Early in my career, I thought leadership meant having the answer and being certain. The stronger the evidence, the clearer the plan, the more confidence I felt walking into a room.
Certainty feels safe. It makes people comfortable. It creates reassurance that there is a clear answer. We’re taught to gather evidence, build strategy, analyse data and arrive at a definitive recommendation.
Almost eight years ago, I moved from the UK to the Middle East. I quickly realised that many of the things that had made me successful in the UK wouldn’t work in the Middle East. Different cultures, different client expectations and a different pace of growth forced me to rethink how I approached leadership and problem-solving. I had to learn quickly, adapt constantly and become comfortable in my new reality.
One of the privileges of my role as Head of Growth for Publicis Groupe MENA is having early visibility into industry challenges.
I review hundreds of RFPs across industries every year, giving me a unique window into what organisations need today. I see what clients are worried about before they appoint an agency, where growth opportunities are emerging, where pitches are won and lost, and where organisations are struggling to transform.
Leading growth has taught me that growth today requires a new type of leadership. AI has only accelerated this reality. As the volume of information, speed of change and number of possible paths forward continue to grow, leaders must become comfortable making decisions without having all the answers.
At Publicis Groupe, we have briefs arriving in all shapes and sizes. Some come through a phone conversation, some by email and others through a formal request for proposal (RFP) process. Some clearly define the challenge, prescribe a solution and the capabilities required. Others are so broad or complex that the real ask is unclear.
Often, we have no choice but to become comfortable with ambiguity because the role of the agency is no longer simply to respond to a brief, but to write the brief behind the brief. No one person or function has all the answers, and our job is to bring different perspectives together, challenge assumptions and uncover opportunities.
Most organisations already have access to specialists, multiple agency partners, and now AI is making expertise even more accessible. The challenge isn’t capability. It’s connecting human expertise, AI and specialist perspectives into a coherent way forward.
Growth happens at the intersection of expertise. Between strategy, data, media, commerce, technology, creativity, customer experience and more.
In my team, the most important role has become the orchestrator. Growth is becoming more about bringing the right expertise together around a challenge, creating alignment around an outcome and accelerating decision-making.
This is becoming one of the most valuable leadership capabilities. In a market moving at such speed, the ability to align the right people around a challenge creates the momentum required for competitive advantage and growth.
When I became a mother, I realised how little control we actually have over many of the things we try hardest to plan. No matter how much I organised mealtimes, bedtimes, or tried to balance work and home life, my children often had plans of their own. The experience taught me to let go of the need to control every outcome and trust that my husband and I would figure things out.
Looking back,…