How to be a better Creative Director.

Over the years I have been asked by friends and family, none of whom work in my industry, what exactly is a ‘Creative Director’?

My Mother still has no real idea what I have been doing all these years, I’m sure she thinks it’s all a front for some nefarious business I’m involved with.

There's actually an old gag about that - "Don't tell my Mother I work in advertising, she thinks I play piano in a brothel".

But whenever I have been asked the question it makes me really think about what a Creative Director actually does or should do. There have also been times when someone who has worked under me in the past has risen up the ranks and I get an email asking for advice.

You see there is no school per se for Creative Directors, there’s no handbook or helpline to call, in many ways you have to work it out for yourself, but hopefully you asked questions on the way up the ladder and you had the foresight to try and unearth what the role involved.

Or maybe you were like me and were completely oblivious to the whole rank thing and when that call came through from a headhunter saying “How would you like to step up and be a Creative Director?” and you said yes immediately (as I did) you had no clue as to what you had to do. That's jumping in the deep end at its finest.

Now no matter what area of the commercial creative industry you’re in the role of Creative Director is, for all intents and purposes, the same.

When I got that call for my first CD role I in turn called a mentor of mine and asked him – “What the hell do I do now?” After he stopped laughing he gave me one piece of sage advice that helped me so much. He said (and this is almost verbatim) “Rodd, it’s no longer about you, you got there due to the work you did now you have to help others do great work. Even if they present stuff that you know you could do a better that is not your job. You need to guide them, help them, and lead them in the right direction. You need to take a step back and remove your creative ego from the process.”

Me have a creative ego back then? Au contraire. Okay, well maybe I did, just a little. Okay, maybe a bit more than a little.

Now that doesn’t mean as a CD you no longer gets to do creative work, but what it does mean is you don’t do someone else’s job for them or worse still you don’t try and take over a project and make it all yours. That is bad form and a big sign of insecurity.

Another great analogy that was told to me when I was trying to find my way, and believe me I was like a blindfolded man in a cactus forest, was this gem. I was told to look at great film directors; they share part of the Creative Director title and for good reason, that ‘D’ word is very important.

I was told to think about a scenario where an acclaimed director is directing a film with a very famous actor. If that actor is not getting a scene right the director doesn’t push him/her out of the way and take over as the actor, no, the director does what he/she is there to do, ‘direct’. Help the actor, show them the path they need, lead them, encourage them and support them so as they can get that scene right.

The actor was hired for the role for a reason, they had the talent to make it work, the same way that a creative person has been hired; they had a folio showing they could do great work.

So for any aspiring Creative Directors out there who may want a few pointers but where afraid to ask (that’s your first mistake) here are some that I hope will help. By no means is this a definitive list and I am sure other creative leaders has some of their own they could add to this list, so please do.

1.  Not everything will be gold: Not everything you oversee will be applauded or lauded, that’s a fact, get used to it. Trying to make every piece of work award winning is not only stupid it is also destructive to the agency.

2.  Let others shine: You got into that seat of creative power due to the fact you did creative work that shone brightly for quite a few years previously (well one would hope that’s why you’re there, unless your Mom or Dad owns the agency), now it’s your staff’s turn to shine with you as the lighthouse keeper ensuring everyone can see them.

3.  Direct: Don’t jump in front of the camera, be a good director and ‘direct’.

4.  Be tough on the work, to a point: As with point #1 not everything that gets produced under your watch will be worthy of a stroll up the red carpet but that doesn’t mean you can let your guard down on the rest of the work, it still needs to be quality and professional, it needs to be on brief, on strategy, on deadline and on budget. This is a creative ‘business’ after all.

5.  Explain why you don’t like something: If you don’t like something that is shown to you (and of course this will happen more times than you can count) don’t just say “no” or “hate it” or whatever else comes to mind, you need to explain why you don’t feel it is right and why they are getting it wrong and help show them where they need to focus to get to some better and on brief ideas.

6.  Subjectivity has no place here: This follows on from the above point, don’t under any circumstances dismiss a piece of work simply because it is not something you ‘personally’ like, if you do that you are in the wrong business my friend. You’re a gatekeeper for the creative work on behalf of the agency and also you are there for brands that are paying a pretty penny to ensure the work is great, effective, and on target. They are not paying the agency for you to reject some work because a clown scared you when you were five years old so you now hate clowns or because the color purple is just not a color you like.

7.  You’re more than a Creative Director/Creative boss: You’re also part mentor, coach, and therapist. If you’re not a people person and you are not ready to deal with multiple personalities, fragile egos, health problems, personal issues, and a whole lot more then don’t take the job. This isn't for you.

8.  Yelling achieves nothing: Apart from proving you’re an a-hole. Yes, this is a high-pressure gig and yes I have lost my cool over the years, but luckily those incidents were very few and far between, I think I can count them on one hand, okay maybe two, but with age and experience you learn to curb that kind of reaction. I know I did. The faster you learn that the better for everyone.

9.  One-on-one time: This is something I did when I was an Executive Creative Director in agencies, I would set aside time to sit down with each of my staff and have a 15-minute one-on-one chat, depending on the size of the agency it would either be weekly, every other week or monthly. The discussion could be about anything – work issues and concerns, career growth, their vacation, personal health issues, their hobbies and more, it was up to them to decide what they wanted to talk about. It is truly one of the only ways you will know your staff well and why they are either performing or failing.

10.  Make decisions: One of my all time favorite sayings in this business is – You don’t see statues of committees for a reason. You have a responsibility to make the tough calls, if you’re not willing to put your neck on the line and make a call on a piece of work you’re in the wrong job. When leaders in agencies are not willing to commit to a direction on a project then everyone ends up working longer hours and that in turn destroys morale. Make the damn call. Will you be wrong sometimes? Yes, absolutely without a doubt. But that's why you're in the big chair, you need to lead by example and show everyone that you are willing to make a creative decision, you’ll get much more respect for that as opposed to being that person who ums and ahs. And to those that do um and ah I say – “Get off my damn lawn.”

That’s it for today; see you tomorrow.

Rodd

Rodd Chant is a Creative Director / Writer / Strategist and a bit more. He also teaches creativity to groups and individuals and makes a mean Thai red curry, or so he says. He also has a penchant for talking in the third person. You can read more of his LinkedIn musings here. You can also find him on Twitter and on Instagram. His official blog can be found here. Or drop him an email – [email protected]

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