Bossing it: Josh Clarricoats on the Self Awareness You Need to Lead
Josh Clarricoats is co-founder at Insiders, creating bespoke teams on creative briefs for some of the world’s leading brands. His experience both client side and agency side, means he understands what works.
Insiders believes that unique problems require a unique set of people. Its approach re-imagines what a creative agency should be for brands today, freeing brands and talent from restrictive, tired and just plain uncreative processes. Clients include Belvoir Farm, Merchant Gourmet, Holy Moly, Geeta’s, Taskrabbit and Yoto.
Josh is also a board member and co-founder of two food and drink businesses that are currently going through seed funding.
LBB> What was your first experience of leadership?
Josh> Probably captaining my village cricket team when I was 14. That was a steep learning curve - at that age I struggled to manage my emotions when people didn’t play well and always put myself up to bat or bowl first. I would get mad when people didn’t play well and was certainly not a great boss, and I knew it at the time. But I learned to acknowledge my own weaknesses and I often think back to that time, and how getting mad at people simply doesn’t work.
LBB> How did you figure out what kind of leader you wanted to be – or what kind of leader you didn’t want to be?
Josh> Before I was an actual manager in the advertising space, I had managers and people who were leading me who I found overbearing and made their teams feel bad about themselves. My style of leadership is now to give people the responsibility and not micromanage them but be there to go in to bat for them if needed.
At a more junior level, it’s always good to actually ask people how they want to have feedback etc. But senior people are senior for a reason - it’s important to give them autonomy and be clear that you trust them, but be there when needed..
LBB> What experience or moment gave you your biggest lesson in leadership?
Josh> So there is one point that runs contrary to what I just said about giving people space. You also have to remember that you are the boss and sometimes you have to push for that. You have to have a firmness to you that I find difficult, but you have to have it. And if you struggle with that - or frankly, at any element of management, then you have to bring in people on your leadership team that fill in those gaps.
That’s probably my biggest lesson: having the self awareness to know that no one from a leadership perspective is perfect - so you have to bring in the people that complement the things you're not so strong at. It’s not a failing, it’s just who you are. And it takes a while to get comfortable with that.
With Insiders, it’s not that Rory Gilbride is a creative and I'm a suit - it’s on an attributes front. I’m more of a risk taker, he’s more risk averse. I’m a bit of a softy and he’s better at hard conversations. Creatives work as a team and that can work so well - but you really need it in leadership teams too.
LBB> Did you know you always wanted to take on a leadership role? If so how did you work towards it and if not, when did you start realising that you had it in you?
Josh> A recurring theme throughout my life was that I never took instruction too well, even as a kid… the signs were there! I think ironically now I am a leader and I’m better at doing as I'm told! I’ve recently had a diagnosis of ADHD which probably explains a few things. I get excited by new things and it’s hard to finish tasks. But once you know you have it, it’s easier to manage.
LBB> When it comes to 'leadership' as a skill, how much do you think is a natural part of personality, how much can be taught and learned?
Josh> It’s a mixture. You’re born with some, and you learn as you go. I don’t think I was born with the skills to be a leader, but I didn't like being led.
There are definitely things to learn and ways of getting the best out of people and I'm always trying to learn that, but it has to be natural to what your personality is. There’s no point learning a technique for leadership if it isn’t natural to who you are as a person.
LBB> What are the aspects of leadership that you find most personally challenging? And how do you work through them?
Josh> For me, it’s things like negotiations and being super firm with people. That’s when I call Rory!
It’s so important to have that second person who can lead on the things you find difficult. I’ve always found time management hard and because we’re a small agency, we don’t have people to do everything, and that can be hard as you get pulled in so many directions. Even with ADHD it’s still sometimes difficult to be pulled in so many directions!
Ultimately that’s not something that we’ve necessarily found a solution for, but as we grow and bring people in it’ll help each of us focus on our strengths and give us space to step back and focus on the bigger picture sometimes. It’s really important to have a clear divide of tasks between leadership team and not to get side-tracked into things you don’t need to look at.
LBB> Have you ever felt like you've failed whilst in charge? How did you address the issue and what did you learn from it?
Josh> Yeah loads of times. Lost pitches that I've been leading on, failed at hiring the right people, failed at giving a good presentation. I think I've failed at most things that you can fail at. But I think it’s not always something that’s a massive issue you need to address. It’s just part of life.
You just need to try and improve - interrogate why you failed - where you didn't spend the time or look hard enough or made assumptions. And some of the mistakes I've made, I'll probably make again. Sometimes what works on one brief doesn’t work on another - sometimes it’s just the right mistake to make.
LBB> In terms of leadership and openness, what’s your approach there? Do you think it’s important to be as transparent as possible in the service of being authentic? Or is there a value in being careful and considered?
Josh> I’m probably the former and perhaps even too open, but then I think it's important to feel like a real full human being at work. It’s about treading the line between that and someone knowing you're the boss and respecting you in that position. But someone we are working with now, I'm going to her wedding. But as we get bigger perhaps that level of friendship and the balance might need to change. But I don't see it changing so much that I'm never approachable.
LBB> As you developed your leadership skills did you have a mentor, if so who were/are they and what have you learned? And on the flip side, do you mentor any aspiring leaders and how do you approach that relationship?
Josh> My mentors have been the bad leaders I've experienced in my life - and the desire to always be better than them.
LBB> In continually changing market circumstances, how do you cope with the responsibility of leading a team through difficult waters?
Josh> You have to try not to get too involved in the macro things that are going on - just stay positive about the projects and what’s going on within the agency. You probably have to internalise that a bit, but having everyone in the business worrying about macroeconomics isn’t productive.
LBB> What are the most useful resources you’ve found to help you along your leadership journey?
Josh> The most useful resource is being open minded and understanding people’s point of view, reading newspapers, trying to take in influence from everywhere. It’s about living and being curious and thinking about things. That’s really the best way to understand anything, even management.
