How connected do your people feel?

Phil Thomas is the Chief Creative Officer of Informa Festivals. They're the company that owns Cannes Lions. And Phil has recently been named as Chairman of Comic Relief.

One of the things that I've learned hosting this podcast is that the most powerful leaders rarely get remembered for their titles. They're remembered for how they made people feel.

In this conversation with Phil, what stood out most weren't his achievements. It was his perspective on making people feel connected. As you'll hear, when you emphasize connection in your leadership, kindness, challenges, accomplishments, language shapes the culture, and the trust that follows becomes invaluable currency that maximizes creativity.

Connection is also one of the 13 conditions that's measured by FORM, the creativity diagnostic that I've been developing. Because in every organization that I've studied, when people feel seen, heard, and respected, creativity is unlocked and businesses grow faster.

And, memorably, this conversation with Phil is a reminder that connection isn't a soft skill, it's the foundation of creative leadership and the impact that that leadership leaves behind.

How connected do your people feel to your organization? Do they feel seen, heard, and respected?

What's the ‘this’ in your business?

Neil Waller is the Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Whalar Group. They're a global creator company. Whalar have done as much as anyone, and more than most, to catalyze the creator economy. And as you'll hear, it was inspired by a conversation with and an unforgettable provocation from Sir John Hegarty. But behind their success lies a characteristic that I find is often underappreciated and therefore in short supply, among most creative leaders. Commitment.

I've mentioned before on this podcast that we've developed a diagnostic tool that can tell, is your company deliberately unlocking creativity or just hoping that it shows up? One of the gaps that shows up over and over again is a leader's commitment to the company's goals.

Companies and leaders say one thing and then often do another. But when you find leaders that are truly committed to building a business that delivers world class creative thinking and answers, then how fast they can do that suddenly becomes an incredibly valuable conversation

To create is to learn. And the faster we can do both, the better your business and the world becomes.

So what's the ‘this’ in your business? And how committed are you to making it happen?

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?