Bossing It: Lisa Lavender's Second Act

Lisa Lavender is a business leader with over 40 years’ experience building and running businesses in the advertising industry at a local and global level. Having worked with numerous global brands, broadcasters, agencies and production companies, she has a deep understanding of business processes and the changes impacting the marketing supply chain.

Lisa is the founder of The Traffic Bureau, the UK's largest outsourced specialist supplier of TV admin (Business Affairs) services. After selling TTB to Adstream (XR Extreme Reach), Lisa held a number of roles within the advertising technology company culminating as the former CEO of Adstream UK where she managed operations, account management and sales teams for Adstream's largest operating market outside of the USA.

For the past five years Lisa has been running the British Arrows Awards, the UK’s longest running and most prestigious moving image advertising awards which incorporates the Young Arrows, celebrating and recognising emerging talent in the advertising industry. It’s full circle back to creative which is what inspired her to get into advertising in the first place!

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?

Lisa> Early in my career in advertising as an account exec, I worked for a woman who managed people through fear and intimidation, and I knew then I did NOT want to be that kind of manager. It was the '80s and there were women in business that felt the only way to succeed or lead was to be a bitch. Not for me. Treat people as you would want to be treated, that’s my mantra!

LBB> What experience or moment gave you your biggest lesson in leadership?

Lisa> The one above!

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?

Lisa> Nope, it just sort of happened organically. 

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?

Lisa> So I think you must have it in you to a degree, but you can also learn to be a great leader and that comes with time and experience. I think I unconsciously spent years watching the good ones (and the not so good) around me and worked out my own path. Of course, you can teach people to be better leaders, and I hope I have helped managers I have led over the years to do exactly that.

Sometimes, it’s just about giving them the confidence in their own ability to succeed and to bloom.

Without a doubt you can learn a lot by osmosis, by being around great managers and learning good habits. I think for youngsters at the beginning of their careers being in an office and team environment is so important. It’s a rich learning ground.

LBB> What are the aspects of leadership that you find most personally challenging? And how do you work through them?

Lisa> Being the bad cop is always hard. Telling someone they’re not right for a role is harder, and always being a positive role model can be wearing when sometimes you just want to scream expletives from the rooftops. 

Deep breaths help and I have learned not to rush to respond, take a moment! 

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?

Lisa> If you haven’t failed at some point, you’re either very lucky or exceptionally talented. Learning from failure and mistakes is critical to improving yourself and your skillset.

Personally, I think facing up to it is the best approach. We all make mistakes but whilst cliched, it’s a truism that how you deal with them is more important. And to fail doesn’t make you a failure, sometimes things are simply out of our control and you can only make the best of a bad situation.

LBB> In terms of leadership and openness, what’s your approach there? Do you think it’s important to be transparent as possible in the service of being authentic? Or is there a value in being careful and considered?

Lisa> This is a tricky question! I personally prefer an open approach but when you’re running a business you can’t always be as transparent as you want for many reasons, no matter how large or small that business is. So, it’s a balance, one I hope I get right most of the time, you would have to ask people who work(ed) for me!

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?

Lisa> I have had so many mentors I couldn’t possibly single one out, but I hope I learned how to be a supportive, inspirational and impactful leader through them. 

A real passion of mine is mentoring aspiring leaders, which I have done both informally and formally for many years. Nurturing talent, finding their strengths, helping them get into the right role for them is probably one of the most satisfying things a leader can do. There is nothing like seeing your rising stars take flight.

I like to think I have an approachable manner and provide a useful sounding board for my mentees, as well as objective support. Much of my approach relies on common sense, actually much of my business approach is rooted in common sense, so hopefully advice lands true!

LBB> How important is your company culture to the success of your business? And how have you managed to keep it alive with increases in remote and hybrid working patterns?

Lisa> Culture is SO important. In the case of the Arrows, we are a very small (but mighty) team and choose to come into the office three days a week to make the most of having time together. For us that time is extremely productive. Playing hard and working hard together makes for better relationships and team morale.

The positive culture of the organisation I hope is infectious and can be seen in all we do to celebrate creativity on behalf of the industry who created us.

LBB> How did you wind up working in advertising? A planned thing or a happy accident?

Lisa> My childhood dream was choreography, but I didn’t get into my first choice stage school. The second option was an air steward but after watching someone throw up on my first long haul flight when I was twelve, I went off that idea. 

Then when I was about fourteen, a creative director came to talk to us at school and I immediately thought YES! That is for me.

It took a while to know in what capacity exactly, but with the help of the back pages of Campaign I applied for lots of jobs. I had no idea what they were and was totally unqualified of course. Eventually, one of the companies I applied to contacted me and offered me an interview as an assistant. The rest is history.

LBB> Looking to your own career, what have been the achievements that you’re really proud of?

Lisa> I’m extremely lucky. I have had so many career highlights, and running the British Arrows is one of the greatest. 

I’m proud of the fact I worked up the ranks in account management both in the UK and abroad. When I was working in Canada I won a rising star opportunity to represent the company at a global conference in New York, and the highlight was standing on chairs in a Manhattan venue with 30 other account managers from around the globe, all singing 'We are the world' at the tops of our voices.

I started my own business in 1996, The Traffic Bureau, which grew to be the largest outsourced business affairs company in the UK. It was a powerhouse, all-woman team that changed the way many companies managed this aspect of their TV production. It was the most fantastic journey and experience.

I was very fortunate to sell the business to Adstream (now XR Extreme Reach) just after our 10th birthday and stayed on at Adstream for a further 12 years running TTB and taking on a variety of incredible roles, finally as CEO of the UK business.

At the British Arrows I feel a great responsibility to nurture and care for the awards during my tenure. We have also launched the Young Arrows, which after three years is now firmly installed in the awards calendar, recognising emerging talent across a variety of craft disciplines. 

It’s a 'second act' of a career I didn’t expect and I’m absolutely loving it.

LBB> Is there anything that you learned later on that you wish you'd had in those early years?

Lisa> Not to sweat the small stuff. Things inevitably work out even if it’s not quite as you planned and as I have often been reminded, it’s only advertising we are not curing cancer.

LBB> With all that said, you’ve been in the industry for quite some time! How have things changed, and what has kept the experience fresh and exciting? 

Lisa> So much has changed, yet so much is still the same. I am lucky to have a huge passion for the ad industry and creativity, which remains as exciting for me today as when I started my first job in an agency. Ideas keep things fresh, and people definitely keep it exciting. Working with wonderful people is what it has always been about for me.

LBB> What does your average day look like?

Lisa> I get up early and sort out my three dogs (yes, I am nuts). We work in the office three days a week so those days involve a team catch-up every morning to set priorities.

Then it can be a real mixture of reviewing incoming entries, working on jury recruitment, or meeting with sponsors or prospective sponsors, as well as our creative director and our show producers. I consider myself lucky as I genuinely feel excited about every working day as it’s a joy and a privilege to do what we do.