The ‘X-Factor’ of creative leadership. 4 of 10. Define a compelling and infectious vision.

In the branding sphere, we are obsessed with missions and visions and values. But beneath the jargon, it really is simple. If you don’t know where you’re going, how the hell are you going to get there? 

In the 1987 film ‘Batman’, Kim Basinger’s ‘Vicky Vale’ character asks Jack Nicholson’s ‘Joker’ “What do you want?” With only the slightest hint of hesitation, he says:

“My face on the one dollar bill.”

I love that film. It’s just so full of quotable lines and that’s one of my absolute favourites. But that’s what I call a vision. Maniacal and unhinged I grant you but, for a certain cohort, a goal you can really get invested in, with a clear and finite outcome!

As a creative leader, I think it’s really important to be able to distil what you are trying to do into a simple statement. One that’s easy to understand and will turn people on to your agency or studio as a place where they can do great work and, as is increasingly important in modern times, in a noble cause.

Needless to say, your vision as the creative architect should align with the vision of the business you are working for, if that is the case. Or the other principles you are working with if you are collaborating on a business concept of your own making.

This might seem quite an obvious thing to say but the wants and needs of creative people, in an agency/studio context anyway, can often be quite different to those in an account management or business development context, for instance.

Before you embark on any new role, I think you have to really kick the tyres of that business scenario. Because spending a large proportion of your time and resources trying to get someone else’s face on the one dollar bill might not be sustainable for you in the long term.

Stop.