Creative Leadership Decoded: Lessons from Two Industry Experts
Published Jan 6
Leading means thinking outside the box. Superside’s Kae Neskovic and Reddit’s Marie Kare reveal the secrets to thriving as a creative leader. From sparking fresh ideas to balancing data and instinct, they share bold strategies to inspire your team and lead with confidence.
Staying creative as a leader is no small feat. In fact, it’s the lament of many creatives who have been promoted into leadership positions within their companies that extend beyond the delivery of great ads and other assets. Balancing the demands of leadership with the need to nurture and channel creativity can feel like walking a tightrope, especially in fast-paced, data-driven environments.
Creative leaders often face unique challenges, such as maintaining their own creative spark while inspiring and guiding their teams, advocating for the value of creative leadership and finding innovative ways to meet business objectives.
Superside’s Executive Creative Director, Kae Neskovic spoke with Marie Kare, Head of Creative for Global Business Brand at Reddit in our most recent webinar, “Staying Creative as a Leader.”
From balancing data and creativity to advocating for creative leadership, we’ve distilled some key takeaways. Let’s jump in!
Keep Your Creative Spark Alive
For many leaders, juggling daily responsibilities while staying creative requires intentional effort and strategic thinking. It’s essential to find ways to infuse creativity into routine tasks, whether through innovative approaches to problem-solving, collaborative brainstorming or simply reframing mundane activities as opportunities to think outside the box. Creative hobbies outside of work can also play a vital role in keeping the creative spark alive.
Kare underscored the importance of having a personal creative practice. She explores hobbies like embroidery, painting and even designing a collectible card game. “I think if you're a creative person, it infects so much of your life so that even these day-to-day activities you can approach creatively,” she said, reminding us that staying inspired requires intentional effort and self-awareness. Her advice: Avoid comparing your creative journey to others.
Comparison is the thief of joy.
Take the First Steps Into Creative Leadership
Becoming a leader in a creative field requires more than just technical expertise; it demands a readiness to guide, support and inspire others. Aspiring leaders should start by honing their communication and organizational skills while excelling in their current roles. Building strong relationships with colleagues and mentors can also provide valuable insights into leadership.
Kare shared, “Ask yourself: Do you want to lead people? Are you ready to invest in their growth and well-being?” She emphasized the importance of understanding your motivations before pursuing leadership roles. Neskovic added “There is this imposter syndrome. But I do think that after a few years of being in that state of mind, I did realize it's actually more about just understanding the core of the business rather than the targets and the specifics.”
Strike the Right Balance in Feedback
Giving constructive feedback is crucial for fostering growth within a team, but it’s a delicate balance between being too harsh or too lenient. Effective feedback should be clear, actionable and supportive. It helps to frame critiques as questions or collaborative problem-solving opportunities to encourage dialogue.
Kare suggested asking team members how they prefer to receive feedback. “Be honest but kind,” she said, offering practical examples like, “Was this an intentional design choice?” or “Do you think this aligns with our goals?” Neskovic emphasized the value of trust and establishing a strong line of communication with your team.
Feedback works best when it’s built on strong relationships.
Advocate for Creative Leadership
Convincing management to value creative leadership can be challenging, especially in environments where creativity is undervalued. Demonstrating the tangible business benefits of creative decision-making—such as improved efficiency, cost savings and higher-quality outcomes—can help build your case. The bottom line is: get in the mind frame of your management team. Which metrics do they value most and how does your work push the needle?
“How does having a creative in leadership improve efficiency or ROI? That’s the language leadership understands,” Kare explained. Above all, she highlighted the importance of choosing workplaces that inherently value creativity.
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Shift From Service Provider to Strategic Partner
For creative teams to move beyond being perceived as mere service providers, it’s essential to assert their value as strategic partners. This means contributing to the creative and strategy brief early on and clearly demonstrating how your expertise improves the final product. Don’t wait until it’s time to execute to be a part of the conversation, lean on your stakeholders to get you and your team involved from the get-go.
Marie emphasized the importance of understanding your role and setting expectations. “You’re not a service provider, and you can say no. You have standards, and you need to perform at a certain level,” she said. By communicating these boundaries, teams can ensure that they’re positioned as strategic contributors rather than task executors. The key, according to Marie, is clear communication.
Show them how much better the work will be when you’re treated as a partner.
When creative teams are involved early in the process, they can contribute to shaping objectives and achieving stronger outcomes, fostering trust and collaboration across departments.
Balance Data-Driven and Instinctual Creativity
While data provides valuable insights, over-reliance on it can limit originality and innovation. Creative leaders must find a balance between using data to inform decisions and trusting their instincts to push boundaries.
“If data alone were enough, we’d have the perfect movie or ad by now,” Kare quipped. She encouraged leaders to view data as a tool, not a crutch. Neskovic reinforced this point: "By default, you can't create anything new if you're only using data because data comes from the past.”
Sometimes relying on data can feel like it limits originality.
While data is still an important guiding ingredient in producing and creating, creativity sparks true innovation.
Manage Unrealistic Deadlines
Tight deadlines are a common frustration for creative teams, but they can also offer opportunities for collaborative problem-solving. Leaders should approach these challenges with empathy and negotiate timelines with stakeholders when necessary, balancing the needs of the team with project and business requirements.
Kare advised setting boundaries and saying “no” to unrealistic demands. It’s not just about delivering what’s asked; it’s about shaping the ask itself. By grounding discussions in business metrics, creative teams can reinforce their strategic importance. Set boundaries, but do so with “empathy, explaining that deadlines are tight for everyone and it's really painful,” added Kare.
Redefine Creativity in Leadership Roles
Leadership requires a different kind of creativity, one that involves strategic thinking, team-building and resource management. Leaders need to find ways to inspire their teams while navigating organizational complexities. Creativity isn’t just about beautiful designs or original concepts, creativity can be injected into any part of leadership. Creative problem-solving can turn seemingly mundane tasks into opportunities for innovation.
You have to be creative about how you juggle priorities. Sometimes it feels a lot like mechanized robotic work, but you can be creative and come up with solutions to problems and it's just a new puzzle for you to solve.
Kare highlighted the joy of seeing her team’s creativity flourish: “Something really satisfying in my role is coming up with projects that are fulfilling for the people on the team. Being creative about the tasks you set for people, the projects you give them and how you approach those tasks. There's so much satisfaction when you see them just like blossoming and being amazing at what they do.”
Designing projects that align with both business goals and team interests is key to fostering a motivated and engaged workforce.
Continue Your Personal Growth as a Leader
Leadership roles come with their own set of challenges, including the risk of plateauing. To keep growing, leaders should explore new interests and redefine what growth means to them. Personal projects and hobbies can provide creative fulfillment and fresh perspectives.
“Your job doesn’t have to fulfill every aspect of your creativity,” Kare noted. She encouraged leaders to ask themselves, “What else excites me?” Neskovic added, “If your goal is actually to find a job where you can just be authentically yourself, then you don't have competition because you can only be the best at being yourself.”
Growth isn’t just about moving up; it’s about moving forward in ways that align with your passions and values.
Spark Creativity With Superside
Creative leadership is a rewarding yet complex journey that requires balancing personal creativity with professional responsibilities. By cultivating strong relationships, setting clear boundaries and staying true to your vision, you can inspire both yourself and your team.
For creative leaders feeling stuck, a partner like Superside can help spark creativity.
I have one meeting that is excellent every week, which is my meeting with my Superside team. We typically stay a little over but we have such a great time.
As the creative team’s creative team, Superside provides seamless design and creative support, empowering leaders to focus on innovation and strategy. Whether you’re managing tight deadlines or seeking fresh perspectives, Superside is here to help you thrive.
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Tess is a Senior Content Specialist at Superside, where she crafts compelling content for SMBs and enterprise businesses. With over 10 years of experience, Tess has honed her skills writing for both B2B and B2C audiences, working across agencies and in-house creative teams. Her expertise spans industries, including international relations, tech, hospitality, and the music industry, where she has a knack for blending storytelling with strategic insights. When she’s not busy writing, you’ll likely find her curled up with a good book, binge-watching the latest Netflix obsession or hiking.
