A Mostly Inaccurate Guide to Being a Good Creative Director

(Written by Someone Still Actively Failing at It)

After enough years as a creative director, you accept two things. No one is entirely sure what you do. You are absolutely certain you are doing it wrong at least 30 percent of the time. This is not impostor syndrome. This is pattern recognition. Also, coffee won’t solve it, gummies only help temporarily, and yes, people still ask why you’re so damn expensive.

Below are ten tips on being a good creative director. They are not definitive. Mostly lessons learned after I should have known better.

1. Learn when to have an opinion and when to shut eff up.

Early in your career, you think your job is to have loud opinions. Later, you realize the best thing you can sometimes do is sit very still and let the room figure it out. A good creative director speaks last more often than feels natural and regrets speaking first almost immediately. Bonus: it makes you look important without committing to anything.

2. Protect the work, even from yourself.

You will occasionally (or often) have a bad idea. Learn to recognize when you are pushing something not because it is right, but because it came from you. Pro tip: if the idea involves a talking animal or a pun, it’s probably a mistake.

3. Be decisive, but leave room to be wrong.

People want leadership and safety at the same time. Say, “This is the direction,” while thinking, “unless it isn’t,” in which case pretend it always was a conversation. Smile or the team will notice you’re panicking.

4. Translate between humans who speak different dialects.

Designers speak in feeling. Clients speak in strategy (at least the good ones). Account people speak in timelines. You must pretend these are all the same language. Bonus: it makes you look smarter, like eyeglasses.

5. Kill work kindly.

You will have to end things people love. Say, “This taught us something.” “Let’s look at another direction for now.” Or, “that’s one idea.” Dramatic sighs increase perceived wisdom.

6. Be like the CIA or FBI.

Your failures will always be public. Everyone will see you stumble, flub a line, or greenlight a terrible idea. Your successes, however, will always happen behind the scenes quietly without applause. A good creative director accepts this and keeps the agency safe while looking like they know what they are doing. There are no pro-tips related to #6. Check back in two years.

7. Let the team be smarter than you publicly.

If you are the best creative in the room, you have failed structurally. Hire people who make you nervous, then pretend it was the plan. Bonus: We are lucky in Nashville because it has been easy to do that.

8. Be good at everything, or fake it convincingly.

Creative directors are expected to be Swiss Army knives. Writing? Yes. Art direction? Yes. On set? Stay calm while the gaffer yells at the caterer. Your currency is ideas, not file types. Every person in the agency is watching, waiting, or hoping you show up at your best or at least in the right place. Think of yourself as human duct tape, but in a not-gross way.

9. Stop trying to control the outcome.

You can guide, shape, and protect. You cannot guarantee people will like it, clients will get it, or the internet will behave. Sometimes the worst work becomes a cult hit, and the “best” work disappears into the void. Accept it, roll with it, and try not to lose your shit. As I said, WIP.

10. Accept that you are always becoming the thing you once complained about.

You will catch yourself saying, “We have tried that before.” Sit with it. Reflect. Apologize internally. Then try to be less of that person tomorrow. Side benefit: this is the closest thing to enlightenment a creative director will ever experience.

The actual job, unfortunately.

Being a good creative director is not about being right. It is about creating conditions where something good might happen. It’s not about control either. You will oscillate between confidence and doubt. You will grow, regress, and grow again. Also, everyone else is winging it, too. They just hide it better.

Michael is the Creative Director and co-founder of FoxFuel Creative. He loves British music, vintage German cars, and American history, and his sarcasm knows no bounds. #DreamBig