The So What…

Why asking for help, embracing different perspectives and being a bit of a nuisance can make you a better leader.

There are moments in your career that change the way you think. Not necessarily because of what you achieve, but because of what you learn about yourself and the people around you. For me, one of those moments came at McCann.

We had an ambition to take our internal Day for Meaning programme and turn it into something our clients could experience, benefit from and invest in. Our first client was Benenden Health. Still, to this day, one of my favourites.

It was an exciting opportunity. A chance to take something we believed in and create something of real value beyond our own organisation. But what stayed with me wasn’t just the project or the outcome. It was the people. And the lessons they taught me.

Here I am discussing just this, on stage at the McCann Worldgroup Townhall:

Lesson one: There is strength in recognising and admitting you need help

Somewhere along the way, I realised I was out of my depth. And that turned out to be one of the most valuable realisations of my career. Because when you stop feeling you need to have all the answers, you start discovering the value of the people around you.

You ask questions. You listen more carefully. You invite different perspectives. You become more open to being challenged. And you discover that asking for help isn’t an admission of weakness.

It’s an invitation to collaborate.

That experience taught me what genuine teamwork feels like. People bringing different skills, experiences and ways of thinking to the table. Supporting each other, challenging each other and having each other’s backs.

Not competing to be the smartest person in the room. Simply working together to create the best possible outcome.

Lesson two: Why I’ll always be a bit of a nuisance

I learned something important about myself too. I’ll always be willing to be a bit of a ‘nuisance’ if it means doing the right thing for the team, the work and the outcome.

I’ll ask the awkward question. Challenge an assumption. Push for clarity. Make sure another perspective gets heard. Not to be difficult. And certainly not because I think I know best.

But because I care about getting it right.

There’s a difference between being difficult for the sake of it and being constructively challenging because you believe something can be better. And sometimes the most valuable contribution you can make is to ask the question nobody else has asked.

Lesson three: Inclusion isn’t a leadership slogan

That experience helped shape something I’ve believed ever since.

Inclusive leadership isn’t about having the right language, the right title or the right intentions. It’s about what you actually do.

It’s whether people feel comfortable admitting they don’t know something. Whether different opinions are genuinely welcomed. Whether someone feels able to challenge a decision without worrying about the consequences.

It’s about creating an environment where people can contribute their best, rather than simply being expected to agree. Because having different perspectives in the room is one thing.

Making sure those perspectives are heard, valued and acted upon is something else entirely. And that takes humility, trust and a willingness to share ownership of the outcome.

The So what?

Looking back, that project was about much more than taking an internal programme to market. It was a defining moment in how I came to understand leadership.

That you can be confident without having all the answers.

That you can challenge without undermining.

That you can lead without needing to be the loudest voice in the room.

And that the most meaningful achievements rarely belong to one person.

They belong to the people who were willing to come together, support each other, challenge each other and make something better than any one of them could have created alone.

Great leadership isn’t about being the person with all the answers. It’s about creating the conditions where everyone can help find them.

And if that means being a bit of a nuisance along the way? I’m absolutely fine with that.