With rare exceptions, creative individuals fall into one of two categories: They’re either deeply insecure, or they’re egomaniacs. The former lives in a state of constant self-doubt and is in need of continuous validation. In fact, they are usually the best people in an agency or a design firm, as they are constantly pushing themselves to improve. Unfortunately, their need for validation means that they are easily manipulated and taken advantage of by the latter group, the egomaniacs.
Perhaps there is a deep unconscious connection between these two types of individuals. However, lacking any training in matters of the mind, I can simply say this: Egos have no place in the creative industries. Removing these types of behaviors, and if necessary these types of people, will result in a better work environment for everybody, more autonomous and profitable teams, and–most importantly–better work.
UNDERSTANDING THE EGOMANIAC
To understand why egos have no place in the creative industries, let’s take a more detailed look at the egomaniac. These individuals are usually (although not always) part of the creative department and are most often senior in title. They have a deep-rooted belief that they are the source of all greatness at the agency lucky enough to be graced with their presence. They see themselves as a sort of modern-day messiah, and their opinion is always right. All ideas for a project must come from them, and the ideas of others are rarely considered–unless they can take credit for them. They show a flagrant lack of respect for people’s time. In short, they believe that others exist only to build their personal reputation.
Creative directors usually win the top spot on the egomaniac list. To be fair, perhaps this is not entirely their fault. At large agencies, creative directors are placed on a pedestal by the lowly account teams and presented as a sort of mystical Christ-like figure to clients. To some extent, this sort of treatment would rub off on anyone. However, while it’s all well and good to play the Mystical Christ to clients, it’s a whole other situation to act like this around your team.
One of the most memorable Mystical Christs I’ve heard of was an old-school creative director–let’s call him Willy Wunderwinkle–whose favorite pastime was to take on projects with impossible deadlines on behalf of his team. Willy would bounce enthusiastically into the project room to brief our team on the “exciting new pitch,” resulting in a collective internal groan, as we knew that the next few days would result in little or no sleep. Willy would then vanish for the next five days. He couldn’t be found at his desk, in any conference room, or indeed anywhere in the agency. He wouldn’t answer emails or text messages from our team requesting his feedback, which increasingly grew more frequent and desperate as the deadline loomed closer. Then, on the day of the deadline, Willy would reappear in the agency in a resurrection fashion worthy of a true Mystical Christ. In a blasé tone, Willy would inform our team that, unbeknown to us, he had briefed a second team to work on the same brief and he would be presenting their work today and not ours.
Willy is still alive and was never fired–or, for that matter, murdered by the team of junior designers working under him. In fact, I’m fairly certain he’s been promoted a couple of times since.
EGOMANIACS ARE NOT GOOD FOR BUSINESS
There is simply no reason for egomaniacs to exist in the creative workplace. Egos stifle team growth, negatively affect the quality of the work, and cost an agency money.