Episode 19: Andy Grant on Creative Leadership
Andy Grant is Executive Creative Director of TBWA Singapore where he leads a team of 50. He shares the values and beliefs that drive his leadership style.
The Red & Yellow School of Logic & Magic in Cape Town
“I kind of found my way into advertising through my art lecturer in high school…I loved art and creativity, but wasn't necessarily very good at art. I wasn't a fine artist. And he came to me and said, I think commercial art is the place for you. Ideas...design. And then that really kind of lit a light bulb in me.”
“And honestly, once I joined those three years with some of the best three years of my life, I just absolutely loved it.”
Being a Sponge
“I think the fundamentals are still there, you know, working really hard, being passionate. Being authentic to yourself, continuously learning.”
“When you first walked into the school, there was a huge big poster on the wall, and it said BE A SPONGE. And that I still absolutely live by. And that's part of the thing that's driven me all around the world to all these different places is to be curious of different cultures, different people.”
Listening and Absorbing
“I think when you move to a different country, you have to be willing to fail, you have to be willing to admit that you don't know everything. So, you have to listen and absorb.”
Creative Leadership
“I think creativity needs encouragement. Creating a space where people feel that they can fail that it doesn't have to be perfect. Constantly finding source of inspiration for the team is really important to me.”
“I've always believed that you need to have other creative outlet, where you can just be purely creative, and you can just do whatever it is that you feel inspired to do, and learn in any way or learn different skills and develop yourself.”
“I think it's a really exciting mix that we have in the agency and an amazing kind of resource and I feel really confident that we could actually make anything we wanted to with all of the resources we have in the agency.”
Book Recommendations
More from Andy Grant
