A lot of people ask what it takes to move from being a creative to a leader: Take everyone's career personally. People will work hard for you if you work hard for them. Any idiot can be a boss; all you need is a title. But to be a leader, you need to earn respect and have an opinion you stand by.
Interpretation
Leadership is about personal investment in people's careers and earning respect rather than just holding a title.
David Droga emphasizes that true leadership involves a deep commitment to the people you lead. It's not sufficient to simply have the authority of a boss; genuine leaders care about their team members' growth and success, which motivates others to put in their best effort. This requires earning respect through hard work and having principles to stand by.
In practice
In a team meeting to motivate staff and encourage hard work.
Long before social media existed, the proto-tweets of advertising had penetrated American popular culture: 'A mind is a terrible thing to waste.' 'Where's the beef?' 'A diamond is forever.' 'Think different.' You'd be hard pressed to find a writer's craft that has more directly influenced the vernacular.
Before we start anything creatively, we have a firm understanding of our objective and our frame of mind for the campaign. Who's our audience, and what's their day-to-day behavior? How can we complement those behaviors? How is our message more than an interruption? Why would people care about what we're saying?
If the United Nations does not attempt to chart a course for the world's people in the first decades of the new millennium, who will?
Some people have better ideas than others; some are smarter or more experienced or more creative. But everyone should be heard and respected.
Leadership can't be fabricated. If it is fabricated and rehearsed, you can't fool the guys in the locker room. So when you talk about leadership, it comes with performance. Leadership comes with consistency.
Anytime you get an idea, you need people to help you put it together. That is the beginning of an institution. When you create an institution, levels of authority and boundaries need to be established. If everybody owns it, nobody owns it. If everybody is responsible for it, nobody will be responsible.
Obama does seem to have what both FDR and Lincoln had, which is the recognition that you have to hold back at times and then wait to come forward.
Competence goes beyond words. It's the leader's ability to say it, plan it, and do it in such a way that others know that you know how - and know that they want to follow you.
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