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.
The Emotional Tax of Leadership: Why Burnout Is the Biggest Competitive Threat
Leadership today demands far more than business acumen. It demands emotional stamina.
The modern leader isn’t just tasked with driving outcomes. They’re expected to hold space, regulate culture, coach performance, and buffer stress. The cost? Emotional burnout.
A 2024 Beyond Blue study found that nearly 60% of Australian media and advertising leaders report high levels of stress, emotional fatigue, and decision exhaustion. Most worry they “can’t show weakness.” That silence is dangerous.
Rewarding Toxic Behaviour: The Silent Killer of Workplace Culture
It’s one of the most destructive dynamics in workplaces across the globe: toxic behaviour being rewarded and even celebrated. Whether it’s a high-performing sales director in North America who steamrolls their team but hits targets, a manager in Europe who leads with ego but still gets promoted, or an executive in Asia who drains the culture but brings in revenue; the pattern is disturbingly similar.
But every time we excuse it, we endorse it. Every time we reward it, we replicate it. And every time we stay silent, we make it harder for the good people to stay.