Grey’s Graham Drew and Michael Knox to lift the lid on imposter syndrome at AdFest 2019
Next month at AdFest 2019, Grey’s Graham Drew (pictured left) and Michael Knox (right) are going to lift the lid on Imposter Syndrome.
Drew is Grey Group Malaysia’s Executive Creative Director, while Knox is Chief Creative Officer, Grey Group Hong Kong – a role he took on in 2016 after relocating from Grey Group Australia, where he was Chief Creative Officer and Managing Partner of Grey, Melbourne. Both Michael and Graham are members of Grey’s Global Creative Council.
Despite their many successes, they both sometimes worry that they got where they are by dumb luck and are, in fact, total frauds.
Graham: You launched Resonate, then VCCP Kin, before moving to Grey in 2014. What’s been your proudest achievements at Grey over the past four years?
Finding my feet as an ECD has been a big jump that I’m still growing into, but I’d say that my proudest achievement is helping to grow a team that every year is making better and better work. There are the stand-out award winning ones, but I strongly believe these have a halo effect on everything else – 2019 is going to be big for Grey Malaysia.
Your upcoming session at AdFest is all about Imposter Syndrome. Have you ever felt like a fraud as a creative?
Absolutely, too many times I’ve felt my chair belonged to someone else – but finding out I’m far from alone was the inspiration for this talk. A couple of years ago I was talking to a director at the end of a shoot day. He started telling me that many times he’s actually unsure about what he’s capturing – is it good enough? Is it original, or just a cheap rip off of other things he’s seen on other people’s reels…. ? He’d look around at the crew and wonder, ‘How the hell did I get to tell them what to do?’
That happens to me: in meetings, at pitches…and no, it doesn’t go away. But I don’t think that’s a bad thing anymore.
How did you overcome your fear?
I don’t think personally I will ever overcome it. You just get better and more accomplished at feeling and coping with it. If you ask a mountain climber if they fear heights, they will say absolutely yes (though more accurately it’s the ground that they really fear). If you don’t feel some element of fear then either it’s not actually important or, far worse, you’re complacent.
Why do you think fear is not to be feared?
Damn good question. I think this is the heart of the whole matter. It’s not about defeating fear, it’s about changing your relationship with it. What lies at the heart of fear is uncertainty. You don’t know what’s going to happen next, you’re on foreign territory. That self-doubt can be debilitating, especially at the mid-point of your career.
But, as a creative, you come to realise that foreign territory is where the gold is found. That feeling of uncertainty means that you’re learning new things, or even better, discovering something new. My point is, if all you are seeking is the safe and familiar you won’t be making good work. We all need to sit on the edge of uncertainty from time to time. You have to learn to admit that to yourself and be okay with it, rather than burying it under a toxic mound of insecurity.
You say that landed an ECD role in Malaysia without having a plan to get you there. How did you find yourself working in Kuala Lumpur?
Like most of the best things that have happened to me, it’s all down to my wife Liza. She’s a lawyer and came home one evening saying that she had been given the opportunity to lead a big project in Asia for a couple of years.
We took the plunge. I helped settle the kids into school while I interviewed and was lucky enough to get an opportunity at Grey. Totally new team, new way of doing things – I’ve had to seriously change the way I work – and a complete absence of any ego (which I cannot say about anywhere else.)
The work we manage to pull off with the resources we have continually astonishes me. It’s all down to the ‘can do’ attitude of the team, 100% support from my CEO and we just find a way. I’m making the most exciting work of my career here.
It was supposed to be a two-year adventure, but four years later and we’ve fallen in love with Malaysia and the people here. London is an amazing city of course, but KL is an incredibly rich and diverse place. I don’t need to tell you about the food or the ethnic mix. It’s got a passionate soul, it’s raw at the edges and it rocks.
Michael: What has been the biggest cultural shock in moving from Grey Melbourne to Grey Hong Kong?
I never truly understood the importance or meaning of ‘team’ before moving to Hong Kong. Spend time with me these days and I’ll bore you with my theories on ambition and loyalty.
It comes down to what you value most. Do you want to see your team succeed and are you prepared to work long and late with that team until everyone is done and then you can all go home or to dinner. Or is it another way for you?
Do you and your Art Director partner want to beat everyone else in the department?
See the other teams as competitors and threats to that job you want in New York? It would be naïve to think I can change how people think.
Hopefully though I can do enough to promote a creative culture and provide an environment Creatives want to be a part of and contribute to.
You believe culture is at the root of all good ideas – how does living in Asia inspire you creatively?
Inspiration and motivation are dished out daily, just not in equal serves. I find the challenge motivating. This is not a comfortable industry. We’re in less than comfortable times and creativity does not sit comfortably with a lot of clients.
If you don’t believe me travel Hong Kong’s MTR.
So we’re getting ourselves comfortable with uncomfortable. We’re embracing the uncertainty and havoc but not the doom and gloom.
And while we’re holding tight to the challenges we’re starting to find inspiration in the
opportunity. The speed of change is energising.
And when that’s not working I take a walk around the block. The stuff that happens on the streets here you could not script.
* Graham Drew and Michael Knox’s session is called, “If you feel you don’t belong, then you do”. It takes place on Wednesday 20th March,15.05 – 15.40.
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