The Modern Agency CEO Must Lead With Empathy

The modern agency C-suite is one of rapid change. The typical top-down structure is slowly flattening and the roles of each C-suite position are constantly being altered. The CMO position keeps morphing and adding responsibilities (or is being dropped altogether), heads of HR have become chief people officers, and there are more CSOs and COOs than ever before. Adweek is dedicating a series of stories to analyze what being a modern agency C-suite member entails, talking with people holding those positions at agencies big and small, and those independent or operated by holding companies. Up first is a look at the CEO role. The agency CEO used to be the one person focused solely on growth. Now, they must be a leader who brings value, is adaptable and agile, and helps talent grow and thrive. What is a modern CEO? Advertising agency CEOs are responsible for the overall direction and performance of the agency. In larger companies, they answer to the board of directors and ultimately shareholders. For independent agencies, they are often responsible for the direction of nearly every division, from creative to finance and operations, though they may dole out those responsibilities to other C-suite members, including chief creative and chief operating officers. CEOs are the respective captains of the ships, responsible for client relationships, operations, performance, management and strategy. They set the tone for the agency, making hundreds of decisions each month that have an impact on the business and its employees. Those decisions need to be made while keeping the core values of the company intact. It’s a difficult balancing act, but those who get it right can be rewarded not only with a top salary, but a rising of everyone—clients, new business and most importantly, the employees who make up the agency. While each CEO has a different take on how to do the job, all agree that championing their people and leading with empathy are keys to good leadership. Have compassion and loyalty will follow The dynamics of the CEO-employee relationship have changed over the years. The CEO of the '90s and before used to be seen as the head honcho behind the big door in the big leather chair with several gatekeepers. The employer used to have the power over employees and often over the message. Now, according to Jared Belsky, CEO of Atlanta agency Acadia and formerly CEO of 360i, power has been decentralized. “Employees now have a big say and vote and must be listened to... and everyone has more choices of where to work. So, a great modern CEO must be comfortable with this and be a true servant leader to deal with this new paradigm,” he told Adweek. That means that the modern CEO is one who listens and responds to the needs of employees, not just someone who pays attention to the bottom line. “The old saying, ‘hire the best people and get out of their way’ needs an adjustment to ‘hire the best people and do everything in your power to create an environment that allows them to do their best work,’” Nancy Hill, CEO of independent agency Marcus Thomas and former CEO of the 4A’s, told Adweek. Often, and especially lately, that means being conscious of the mental wellbeing of employees and keeping them happy and engaged. A McKinsey report found that the best CEOs put equal effort into achieving success on both strategy and talent, and the best CEOs match talent with roles that create the most value. That involves thoughtful approaches to role modeling, storytelling and investing in skill building to build employee morale. But a good leader must truly care for employees as well. “Lead with empathy first, because it's safe to assume that someone, somewhere is going through something at any given time, and we have to be considerate… The modern CEO has to find a way to marry both of those skill sets to be a business leader,” Amani Duncan, CEO of BBH USA told Adweek. “Be a champion for your people and for the work they produce,” added Sebastian Eldridge, CEO of Anchor Worldwide, who mentioned that CEOs need to be open to new ideas and keep the agency’s financials healthy so they can reward employees. The pandemic accelerated change It might be easy to say that the pandemic changed everything, but what it really did was hasten the change that was already happening. Numerous factors came together to change agency life in the last decade, including personalized data, throwing more power to the consumer, and social media and digital media buying shifting the balance of power away from top-down economics. A good CEO saw changes happening and wasn’t afraid to shift. When Covid-19 came along, those shifts towards the power of the consumer sped up, and those who didn’t see it coming quickly became irrelevant, which is why some old school agencies lost their edge, lost their employees or simply folded shop. A good CEO must also be able to adapt to changes in the marketplace and to what clients want. Analysis by the Harvard Business Review showed that CEOs who adapt well and quickly are 6.7 times more likely to succeed. “A great CEO has to have a lot of healthy paranoia and spot changes to client needs, employee needs and market needs and be ready to toss out yesterday and build a better tomorrow. That is very hard to do when evolution is trying to tell you to stay the course and keep doing more of whatever worked yesterday,” said Belsky. The pandemic made agencies make tough choices, and some were willing to sacrifice short-term profits to keep their people intact, including independent Milwaukee agency Hanson Dodge, which retained roughly 95% of its staff. That helped president Stacie Boney—the agency has no CEO—give talent a chance to grow and give feedback along the way. She told Adweek that the agency’s people “have a lot of opinions about how we should do things, and we invite a lot of input and a lot of participation.” To that end, Hanson Dodge takes a monthly barometer, a pulse check on the business where people feel they have a sense of ownership in how the business is run. That sort of transparency and trust in employees means that the CEO doesn’t have to feel the full weight of running the ship, because, as the agency’s captain, the CEO must trust the crew. Don’t delegate everything While the CEO must hand off day-to-day duties to trusted experts so the business runs smoothly, not everything can nor should be delegated. Culture, vision and values come from the top and good leaders know how to infuse those aspects of work life into the operations of the agency. The ongoing role of an agency CEO is to create an organization that can operate itself, said John Barker, founder and CEO of independent New York agency Barker. “I don't believe in delegation. I believe in empowerment. My most important role is to assemble an extraordinary team of executive leaders who understand our mission and can move the agency and our clients forward.” Eldridge solidified that statement, saying that “good CEOs need to trust more than delegate. Trusting in your team to do what’s right for their colleagues and for the company in the day-to-day operations will rise all tides and make the creativity shine.” Delegating looks different depending on the size of an agency. A CEO of a small agency doesn’t have the luxury of hiring people to delegate everything, though outsourcing is an option when it can help move the business forward. For bigger agencies, relying on experts is key. “People, business development and meeting client needs have to be your top priorities,” said Hill. Ultimately, a good CEO makes themselves replaceable. “It means letting go of your ego, hiring the right people and trusting them to do the job,” said Trevor Hubbard, CEO of Butchershop in San Francisco. Though it's clear that the role of the CEO will continue to change with the times, CEOs today have to deliver value to employees, as well as to clients, or they will not be seen as credible leaders of the organization. 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