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Becoming a CD was hard, especially at year one. Coaching and pushing creatives (in your own way) was different especially since I was just making the work (which I still LOVE and why I got into this business). As I got more and more busy tho, I realized that I actually had more influence on much more work that I ever had as a art director and I seemed pretty good at letting creatives spread their wings and getting some really great work in the end. I try to do that as an ECD. It is very different and a bit further away from the grit of making. Managing CDs is trickier because they should have their own way about things, managing creatives and developing their own client relationships so that they can be good at, you know, being a Creative Director. All this while I need to be the client facing, hr facing, budget watching, meeting attending, staff juggler, father figure as Executive Creative Director. Is it worth the $$? Eh. I guess but don’t sleep much anymore. Hang in there, stay doing the work no matter what your title is and don’t be in a hurry to get that E before the C.
Become an ECD when you’re ok with not coming up with the ideas but instead inspiring others to. When you want to see others get credit before yourself. When you understand how to navigate agency politics and hope to shield your team from it. When you get a kick out of seeing junior talent mature and grow. When you enjoy mentoring over controlling. When you feel confident you know how a creative department should run and have the confidence to make it happen.
This is good wisdom. Thank you for sharing.
1) if you can’t win awards and win pitches, you’re out 2) if you can’t attract top talent, you’re out. 3) if you can’t formulate thought leadership ideas that keep your agency’s name in the press, you’re out. 4) if you think the job is keeping your teams happy and being a well-liked manager, you’re out.
Unpopular opinion: the reality of being an ECD is that you’re an expensive marketing asset and success requires a very different approach to your job compared to when you were a CD. If you love making work that tells stories, stick with being a CD. If you love telling stories about making work, an ECD role might be a good fit.
This is a great description of the job based on what I have observed.
From what I can see it looks super intense and no fun at all. I think you need to be a special kind of person to deal with it all, especially at a network shop.