Work Fathers

A special Father's Day tribute to some of the great men in my professional life.

I’ve had three distinct phases of my career: First, the writer/creative phase. Second, the CEO phase. Now, the coach phase.

And while I’ve been blessed with more than my fair-share of work “godfathers,” “brothers,” “consiglieries” and “rabbis,” today I want to celebrate three “Work Fathers.”

Lee Clow
Long before I met Lee, I was influenced by Lee and his agency, Chiat/Day. One of the first campaigns that caught my eye was for the phone book believe it or not. NYNEX and the “Human Cartoons” campaign. With the memorable tagline, “If it’s out there, it’s in here.”

I’d soon come to find out that this was the ad agency that created some of my other favorite ads and campaigns: Apple’s ‘1984,’ Nissan’s ‘Z Dreamer’ and the Energizer Bunny to name but a few of the wonderful pieces of work that came from this agency.

In 1998, I joined TBWA\Chiat\Day in Los Angeles and had the honor and pleasure of working with Lee directly. And while I could fill several blog posts with all that I learned from him, let me share something I use every day.

My key lesson from this “Father of Creativity:” Always keep the elemental things in sight. As Lee would often ask when we showed him work (no matter the media): “What are the words? What are the pictures?”

Thank you, Lee.

Jean-Marie Dru
Jean-Marie Dru is the longtime Chairman of TBWA. He is known as the “Father of Disruption.” Disruption is TBWA’s proprietary methodology to approach and solve business problems. I’ve been a Disruption believer and practitioner since I joined the agency. I’ve seen its power on behalf of brands. But I also used it myself to position our NY office when I became CEO. (That’s a great story which I’ll save for another post.)

I met Jean-Marie in a Tokyo bar in 1999. And ever since he’s shown me the way on how to be a “Total Advertising Person.” Strategy, Creativity and the business of the business.

A key lesson from Jean-Marie? Curiosity is a secret weapon. Ask questions and listen to understand how the things you are fascinated by came to be that way. Don’t be afraid to ask the question I often hear him say, “How did you do that?”

Merci, Jean-Marie.

John Whitmore
I must confess, I never met John Whitmore. But his influence on my nascent coaching career has been palpable.

John Whitmore is known as the “Father of Coaching.” He was a former race car driver who was not satisfied with his results. He made the leap to realize that it wasn’t about the mechanics of the car that was holding him back, it was the dynamics of the driver.

He began to develop some understanding of cognitive and positive psychology, systems theory and even a little Zen Buddhism to craft one of the most enduring texts of modern coaching called, “Coaching for Performance.”

My key learning from John Whitmore is his GROW framework. I’ve written about it here. Goals. Realities. Opportunities. Will. Start with this and you can go anywhere.

Thanks, John.

So here’s to all the Work Fathers out there. Keep inspiring us. Keep teaching us. Keep showing us the way.