| Date | |
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| Author | Zoe Aresti |
DCM’s CEO Karen Stacey kicked things off at Advertising Week Europe on Monday morning by appearing on a panel alongside Gravity Road Founder, Mark Eaves, Havas Media CEO, Paul Frampton, and Mediavest CEO, Rachel Forde, to talk about her experiences and thoughts around the theme of leadership.
The session, moderated by CNBC Anchor, Carolin Roth, began with the four panel members introducing themselves and offering their thoughts on leadership in a modern age of digital disruption and what being in charge of a company – large or small – involves today.
“Everyone likes and needs direction,” said Karen Stacey. “Give people a clear strategy and the tools they need to succeed.”
Considering DCM consists of around 70 staff members, the company was on the smaller scale out of the panel, along with Mark Eaves’ Gravity Road, which was only founded five years ago. In line with his entrepreneurial spirit, Eaves challenged the definition of being a boss in the traditional sense and suggested that there’s a lot to be said for the human touch:
“Leadership is like a dead phrase which has lost its meaning. It’s a buzzword which we throw around without being specific. I think it’s about someone’s personality coming through to lead people in a direction. We undervalue wisdom.”
Paul Frampton’s Havas Media went through a transformation recently in which the agency moved into new digs in King’s Cross, merging creative and media departments as a new way of working. Naturally, he said it had caused an element of confusion but they are approaching the challenge together to break down walls of separation. “There needs to be more leaders at every business,” he outlined, suggesting that it isn’t just down to one person, but everybody to take on responsibility.
Mediavest’s CEO, Rachel Forde, echoed his comments by saying she is a big believer in empowering her staff: “Surround yourself with people who are better than you. Like culture, leadership is something that’s different in every individual. Everyone has to be empowered to lead.”
She continued: “As a leader you probably won’t have all the answers. You’ve got to listen. I encourage my team to learn and be better than me. I want them to want my job.”
The entire panel agreed that there should be certain ground rules when communicating with staff and managing expectations such as no emails after a certain time of night.
Bravery was a subject that Roth raised throughout, bringing out interesting opinions from the panel. She posed the question: “Is there too much risk associated with bravery?”
“I used to work at a large publisher called Emap and the leader at the time had a great saying,” said Stacey. “He said, I want to encourage bravery and you can be unlucky once, you can be unlucky twice, but if you’re unlucky a third time, you can go and be unlucky somewhere else.”
She added: “It’s easier to be brave now. It’s easy to say no. I always say don’t say no, have a go. And if things don't go to plan, communicate; people can handle the truth.”
The discussion turned to the biggest mistakes the panel had made as leaders themselves, to which Stacey concluded:
“When something goes wrong, for me, it’s in the lack of communication. Somebody hasn’t understood or you haven’t listened yourself. I think communication is the thread we can all learn from.”
“I agree,” said Forde. “At a time of such transformation, you can’t communicate enough.”