THE SKILLS

Meeting the creative and strategic needs of clients big and small for 10 years has helped me build a library of skills.
Summarized below are the ones to which I attribute my success.

1. Brand Building
   
   
   
2. Strategic Agility
   
   
   
   
3. Scoping Literacy
   
   
   
   
4. Team Building
   
   
   
   
5. Conflict Resolution
   
   
   
   
6. Talent Development

1. From winning the pitch, to tactical planning and launch readiness, brand building is formulaic in nature. Learn the formula, commit it to memory, then rinse and repeat.
   
   
2. Aside from your creative partnerships, the relationship with your strategist is your most important one. Staying in lockstep with them will pay dividends with you and your clients.
   
   
   
3. The building blocks of your brand and staff all start with the client scope. Part navigation, part negotiation, scoping is about optimizing the initial offer, then working with where you net out.
   
   
   
4. Hiring the people is one thing, building them into a cohesive, resilient, motivated team is another entirely. It takes an instinct for chemistry, a passion for motivation, and the ability to put talent to task.
   
   
5. The skill you most need to develop, but least want to use–and it's not just about deescalating conflict when it arises...it's about being able to spot the warning signs and re-route the plane.
   
   
   
6. Good work comes from safe, healthy people. Take care of them, and they will take care of you. It really is that simple (really).

As a creative director, my skills are always evolving - acquiring new ones, refining old ones. But no matter the changes, I've kept one north star: Always be a student of your environment, ask questions, look for optimizations, and at the end of the day always pass the knowledge on.