Fearless Creative Leadership

Charles Day
Fearless Creative Leadership

We talk to leaders of the world’s most disruptive companies about how they are jumping into the fire, crossing the chasm and blowing up the status quo. Leaders who’ve mastered the art of turning the impossible into the profitable.

  1. Jill Cress of H&R Block - "The Invested Leader"

    APR 18

    Jill Cress of H&R Block - "The Invested Leader"

    Jill Cress is the Chief Marketing and Experience Officer for H&R Block. She also serves on the board of the AdCouncil, and she's been recognized on Forbes’ list of the World's 50 Most Influential CMOs. Before H&R Block, Jill spent 20 years at MasterCard. Now, a leader who spends most of their professional life working in financial institutions could easily build their success around the study of data, but the foundations of Jill's leadership are based on the most valuable investments of all. Delivering results has always been table stakes when you're stepping into a leadership position, and money will and should sit squarely on that table as one essential definition of success. But enduring financial success is a consequence of your willingness to take your eyes off the financial prize and fix them squarely on your most valuable assets: The people that work for you. And what matters to them are two things. First, that they matter. And second, that what they're doing makes a difference. During our conversation, I talked to Jill about the creativity diagnostic tool that we've developed. It measures when leaders are creating the conditions that maximize the creativity of their people. One of the critical insights that shows up time and time again is that the very best leaders are fully invested in creating a culture that ensures that everyone feels seen and heard and respected. Now, this investment carries personal risk, because it can make you as the leader feel vulnerable, and it is time consuming. But the ROI is through the roof. So what are you investing in?

    53 min
  2. Lisa Fischer - "The Background Leader"

    MAR 21

    Lisa Fischer - "The Background Leader"

    When do you stop and take a breath? If you've listened to Luther Vandross or Tina Turner, or Sting, or Chaka Khan, or Teddy Pendergrass, or Roberta Flack, then you've heard Lisa Fischer sing. If you went to a Rolling Stones concert between 1989 and 2015, you saw Lisa as the band's lead female singer join Mick Jagger on stage. If you've seen her in person, as I've been fortunate to have done so twice, or if you've seen her on YouTube, take over the stage from Tina Turner during It’s Only Rock and Roll, or the clips of her on stage with Mick Jagger, you already understand the extraordinary talent that she is linked to. Both of those are in the show notes. And if you've watched 20 Feet from Stardom, then you already know that Lisa is one of the greatest background singers that the world has ever heard. For most of us, those 20 feet might as well be the length of a trip to Mars. For Lisa, who won a Grammy in 1991 and then decided not to take center stage, those 20 feet were a choice. A choice that brings her joy. Lisa is a rare spirit who's had enormous influence and impact. If you see her perform, you're left with a belief that she has a direct connection with your soul. In those moments, she is alive in ways that stretch our understanding of what the word means. Leadership at its heart is the ability to unlock the potential of others, to make them feel more connected. The very best leaders do that by helping us to understand ourselves better, by helping us feel what we had never felt before. Lisa is proof that you don't have to stand center stage to do that. You just have to be honest with yourself about where you get your energy from, and then let that energy flow.

    54 min
  3. Sir Andrew Strauss - "The Captain"

    FEB 12

    Sir Andrew Strauss - "The Captain"

    Sir Andrew Strauss is the former Captain of the England cricket team which he led to become the number one team in the world for the first time in England's history. He then became England's Director of Cricket and he's recognized as the architect of the country's first ever one day World Cup victory. In 2019, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for his services to charity, sport, and cricket. Being captain of a cricket team requires the same skills needed to run a business. Amplified. Managing world class talent while your work is being broadcast, and your success and failures, both personal and collective, are being recorded, analyzed and critiqued in real time, requires a range of rare skills and temperament. Unlocking the potential of others while taking responsibility for the outcome is at the heart of the attributes required for the job. Andrew and I met in London a few days ago, and as you'll hear, our conversation covered a lot of ground, both professional and the deeply personal. From his achievements to the loss of his wife. By the time Andrew Strauss turned 33, he'd achieved what every cricket fan in England grows up dreaming of. Captaining your country to victory in Australia. In my lifetime, it has only happened three times. Seven years later, he lost his wife to cancer. Most of us do not achieve so much so young. Nor lose so much so early. For Andrew, the combination has encouraged him to ask questions of himself earlier in his life than most people do. Unlocking creativity in others means building trust with those around us. They want to know who we are and what matters to us. Fulfilling our own potential means answering those same questions. And in my experience, that happens when we ask ourselves this. What else do I want to know about myself? Most leaders strive for success relentlessly, head down, and only later do we take stock of the choices we've made. How will you judge if you've lived a good life or not? What else do you want to know about yourself?

    44 min
  4. Jim Stengel - "The Intentioned Leader"

    JAN 17

    Jim Stengel - "The Intentioned Leader"

    Who do you trust? Jim Stengel is the former CMO of P&G, and he's now a hugely successful author, speaker, coach, consultant, and advisor. He's also the host of the brilliant CMO Podcast. In our conversation, Jim and I started to lay the framework for how we think that leadership is going to have to evolve as the confidence in most institutions, including government, continues to deteriorate. Being creative on demand is perhaps one of the hardest things that we ask any human being to do. Because every act of creativity requires an emotional leap by its creator. That's why the best creative thinking usually comes when you have confidence in yourself and trust in the environment around you. Now, it's impossible for any of us to predict with any certainty what the next four years are going to look like. What's reasonable to expect is that they will not be “normal.” So in these circumstances, it's very likely that some of the people around you are going to feel a lot less safe than they have before. As leaders, creating an environment that people can trust, regardless of what's going on in the world, will be more critical than ever before. And that starts with giving people reasons to trust you. Establishing trust is a simple equation. Say what you mean, then do what you say, and do it consistently. So what do you stand for? And what will you stand for when the chips are down, and the pressure is on? Why should people trust you? Get that right, and I promise you, you'll change your corner of the world for everyone around you.

    47 min
4.9
out of 5
82 Ratings

About

We talk to leaders of the world’s most disruptive companies about how they are jumping into the fire, crossing the chasm and blowing up the status quo. Leaders who’ve mastered the art of turning the impossible into the profitable.

You Might Also Like

To listen to explicit episodes, sign in.

Stay up to date with this show

Sign in or sign up to follow shows, save episodes, and get the latest updates.

Select a country or region

Africa, Middle East, and India

Asia Pacific

Europe

Latin America and the Caribbean

The United States and Canada