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.
Brie completed the introduction. Elizabeth stood and walked briskly to the front of the room. She paused. The entire Overture team and a group from Circle City filled the room. They waited quietly for her to begin. “To understand what has happened, it’s important to recognize that slow-moving changes have more social weight than fast…
You ain’t got no money, you just ain’t no good Hit the road, Jack, and don’t you come back No more –Ray Charles Morning coffee at Overture was usually a warm time of catching up, reconnecting. This morning was different. They’d all spent the night reconsidering yesterday’s events. A sleepless night for some, a restless…
It was an acoustic guitar Drinking Black Russians in a room full of cigarette smoke. I must have been 23 or 24. A small dark room. The stage was only one step up from the floor. The room so small I could smell the performer’s sweat. The only light was a couple spots on him…
Everybody knows that the dice are loaded Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed Everybody knows the war is over Everybody knows the good guys lost Everybody knows the fight was fixed The poor stay poor, the rich get rich That’s how it goes Everybody knows –Leonard Cohen Three women, with packs on their backs, were…
“We reach down deep when forced to, and become what we need to be.” – Old Overture parable Writing on the wall The meeting was short. Tom had known for weeks that things weren’t right. Now he pushed back his chair, stood and headed for the door, unemployed. He was a little off balance as…
Revulsion, then anger. She felt the redness. Her face burned. And then that churn from deep in her gut. He was speaking at the Esteemed Conference of Professional Spokespersons. Or something like that. It hit her hard. She couldn’t look at the fucking announcement again. Couldn’t avoid his topic slipping into her consciousness. He’d been…
“Anna? Anna Foley?” The rain pounded. The city was a mess. Wet garbage everywhere. Tent cities filled the parks, and anyplace else the homeless could get away with. “Yes, who’s calling please?” Late for her appointment, Anna was madly trying to get a note off to let the prospect know when the call came in.…
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