Leo Burnett

We helped global creative agency Leo Burnett to develop its understanding and capability in the areas of styles of creativity, climate for creativity and creative leadership.

The challenge

The challenge was summarised by Steve Gatfield, then Regional Managing Director for Leo Burnett Asia Pacific:

‘To succeed in the future, we need to improve not only how we craft our work, but also how we craft our business. Currently we have a preference for the former and I wanted to stimulate discussion and thinking in the areas of climate for ideas, styles of creativity and creative leadership.’

After reading an article written by Perspectiv’s Andy Wilkins about the strategic importance of organisational climate for creativity, Steve contacted Perspectiv for help.

Photo of a man’s head with words illustrating the nine dimensions of organisational climate measured by the Situational Outlook Questionnaire (SOQ), based on the work of Göran Ekvall

How we made a difference

Styles of creativity

We introduced Leo Burnett to the idea that all people are creative, but individuals have preferences for their style of creativity. We invited 53 Leo Burnett Creative Directors (CDs) and Managing Directors (MDs) to complete a psychometric that assesses individual’s style preferences in relation to creativity and change (a precursor of the tool used by Perspectiv today – VIEW: An Assessment of Problem Solving Style).

Research highlights that best performance comes from maximum diversity in teams and this can be a challenge for the marketing and communications industry where agencies have traditionally designated only certain teams and individuals as ‘creative’ – the ‘Explorers’. Some of the implications of a leadership team in the marketing and communications industry having an Explorer bias might include:

  • Poorly understanding client needs

  • Only attracting certain kinds of clients

  • Lack of attention to detail

  • Poor organisation and planning

  • Very high levels of debate

  • A sense of a lack of time leading to neglecting important thinking work.

Interestingly, the best performing Leo Burnett office in the Asia region had the widest gap between the scores of the CD and MD.

Climate for creativity and leadership

To develop the agency’s understanding of creative climate, Perspectiv introduced a tool called the Situational Outlook Questionnaire (SOQ), which measures the climate in a team, department or whole organisation and enables comparisons with normative data for organisations categorised as ‘High’, ‘Average’ and ‘Stagnated’.

Cover of Stars magazine, a publication for the Leo Burnett agency community, featuring a photo of an 8 man rowing boat training on a river

In a workshop with Leo Burnett MDs, attendees received the SOQ results for each of their offices and then worked to address the question:

‘If climate has a big effect on individual creativity, what can we (the agency leadership) do to influence it?’

The workshop addressed the dimensions that influence climate, exploring how climate is driven by leadership behaviour and the relationships between leaders and followers.

Since climate is affected by leadership behaviours, the SOQ often identifies a need for Creative Leadership development that helps to establish a climate and context for best performance.

The results

Perspectiv’s work with Leo Burnett developed the Asia region leadership team’s understanding and appreciation of different styles of creativity and the advantages of diverse style preferences in teams. Perspectiv introduced the agency to the dimensions of creative climate and their connection with leadership, highlighting the practices of creative leadership and tools for assessing climate and leadership behaviour.

An article about Perspectiv’s work with Leo Burnett appeared in Stars, a magazine for the Leo Burnett community.

Leadership, Assessments & ProfilingAndy WilkinsMarketing