Whenever I stood up to give a talk or had to introduce myself, this was always the first thing that came out of my mouth. An introduction and my name. I never thought it was safe to assume people knew who I was. Even in front of my own company, I never wanted people to guess.

When I saw others not introduce themselves, it never sat well with me. As years went on, I saw people at the company get better at it. I always believed that you should go into almost all situations assuming most people have no idea who you are and why they’re there. To never be safe to assume.

Consistency Builds Trust

I believe leadership is being consistent, and this was something I did consistently in almost every situation. It was a habit I began to form. I felt it broke down a barrier and quickly led me to be clear about who I was, then to why I was there, and most importantly, what I hoped to give to the audience or the conversation.

It was simple but it mattered.

The Golf Course Classroom

I was thinking the other day about why I formed this habit, and it dawned on me as I was looking back at some old photos. Many of them were of my dad and me on the golf course. As I looked through them, I recalled one tradition that we did every single time we played—something so simple I hadn’t thought about it in years. The introduction on the first tee.

My dad never really belonged to a golf club, but he loved golf. What I think he loved most about it wasn’t the game as much as it was the people he met playing it. Not the regulars, but the irregulars. The chance encounters that led to something unexpected.

Like the Japanese couple we played with in one morning. The gentleman hit the ball no longer than 25 yards each time. My dad taught him how to say “Bullshit.” Let’s just say we heard that word echoing across the fairways many times that day.

Most Saturday and Sunday mornings in the summer, my dad and I would find ourselves on a public golf course, but it was always just the two of us. I would wait each week in anticipation of what golf course we’d play together and when. I loved golf and I loved playing with my dad.

The two of us standing on the 18th fairway at St. Andrews after playing 18 when I was about 11 years old

The First Tee Introduction

Because there were only two of us, we always got paired with others. Golf is a game of etiquette, and as you know, it’s customary to introduce yourself on the first tee. I remember this as one of my first lessons in leadership from my dad. To be a leader meant you had to introduce yourself and shake the hand of a complete stranger.

For the next four to five hours, you spend time with these complete strangers, and it was my job to build a relationship. But the first thing I did was say, “Hi, I’m Jim Price.”

I remember my dad always hustling back to the cart and quickly writing the names of our playing partners on the golf scorecard. The introduction was your chance to make a first impression.

Making the First Move

As my life has gone on, I’ve typically felt comfortable in public settings. Going to a conference, a meeting, or even a dinner by myself was never a problem for me. My first inclination, if I needed to, was to just go up to someone and say, “Hi, I’m Jim Price,” and shake their hand.

I never thought much about it and why I was always okay doing this. Then it dawned on me—it was the leadership lesson my dad taught me those so many years on the golf course.

Leadership is usually about making the first move. Feeling comfortable in what other people might think are uncomfortable situations. Being confident in yourself and never assuming you are better than others. You are just you, and you never assume people know who you are.

Never assume, always be clear, always be consistent, and think back—what were some of the lessons you might have learned from growing up that have made you the person you are today?

Thanks Dad. Love ya.

Jim

Pictured below what will likely be our last round of golf together at his favorite golf course of all time. Muirfield Village CC in Columbus, OH. He once played there and birdied the first three holes then had a 12 on the par 3 fourth! One of his favorite golf stories.

Everyone starts their career as a practitioner. Everyone does the work before they manage it. This creates a natural pull toward the details, a comfort zone in the weeds as a spoke.

But as you grow, you realize something critical: diving into details (while occasionally necessary for planning) usually demotivates your team. This is when you need to be the hub, making the organization turn in unison, everyone moving in the same direction.

Over twenty years ago, as a young VP managing a digital team, I visited Google’s campus in Silicon Valley. Walking through those offices, seeing how people were treated, the culture they’d built... it was game changing for how I thought about leading people. That’s where it clicked: take care of your people, and they’ll take care of you. My number one responsibility as a leader became clear: prioritize my team’s needs, ensure they feel valued and proud, and motivate them to win.

Leadership as Art

I love leadership because it’s an art, not a science. I never excelled at fact-based learning. But ideas? The development and evolution of ideas? That’s when my brain came alive. The challenge of organizing and motivating people to climb from one side of the mountain to the other... that’s what I was built for.

Great leaders know their organization intimately. They understand when to step in and when to step back. They know what makes their people tick.

The Dance Between Hub and Spoke

Our agency ran on culture. I worked every day to uphold and evolve it as we grew. I learned to start as the hub of the wheel, then recognize when it was time to become just another spoke. To get in line and be the last one to eat lunch.

People want clear direction on how you’re leading them, but they also appreciate when you can simply be one of them. So to keep the car between the lines, learn how to be both the hub and the spoke.

Jim

At the end of the day, it was up to us as agency leadership to decide what we’d adapt or modify and this annual event pushed us into new territory. It was good to have experts come in and give us new ideas to consider.

In agencies, the competition is fierce. Just getting into the pitch is hard enough. Once you’re in, the odds are already stacked against you, and you have to stand out from the crowd. I quickly learned a few rules, and all of them really had to do with leading people.

While the agency brand mattered from the outset—the types of clients, the size of clients, the wins you had in the near term—that’s what got you in the door. But when the lights came on and the pitch process began, that mattered little to none. It then became all about the personalities. How they performed in a room. How we matched everyone’s personality with the personality of the client. Clients want smart people, but most importantly, they want people they can see themselves working with every day.

One of the experts who came in once told me something that rang true: At the end of the day, the client isn’t buying the agency—they’re buying the people in the room.

Remember it’s a performance NOT a presentation

And what did these people have to do to win?

Be themselves, but be compelling. In the case of a pitch, you don’t have to be right—you just have to be compelling. If the personalities in the room weren’t compelling, we couldn’t win.

Master improvisational techniques, not sales. They had to be good listeners, able to ask compelling questions, and most importantly, know when to be quiet and let the client talk. The more we could get the client talking—generally about themselves or their business—the better chance we had at winning.

Work together as a team. We’d demonstrate this by putting planners and buyers, or creatives and analysts, together up front—side by side. Even how we did this visually mattered. High-top stools where they stood (never sat) gave them energy, like they were on an improv stage. To win, it wasn’t a meeting—it was a performance. The best teams put on a show, not a presentation.

Perform. At some point, we had to stop developing the content and focus on how we were going to share it—how to make it a show. If we continued to refine the content, we’d never get to the most important part: making the show compelling.

Be ready and be comfortable. We always did one final presentation with no interruptions the day of, in the same clothes we’d wear in the pitch. Even if the pitch was at 9am, we’d get up at 6am and go through it. When we finished, we’d go around the room and give “affirmations”—everyone said something inspiring about one other person until everyone received praise. This was the final boost of confidence we all needed.

And then it was showtime. Every pitch started with us getting there early, getting comfortable in the room, and flipping on our own music so when the prospect walked in, they could feel the positive vibes. At that point, we had nothing to lose. It was go time—time to let our personalities shine.

Jim

Rather than making grand promises, I made transparency itself the promise—especially during challenging times. In companies with 300 employees or fewer, consistent communication becomes critical. It's far better to control your narrative than let others craft it without complete information.

When you communicate openly, you create accountability. You're essentially making a company-wide commitment to deliver on what you've shared. Our team came to expect that they'd hear important news directly from leadership first. Being informed by leadership beats wondering—or worse, filling in the gaps with speculation.

The Podium I often used to illustrate the point around transparency

Our monthly company meetings served as accountability sessions with clear agendas that forced us to communicate transparently. I reported on everything from our values and critical success factors to our top line financials. One constant throughout our 30+ years was sharing where we stood on revenue compared to our annual goals.

During successful periods, everyone could celebrate together. When times got tough, people could better understand the "why" behind difficult decisions because we'd already established the context.

Everyone felt connected to the bigger picture, and I believed that uncertainty is often the culprit that creates stress in people's lives. My responsibility was to communicate as often as I could, reducing stress and increasing engagement across the organization.

Jim

Personal branding has always been something I have probably spent way too much time thinking about. Because of this I have believed how you carry yourself often speaks louder than your words. UCLA psychology professor Albert Mehrabian's research backs this up with his 7-38-55 rule: only 7% of communication comes from actual words, while 38% stems from tone and 55% from body language and facial expressions.

Managing by Walking Around

Managing by walking around was something I embraced. When you're out there connecting with others, I found that giving people an interesting reason to engage helped make conversations easier.

For example, one way to do this became my shoes. I loved sneakers—everyone knew it was my thing. While I valued a good sport coat, my Nike collection, especially my Air Jordan 1s, became my signature. Different shoes gave people an easy conversation starter. I believed it was genuine, authentic, and something different.

Making It About Them

The real fun, though, was making conversations about the people I worked with. To be truly interesting, you must be genuinely interested.

I tried to focus on their work, their families and many times even their shoes! This made leadership feel natural rather than forced. Being approachable and showing I cared mattered more than anything I could say.

The Art of Calibrated Questions

As I learned in some negotiation training from techniques developed by the talented Chris Voss, the best approach to conversations are calibrated questions like:

"What does success look like on this project?"
"What's the best way for us to share this with our client?"
"Do you think this work stands out?"

These questions worked better than directives because they invited a response leading to more conversation.

Building Your Unique Leadership Brand

Over time, I think people understood my brand—who I was and how I communicated. For any leader to truly lead, I think you need a personality that people can connect with. They'll get to know you better, find easy entry points into conversations and build camaraderie. Don't be over the top about it—just be genuine. And always strive to work on your body language—after all, that's 55% of the impact you're making.

Every leader should ask themselves: What do I have that is uniquely mine?

Thanks for reading,

Jim

Our industry thrives on unpredictability—clients shift strategies as media landscapes evolve and consumer behaviors change. Success comes from relentless forward movement. When your team embraces persistent action and maintains unwavering momentum, opportunities naturally gravitate your way.

My philosophy is to meet setbacks with grace, keep pushing forward, and commit to continuous learning. Strategic planning lays our groundwork, but having a contingency plan for when things go off course is equally vital. Action is the ultimate catalyst for opportunity—the more chances you create, the more likely you are to get lucky.

For those seeking actionable insights, here are a few thoughts that can fuel momentum:

· Comfort maintains the status quo; discomfort propels growth.

· Opportunities often arise through weak network connections—not the ones you expect

· Intentionally introduce some inefficiency into your network—don’t just schedule time with the usual suspects.

· Small tweaks in planning can lead to transformative outcomes

· Consistently seek unexpected diversity in your thinking

The essence of planned serendipity isn't about predicting outcomes but about crafting conditions where good fortune becomes inevitable through relentless, purposeful action.

By embracing these principles, we don't just wait for luck to happen—we make it happen.

Jim

My "go to" leadership publication, The Harvard Business Review, validated this approach with research that the frequency of communicating your vision is as crucial as the vision itself. Repetition enhances understanding and retention. When Stanford's Frank Flynn analyzed 3,000 leadership assessments, he discovered leaders were criticized ten times more frequently for under-communicating than over-communicating.

My non-negotiable rule: face-to-face company-wide meetings every month. We scheduled these gatherings 12 months in advance, rotating responsibility among teams while maintaining a consistent format. This structure always reserved time for me as CEO or our President to address critical matters, share financial performance, and track progress toward company goals. These meetings also showcased emerging talent and celebrated achievements.

Facing the monthly speaking obligation occasionally left me searching for meaningful content, but in those moments, I relied on wisdom from a trusted mentor: "People don't care how much you know but would rather know how much you care." This reminder shifted my focus from delivering perfect information to demonstrating authentic leadership through genuine connection—often leading to my most impactful communications.

Over time, these gatherings evolved into a trusted institution—a reliable source of company updates and recognition that everyone prioritized. In person attendance was mandatory unless you were traveling. We even designed our new Cincinnati headquarters specifically to accommodate these meetings, creating an inviting space that could be configured quickly.

A view of our office, The Marketer, from the speakers POV. The open stairwell was critical to the design of our company meetings giving a relaxed, informal way to gather.

I firmly believe leadership is defined by actions, not titles. I never would assume everyone knew who I was and wanted others to realize the same. That's why I began every presentation with the same introduction: "Hello and welcome to this month's company meeting. I am CEO Jim Price." My appearance remained consistent as well—always a sport coat with a pocket square—creating visual continuity that reinforced reliability.

While our business thrived on embracing media's constant evolution, these monthly gatherings provided stable touchpoints everyone could count on. With in-person communication scheduled every thirty days, we maintained an unbroken dialogue with our team.

Throughout my tenure as CEO, we never struggled to find meaningful content for these meetings. In fact, these gatherings became invaluable, with team members consistently expressing appreciation for the time and attention invested in them.

Jim

Innovation isn't just a buzzword—it's the lifeblood of growth and remaining relevant in an ever-changing world. Yet the real challenge lies in generating ideas from your entire team while maintaining strategic focus. Let me share what I've learned about making innovation accessible and actionable.

Redefining Innovation for Everyday Impact

For years, we wrestled with innovation's elusive meaning until breakthrough clarity emerged: "Smart thinking that creates value." This definition cut through the complexity and ignited a transformation across our teams.

What made this approach powerful wasn't just its simplicity—it was the permission it granted. We shifted the conversation from "create innovations" to "share ideas," removing the paralysis that comes with perfectionism.

Innovation doesn't require reinventing your industry. It means thinking differently within your daily responsibilities to create measurable value. When we removed the pressure of transformation and replaced it with permission to improve incrementally, ideas flourished.

The Power of Constraints

Counter to popular belief, effective innovation doesn't happen by "thinking outside the box." It thrives when you create the right box. We established clear innovation agendas with specific parameters, giving our teams focused sandboxes to play in.

We formed "Explorer" teams around targeted challenges like "the future workplace" or "media buying process efficiencies." These constraints provided clarity, accountability, and momentum—turning abstract innovation into concrete results.

Explorers and Fortifiers: The Essential Partnership

Not everyone in your organization needs to be an innovator. In fact, the healthiest businesses balance two essential types of contributors:

1. Explorers who push boundaries and pursue what's next

2. Fortifiers who excel at strengthening and scaling what works today

This insight, shared with me by Rob Wolcott of Kellogg Business School, freed us from the expectation that innovation should come from everyone. By allowing people to self-select their strengths, we created space for both stability and growth.

A Deliberate Innovation System

Innovation is too consequential to approach haphazardly. With the help of Eureka Ranch and my own study (I became a blue belt innovator myself) we developed a structured system that:

1. Establishes strategic missions for targeted innovation

2. Builds consensus and consolidates ideas around these missions

3. Evaluates each concept through the lens of "meaningful uniqueness":

   • Meaningful: Will customers value and pay for it?

   • Unique: Does it differentiate us in the marketplace?

4. Calculates innovation costs realistically

5. Sets clear accountability and decision guardrails

Embracing Productive Failure

Perhaps the most valuable lesson: No one truly learns from success. Our greatest insights and explosive growth came from failures that forced us to reexamine our assumptions.

By creating a culture that values calculated risks and treats failures as investments in learning, we transformed setbacks into stepping stones toward breakthrough innovation.

Innovation isn't magic—it's methodical. When you demystify the process and create the right conditions, remarkable ideas will emerge and your team will be motivated in ways you never imagined possible.

Years ago, I encountered a slide that fundamentally shifted my perspective on organizational change. While I can't recall its origin, its message was unmistakable: businesses that fail to cultivate innovation rapidly lose or create value.

Jim

This insight crystallized into two core principles that drove success:

1. When people genuinely love their work and believe in their agency's purpose, it shows up in every client interaction, strategy session, and deliverable. No amount of leadership presence can match the impact of truly engaged teams.

2. Time invested in your people compounds. Every hour spent listening to a team member or reinforcing our purpose—"To Live Empowered"—created ripple effects across multiple client relationships, in stark contrast to the diminishing returns of trying to personally manage every client touchpoint.

Implementing this philosophy required both conviction and humility -- learning when to step back, trusting our people to own client relationships while focusing on creating an environment where they could excel. We invested heavily in culture and development programs that helped our team internalize and act on our purpose.

Our net promoter score and client satisfaction increased because our people brought increased levels of creativity, ownership, and authentic care to their work. We built a scalable model where client success naturally followed from employee engagement.

This approach demands courage—it can feel counterintuitive to step back from client relationships. However, by investing primarily in those you pay rather than those who pay you, you create something far more valuable: a sustainable engine for exceptional client service that grows stronger with each new relationship.

The truth is, client-centricity shouldn't be a strategy—it should be the natural result of a people-first culture. When you get that right, everything else follows.

Jim

As I evolved as a leader, I came to understand the distinction between business principles and organizational values. Initially, I focused on business-oriented principles like "data is the fuel for winning" and "media planning and buying must be dynamic and iterative." While these principles served as practical guideposts for daily operations, they lacked the inspirational quality needed to truly unite and motivate our team.

The transformation came when we shifted toward values that captured our essence as a tight-knit, independent agency. This wasn't a quick process, nor did we want it to be. We deliberately avoided both the clichéd motivational poster approach and the obvious "table stakes" values like integrity and passion – qualities we considered basic expectations rather than distinguishing characteristics.

Instead, we crafted values that were simple, distinctive, and authentically "us." We wanted them to be memorable enough for everyone to internalize, yet flexible enough for individual interpretation. These values became so integral to our identity that we incorporated them into six unique art installations throughout our office, transforming our workspace into a physical manifestation of our culture.

Pictured above: Value installations @ Our Office at The Marketer Building in Over The Rhine Cincinnati OH

One of my most meaningful initiatives as CEO, encouraged by my trusted colleagues, was personally sharing these values with every employee. I conducted over 150 individual 30-minute sessions during the first year. As we grew, we adapted to monthly group sessions with about five new employees at a time – an unexpected improvement that fostered connections among new team members. I always opened these sessions with an icebreaker, my favorite being "What's your favorite vacation destination?" It was remarkable how these simple questions sparked genuine connections.

Though time-intensive, these conversations proved to be among my most valuable contributions as a leader. They weren't just about transmitting information – they were about building relationships across all levels of the organization, from our "Director of First Impressions" (our thoughtfully titled receptionist) to our Senior Vice Presidents.

Our six core values became the heartbeat of our organization:

1. Breakfast First

2. Let's be Clear

3. Dust Yourself Off

4. Yes, And

5. Plant the Flag

6. Make it Personal

Each value carried deep meaning and practical application, serving as both our compass and our catalyst for growth.

Jim

When it comes to effective leadership, authenticity isn't just a buzzword—it's the foundation of organizational success. Setting and sharing your personal purpose from the outset creates a ripple effect that shapes your entire company's trajectory.

A company is, in many ways, a reflection of its leadership team. The characteristics that define us as individuals inevitably manifest in our leadership style—they're two sides of the same coin, expressed in different contexts.

My personal purpose has always been “to change the game so that others' dreams can come true”. This wasn't just a nice sentiment for company meetings; it was the compass that guided every decision. In an industry where change was the only constant, this personal mission aligned perfectly with our organizational needs. We had to embrace and lead from a place of change—it wasn't just a strategy, it was a necessity.

This alignment between personal and organizational purpose proved incredibly powerful. When your team understands not just what you're trying to achieve, but why it matters to you personally, they gain a deeper understanding of the company's direction. It creates what is called "commander's intent" rather than "commander's control"—a subtle but crucial distinction. When your team truly understands your purpose and how it connects to the organization's mission, they can make decisions independently that align with the bigger picture.

Remember, your personal purpose isn't something to keep separate from your professional life. It's the authentic foundation upon which great leadership is built. When people understand you as a person, they better understand your company's direction, creating a more aligned and empowered organization.

Let your purpose be your guide, and let others see it clearly. The alignment between personal and organizational purpose is a key to unlocking your company's full potential.

Jim

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