Essays on creative leadership,
culture, and the human side of work.
Becoming
These are personal essays about growing up as a fostered, then adopted child — and about what that does to a person over the course of a life and career. The passivity you develop to survive. The shame that shows up uninvited in elevators and conference rooms decades later. The moment you finally recognize the bully pattern, in a boss, in a father, in yourself.
The most-read piece opens with a meat cleaver. My wife, coming down the hall. Me, curled under the covers at thirty years old, having just been fired and not yet told her. It’s not a comfortable essay. But by the end, it explains — more directly than anything else I’ve written — why I understand what happens to people when they’re made to feel small at work, and why that understanding is the foundation of everything I do professionally.
These essays aren’t separate from my advisory work. They are the source of it.
Advisory Notes
These are essays about the emotional realities of creative professional life — the anxiety of leadership, the psychology of negotiation, the particular ways creative people get in their own way, and the particular ways organizations let them down.
One of the most-read pieces, “Why Creative Firms Break Differently,” argues that creative firms don’t fail from bad strategy — they unravel from the inside, through fatigue, misalignment, and a gradual loss of trust no one can quite name. That piece captures what all of these essays are reaching toward.
I write from four decades of experience inside creative firms, but I write the way I talk: directly, without jargon, with stories. Each piece includes one of my own illustrations. If you work in a creative firm and ever feel like the game is rigged against you, this series is for you.
The moment the limited potential assumed by others gave way to the hint of a future fueled by talent.
“They never know what they want.” Said with a roll of his eyes as they closed out the call. Not something anyone wanted to hear. Craig can be like that. When he’s down, he needs to bring everybody down. Maybe he thinks it’s okay ‘cause he’s the Creative Director. Whatever. The last thing needed is…
There’s a concise method to get any client at any scale to commit to you in the moment.
Many of the older men were missing one or more fingers. That was one of the first things I noticed at the farm. I asked and the word was, “People get relaxed around the machines over time, forgetting how dangerous they are and…” I was sixteen. It must have been the first time I realized…
I walked, didn’t run, past the cow. Sure, this wasn’t going well. But not wanting to seem uncool –– I was sixteen after all –– I moved with a swager and self-assurance I didn’t have. As planned, Oscar Miller picked me up midday at the crossroads where the Greyhound bus dropped me. Loading my bag…
Ushered into what I assumed was the boardroom, I could feel my ankles begin to itch –– a sure sign that I knew deep down this could go badly. I’ve known since I was nine or ten that anxiety is the cause of my ankles’ itching. If the itch gets bad enough, it’s nearly impossible…
Asking for a raise or increasing your fees feels riskier than ever. Corporate layoffs announced daily. CEOs, CMOs, and other top positions constantly changing. Yet, corporations holding more cash now than any time in history Stock market is erratic. AI is taking and disrupting white-collar jobs. University degrees no longer guarantee success. U.S. gov laying…
New essays, every week.
With an illustration.
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Also available on Substack.
You never cease to amaze me with your willingness to make your life an open book — especially the more hurtful parts. And I'm amazed by the lessons you draw from all of it.
— Larry Coffman, PublisherYour writing has revealed some very intimate, powerful lessons. You are a source of inspiration both professionally and, increasingly, on a personal level.
— Rick GoreWe can discuss the ugly, uncomfortable truths while always circling back to what matters: the people, the underdogs, the work we get to do, and the magical existence we get to share as creatives.
— Sarah EskandarpourI loved your article about how clients' emotions affect briefs. It's a huge part of the creative industry and it's always good to see somebody so knowledgeable write about it.
— Vuk Bojovic, JKR Account Director, Singapore