The Compass
Reflections, strategies, and real leadership insights to help you navigate change, challenge, and growth.
Mentoring vs. Coaching vs. Counselling: What Today’s Ad Leaders Actually Need
Mentoring vs. Coaching vs. Counselling: What Today’s Ad Leaders Actually Need
Leadership support is everywhere, but often misused.
Ask a leader if they’ve had a mentor, coach, or counsellor and they’ll usually say “yes.”
Ask them if they know the difference and… silence.
From Redundancy to Resilience: How Advertising Talent Can Rebuild Their Edge
The advertising industry is on break-glass alert. Agencies are laying off employees, shrinking teams, and recalibrating service offerings—all in the name of efficiency. According to a recent analysis, this trend isn’t a failure; it’s shape-shifting. But for everyone let go, it’s a moment of reckoning.
The Quiet Crisis in Middle Management (And Why It Deserves Urgency)
Middle managers are the organisational glue we keep forgetting to reinforce.
They lead teams, translate strategy, manage projects, soothe clients, mediate tension, uphold culture, and respond to both executive pressure and frontline frustration — often within the same day, sometimes within the same meeting.
They are not just conduits. They are shock absorbers. And they are breaking.
The Real Reason Teams Break Down (It’s Not What You Think)
Your team is failing, and you know it. The deadlines are slipping. The energy is gone. The talent you fought to hire is mentally checking out. And while you're busy crafting the next all-hands speech about "getting back on track," your best people are already updating their LinkedIn profiles.
You want to blame market conditions. Remote work. Generational differences. The economy. Anything but the person staring back at you in the mirror.
But here's the brutal truth that's going to hurt: Your team isn't broken because they're incompetent. They're broken because you are.
Why 'Nice' Leaders Fail (and What Great Ones Do Differently)
In many organisations, niceness is the mask that hides fear and a lack of clarity.
‘Nice’ leaders smile in meetings, nod in agreement, and write warm Slack or Teams messages — all while sidestepping the conversations their teams desperately need.
They delay decisions, dodge discomfort, and use kindness as a shield from accountability.
But let’s be clear: niceness without clarity isn’t leadership. It’s self-protection dressed up as empathy.