORDExecutive Producer, Covert Affairs, Containment, The Enemy Within, The Brave, Girls on the Bus
DAVID OYELOWOActor, Selma; Producer, Come Away; Director, The Water Man
TED PRICEPresident and Founder, Insomniac Games
RON RADZINERPresident, Design Partner, Marmol Radziner Architects
JAMIE REILLYGlobal Creative Director, Vans
JOE RUSSOExecutive Producer, Community; Director, Avengers: Endgame; Founder, Bullitt Productions
ROB SCHWARTZChief Executive Officer, TBWA\Chiat\Day, New York
RACHEL SHUKERTCo-Executive Producer, GLOW; Executive Producer, The Baby-Sitters Club
GUTO TERNIPartner, Director, ROOF Animation Studio
SCOTT TRATTNERVP, Creative, Airbnb, former VP, Executive Creative Director, Facebook
VALERIE VAN GALDERCEO, Depressed Cake Shop; former President of Marketing, Sony Pictures
ANGUS WALLProducer, 13th; Editor, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Social Network; Founder, Rock Paper Scissors Editorial, A52, Elastic
MATTHEW WARDCreative Director, Cinematic Director, Bungie Games
SHANNON WASHINGTONGroup Executive Creative Director, R/GA
ALISON WATSONPartner, Founder, Legacy House; Owner-President, Four Sisters Productions; former Director, Grind Studios
TARAS WAYNERChief Creative Officer, Saatchi & Saatchi
MARC WEINSTOCKPresident, Worldwide Marketing & Distribution, Paramount Pictures
BARRY WEISSFounder, President, RECORDS; former CEO, RCA/Jive Records; former Chairman, UMG East Coast Labels
XANTHE WELLSSenior Director, Global Executive Creative Director, Devices & Services, Google
BILL WESTBROOKChief Executive Officer, No Fences Consulting; former President, Executive Creative Director, Fallon Worldwide
LET ME BE CLEAR: I never wanted to be a manager. I had no great aspirations to wear suit jackets to meet with clients about launch schedules, budget allocations, or market strategies. I wasnt hoping to give performance reviews to anxious employees, or determine who gets an office with a window and who gets a cubicle near the bathrooms.
I just wanted to make things. If I was fortunate, some really great things.
But after several years and stints at various ad agencies, the dreaded inevitable happened: I was promoted. My success earned me the title of Creative Director, then Group Creative Director, and eventually Chief of Creative Development. With each successive promotion came a host of new responsibilities, most of which... werent very creative at all. I went from spending the bulk of my days writing and producing campaigns for Apple to managing people, project oversight, interfacing with clients, talent recruitment, budget planning, employee reviews, pitching new business, andgaspeven reviewing time sheets! Suddenly, sometimes quite unexpectedly, and with little transition time and even less training, we go from unstructured, imaginative thinkers to (hopefully) responsible leaders. We go from a world of making things to managing things. The potential to suck is incredibly high. Art school had trained me to strategize and conceive marketing campaigns (and, on occasion, how to draw a nude mans figure in charcoal, which comes in surprisingly handy), but it didnt teach me anything about this.
The thing is, my story is not all that different from a lot of others. Many of us whove found success in the commercial creative world have the lucrative but unenviable position of moving up and out of those creative roles that we were so good at. Our good fortune becomes a springboard into becoming a creative leader, andironicallymoves us further away from the creative thinking that got us there in the first place. Put simply: the reward for being good at our job is to do a largely different job that we dont have the natural skill set or qualifications for, and might not be good at. Because we were great at making things, people suddenly think we can be great at leading things. Which, when you think about it, is a recipe for total disaster.
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