Leigh Baker Looks Back on 25 Years of Agency Life
Leigh Baker has more than 25 years of agency experience working with major global brands in London and New York.
He served as EVP managing director for Publicis Groupe's digital agency, ROAR, was head of account management at TBWA\Chiat\Day NY, and ran global accounts for TBWA, SapientNitro and Publicis Advertising.
He has worked with and led assignments for Coca-Cola, MARS, Nestle, Accenture, AB InBev, JP Morgan Chase, adidas, and Pernod Ricard.
After a lengthy spell working for the networks, Leigh moved into the entrepreneurial startup world, joining production company Humble to build out its content creation unit, founded his own strategic brand consultancy, we@leighbaker, before landing at independent branding, advertising and production company Agency Six+One as its managing director in 2020.
He recently became a US citizen and splits his time between Chelsea in Manhattan and the North Fork of Long Island with his wife, Jen.
LBB> What was your first experience of leadership?
Leigh> Like many people, my first taste of anything resembling being a leader came at school and university via sports teams, theatre groups and being in bands. I also learned how to be a good number two when a mate of mine and I ended up running the student union entertainments committee at university. But also, like most other people, my first job in advertising had probably the most impact in terms of understanding a different level of what was expected of you.
I’m sure this is going to come through in this article, but I am definitely a product of a gen x ‘tough love’ professional upbringing (especially in London), so I learned after being schooled in a tonne of often quite blunt mantras on a daily basis (‘own the problem’, ‘god is in the details’, ‘time is the enemy’, and ‘don’t come back unless you sell it’.)
I didn’t manage anyone directly until I was 28 and an account director at TBWA\London, but I had a pretty clear idea of what good looked like by that point in terms of standards and behaviours.
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?
Leigh> My first couple of bosses were pretty tough and unforgiving, but in quite different ways. One was more about pushing back on clients and fighting for the best work, the other more about process and the right way to run projects. But both had very high standards, so initially, my take on being a good leader was meeting their high bar and then replicating that.
I was also mindful as I stepped up and moved agencies that the best leaders also seemed to be the nicest people – more empathetic and generous with their time and feedback. Some confuse that with popularity, but it was more about respect on both a human and professional basis, so I wanted to adopt that.
I think initially, my leadership style was characterised by demonstrating lots of energy and enthusiasm, and being positive and driven, but over time, I realised that I needed to demonstrate a slightly more thoughtful ‘you have two ears and one mouth’ approach and contribute much more strategically.
LBB> What experience or moment gave you your biggest lesson in leadership?
Leigh> Two ends of the spectrum:
Bad: First time I made a howling mistake (signing off a headline in a print ad that ran in all the national papers with a spelling mistake in it).Quite rightly, I nearly lost my job, and I was severely chastised for it, but I never did it again and it helped me develop a very healthy professional neurosis.
Good: I was incredibly lucky to attend two years of Omnicom University’s SMP course at Babson Business school, leaning heavily on HBS lecturers and cases. Not only did I make a couple of lifelong friends, but it really changed how I thought about leadership and my role in it.
At the time, I had a department of 40 people, and it was my first department head role, so I was probably overly focused on what I needed to get done. However, the programme’s mantra of ‘leadership is about creating an environment for other people to do their best work’ really stuck with me and totally reappraised what my role was and what success would look like.
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?
Leigh> To be honest, I always did and it was always part of the plan.
I’m pretty type A. In many ways, that’s a function of ‘if you want to be a successful account person and get promoted, you are going to have to take on more clients, billings and people’, so it came with the territory but also I 100% sought it out.
Agencies were very linear back then, so it was part of the journey on a functional level. The fastest route upwards was putting your hand up to lead a pitch, help with graduate recruitment or training programs in the agency, and then, over time, grow a team, move to run a bigger client, or hire your own crew after a win (which is obviously the best of all).
However, the obvious thing to say is you must evolve and change elements of how you lead depending on the assignment and environment. Principles should be consistent, but one size doesn’t fit all when it comes to managing different types of people, sometimes in different cultures if it’s a global brand.
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?
Leigh> I think my first assignment at university when I studied psychology was the ‘nature versus nurture’ debate, and of course, the correct answer is ‘both’. I feel the same way when it comes to leadership. You have to have it in you, and you probably have to want it and seek it out, but that only gets you so far.
The cliché about leadership is that you never stop learning and being open to new ways of doing things; particularly with today’s gen z workforce, in terms of motivating and getting the best out of them, that’s key. The best education for me, personally, was via osmosis more than theory (as helpful as that can be), and nothing really beats having a couple of great bosses on your journey to sponge it up every day. Even the ones you don’t particularly love can be great teachers in helping you form your style and what works best for you to get results.
LBB> What are the aspects of leadership that you find most personally challenging? And how do you work through them?
Leigh> For me, the challenge is always when you don’t have great people around you. The ones who get it are thirsty for knowledge, and are curious and driven. They hold high standards and are ambitious and humble when learning. They are the easy ones to manage, and it is easy to lead them.
The challenge, I find, is when you don’t have that luxury and your team requires greater patience, hand holding and daily direction. This can be the case in a small agency where resources are few and teams are lean. There, I increasingly try to focus on what they are good at and lean into that versus just directing feedback to what they aren’t good at, as that builds confidence faster and usually performance follows.
But that is sometimes easier said than done, and it is something I still need to be better at. It has been pointed out to me many times that I don’t do a great job hiding my true feelings, and that I need to continue to try and address that in search of a consistent, balanced and fair approach with everyone.
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?
Leigh> Many times!
Taking business performance out of it (new business pitches or being fired by clients), I think the one that sticks with me is how important it is to quickly affect change in a new agency, position or role, and to not shy away from making tough decisions early. This is particularly the case when managing senior people who may or may not be happy that you are their new boss – maybe they are frustrated they didn’t get the promotion, they might be more experienced than you, or your styles don’t instantly gel.
I’ve been in that situation (both sides), and the easy mistake is to not confront it and deal with it early. It can be more convenient to sweep it under the carpet and hope that over time, it will work itself out, but in my experience, it generally just festers and leads to frustration and poor outcomes.
Like that scene in the movie ‘Money Ball’, if there is bad news or a tough conversation, deliver it simply and early, and hopefully people will respect you for clarifying where they stand.
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?
Leigh> For me, 80% of leadership is about setting a clear vision, and then clearing a path for the team to deliver on it. So, there has to be open, clear communication and collaboration across the board (within clients and between teams and partners).
However, I also firmly believe in keeping enough professional distance so that you can depersonalise the process and, if needed, be direct and hold people to account if required.
We know teams often perform better when they all like each other, but it is as important that they respect each other and feel supported and trusted.
Personal relationships can help and hinder in equal measure. So can too much information in terms of diluting focus. My creative director needs to understand what the brand is about and what the client expects us to deliver – he doesn’t need to be intimate with every word of the SOW or what our hourly rate is.
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?
Leigh> More a combination of different people than any one person. What has worked for me is to have mentors outside of your direct role, so maybe it’s a strategy person, a client, or a recruiter, rather than just someone who is more senior than you in the same job.
Tim Lindsay, who ran the Publicis UK group while I was there and engineered my move to the US via Publicis Worldwide, before going on to run the D&AD, probably had the biggest impact on my career in terms of advice, support and unlocking new opportunities, but there are many others.
I am also now an unofficial mentor for several people, but nothing formal.
LBB> In continually changing market circumstances, how do you cope with the responsibility of leading a team through difficult waters?
Leigh> For me, this goes back to the earlier point about your principles being unnegotiable, but your outlook being flexible enough to adapt to the situation.
Your team needs to feel like they know where they stand and what is expected of them. In the same way, they need to know how to work with you and anticipate your perspective or behaviours so that they can act with confidence and certainty, adopting the ‘forgiveness more than permission’ mindset to make their own decisions.
One of my great bosses at Sapient, when I was running Coca-Cola globally, was the global CEO, Alan Wexler, and he said, “never come to me looking for a decision”, meaning my job was to evaluate what we needed to do, communicate it, and then own it. He was empowering me, but also holding me accountable too.
LBB> As a leader, what are some of the ways in which you’ve prioritised diversity and inclusion within your workforce?
Leigh> We have been lucky at Agency Six+One in that our team hails from all parts of the globe: India, Thailand, Canada, Russia, Argentina and the UK (obvs). We represent many different faiths and orientations. However, we try to ignore that and just hire the best people we can.
Hiring people from diverse backgrounds professionally is also key, and, in many circumstances, we look outside of our direct world to more adjacent marketing fields if the candidate has the right mindset and fits culturally with our team. We look for people that can bring something new to our skill set and maybe teach us something, or who can help expand our capabilities and wear more than one hat – that type of thing.
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?
Leigh> Culture is everything. We liken it to a six pack – super hard to build and maintain, yet super easy to lose. So at Agency Six+One, we work on it every day, and get the team together once a month at what we call ‘Third Thursday’ to review progress and celebrate business, work and people. We also take the team out at the end of every quarter to a top restaurant that they pick, we do a summer team event, have summer Fridays, and close between Christmas and the new year.
In 2024, we introduced the concept of ‘Work One Month from Anywhere in the World’ in an attempt to reinforce employee engagement and retention and to be sympathetic to both the move to return to the office (we are in three days a week) and the desire for flexibility and work-life balance post pandemic.
LBB> What are the most useful resources you’ve found to help you along your leadership journey?
Leigh> I’ve been lucky to be invited to speak on a few panels by my friends at MarketCast research, and I found both in prepping for those and by listening to other speakers like Faris Jacob, I continued to learn a tonne.
I think the other, more organic thing is having a few go-to friends in the industry who you trust and who you feel comfortable being open and sometimes vulnerable with.
