The best agency operators come from the front line

Most agency careers don’t follow a neat leadership path. Roles blur. Good people get given more.

Mine started in Client Services. Graduate, straight out of Uni. Over time, I moved from Client Services into Strategy, then eventually into broader agency leadership. Along the way came pitches, commercials, operational issues, client escalations… and all the other things agencies tend to throw at people they trust.

At each stage, I carried the baggage of the previous role with me. Back then, I thought that was a weakness. That I couldn't let go. That I was still too close to the work.

Now I think it made me a better leader.

Because when agencies grow, leadership decisions stop being theoretical. Commercial decisions shape workload and morale. Process changes affect teams already under pressure. Operational gaps eventually show up in client relationships. 

And when the proverbial hits the fan, you know whose neck is on the line.

As our agency grew from a small entrepreneurial business into a larger, more operationally mature one, the challenge wasn’t becoming “more corporate”. In agencies, corporate is the very thing everyone tries to avoid. It was creating enough structure to scale without losing the agency's spirit in the process. 

That’s harder than it sounds.

Especially after acquisition, when growth brings new systems, new stakeholders and new pressures. During those times of change, people need more than direction. 

They need leaders who understand them and their value. Who know when to shield them from the chaos around them, and when to push them to grow into the change.

I think that’s why some of the best agency operators come from the front line.

They don’t have all the answers. But they sure as hell understand how the work gets done.