Agencies struggle with succession planning—how to pick the right leaders

While most advertising agency executives are a far cry from Logan Roy, the media mogul in HBO’s scathing satire “Succession,” many have just as much trouble appointing an heir apparent. Succession planning is vital for agencies as it “quite literally determines” their future success, said Mollie Rosen, president, member experience at the 4A’s, in an email. But many shops aren’t dedicating sufficient resources or time to ensure a smooth transition, according to several recruiters and organizational consultants interviewed by Ad Age. “I’ve had the opportunity to assist over 40 agencies in transition,” said Lauren Tucker, founder and CEO at inclusion management consultancy Do What Matters, which has advised shops such as TRG and The Martin Agency. “Shockingly, I can count on one hand the number with a solid succession plan.” Ad Age Small Agency Conference & Awards Join us July 23 & 24 in Boston Learn more here Tackling the common mistakes Agencies’ lack of preparation is a crucial misstep, with many shops waiting until a crisis to decide on a replacement or neglecting the process altogether. Companies should spend three to five years succession planning for the CEO role, according to Jenna Young, senior client partner, head of client creative services at organizational consulting firm Korn Ferry. Also read: 23 Gen Zers to know in advertising and marketing Benchmarking prospective leaders—by assessing their capabilities in areas including innovation and inclusivity—can help agencies root out internal candidates or determine whether they need to look for external options, Young said. “Agencies may have a bit of an allergic reaction to assessments because [they] think, in a creative industry, there’s something unique and intangible there,” said Young, a former longtime executive at Weber Shandwick. “But what is true of a great leader actually translates, and we can benchmark against other creative industries.” Another issue is appointing a successor based solely on their name and reputation, rather than their capacity. “When it comes to evaluation, the biggest mistake is always hiring for a press release,” said Sasha Martens, president of industry headhunting firm Sasha the Mensch. Before starting the search, agencies should not only outline ideal characteristics in candidates but also the areas of the business they're looking to improve, said Martens. When Terri & Sandy Co-Founder Terri Meyer decided to retire, the agency aimed to identify somebody that could elevate its efforts in social, PR and media, Meyer said. After interviewing 20 candidates over six months, Terri & Sandy landed on Curiosity executive Peyton Sutton. Before finalizing the offer, Meyer and fellow co-founder Sandy Greenberg had Sutton meet the agency’s leadership team. Read about Ad Age’s 2024 Leading Women here “It’s not one person that’s going to take the agency forward. It’s the leadership team,” Meyer said. “I think it’s essential that everyone feels good about the hire.” Enlisting leadership coaches and enrolling executives in training programs is also essential, said Owen Williams, founder and managing partner of ad recruiting firm Outside Lines. Check out the latest Ad Age events and award programs “I’ve worked with some large and small organizations [over] the years and very few of them put time and effort into training their leaders,” Williams said. “Margins are being squeezed so tightly across the board that [agencies] can’t remove someone from their daily job long enough to be able to train them.” A case study On her very first day as CEO of The Martin Agency in 2017, Kristen Cavallo made clear that she “would not hold the job for more than five years.” Establishing a timeline helped Cavallo start succession planning from the outset, she said. (She ultimately spent six years in the role, but handed off many daily responsibilities towards the end of her stint after becoming MullenLowe’s global CEO in November 2022.) After identifying Danny Robinson as a prospective leader, Cavallo created a chief client officer position in a bid to give the creative executive “broader perspective on leadership.” Robinson spent two years in the role before stepping into the chief creative officer role, and ultimately the CEO post, in January. “At that point, he understood the agency from multiple vantage points,” said Cavallo. “He knew who our clients were and they knew him.” Overseeing various different functions helped develop a “clearer understanding” of what it means to lead The Martin Agency, said Robinson. In the client-focused role, for instance, Robinson worked closely with account leaders and the chief financial officer, spelling out how the agency made money. “The focus on business and conversations around clients and scopes was different than I’d had before,” Robinson said. “As a creative, you don’t tend to have those conversations in your day-to-day operations.” Addressing the diversity gap Some entrepreneurs claim there aren’t enough recruiters equipped to identify diverse candidates. “There are few recruiters in the Black executive space, and even fewer that know the ad agency space,” said Channing Johnson, a Los Angeles attorney at Loeb & Loeb, who was part of the consortium that acquired Burrell Communications in October. Also: Inside the state of diversity in advertising To find new Burrell Communications CEO Tara DeVeaux, Johnson instead contacted chief people officers at agencies he knew. “I needed to talk to folks who not only knew what the person had done, but also how they were perceived by the Black community,” he said. Succession planning can help rectify the lack of diversity in the C-suite, several recruiters and consultants told Ad Age. But C-suite executives must work in tandem with HR and the broader leadership team to prevent “individual bias” from taking over, Tucker said. “It’s of utmost importance for the individual members of the C-suite, particularly the CEO, to come to terms with their own irrationality,” Tucker said. “They must understand that, like all human beings, they are prone to making poor decisions.” By taking an integrated approach, agencies “not only get greater diversity and representation, but [also] … cut the time to hire by 50%,” according to Tucker. “It's a win-win.”

Agencies struggle with succession planning—how to pick the right leaders

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