Bossing It: Understanding What Makes Organisations Tick with Judith Carr-Rodriguez

Judith is a digital native, passionate about helping brands transform for today’s data- driven, experiential and technology-enabled world. Previously president of LBi, she led the agency’s growth from boutique agency into the world’s largest independent digital agency.

As CEO of FIG, Judith has commercial and operational responsibility for the agency and all its disciplines. She spends the majority of her time with clients and ensuring FIG scales in line with the agency’s ambition. Judith was named to AdAge’s Leading Women 2022 – a list of the most influential people in marketing today.

LBB> What was your first experience of leadership?

Judith> A great question which triggered a memory from high school in the UK. I was chosen to be head girl, which came with some hefty responsibilities, which included an invitation to join the school leadership committee and was given a say on how school funds were allocated. I do remember being asked to leave the room though while there was a vote on who the new principal of the school would be!

This experience made me realise that I really enjoy understanding what makes organisations tick as well as the benefits of being part of a group of people with influence who set direction and make decisions. 

LBB> Did you know you always wanted to take on a leadership role? If so how did you work towards it and if not, when did you start realising that you had it in you? 

Judith> Professionally, I’ve always enjoyed being part of a team. The saying ‘if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go in a team’ is one of my go-to phrases. 

From my first experience in advertising as a graduate trainee at Lowe in London in 1999, I learnt that advertising is a team sport. When the culture of leadership and creative collaboration is healthy, you can create a group of high-performing individuals who can pull together to make anything happen. They can and do move mountains together. My first encounter with this was in London when I was the most junior person on the SAAB account and part of an incredible team that introduced e-commerce to a famous travel brand in the UK. 

When I moved to the US, a combination of team energy and commitment allowed us to transform a small agency into LBi US which eventually had a staff of 350 people who did amazing work for Coca-Cola and J&J. It’s been 10 years since Mark Figliulo started FIG and I joined him, and in that time, we have consistently strived to be great leaders of our own agency, and more importantly, leaders of the team in service of the work.

LBB> How did you figure out what kind of leader you wanted to be – or what kind of leader you didn’t want to be? 

Judith> I am most effective as a leader when I can model through action. In my opinion, leaders who are hands off or micromanage are ineffective and this can lead to disempowerment and disengagement. 

LBB> When it comes to 'leadership' as a skill, how much do you think is a natural part of personality, how much can be taught and learned? 

Judith> I’m a big fan of Mel Robbins. Her insight is that the two most important characteristics of great leaders are a high degree of competence and a high degree of warmth. I think in the US, we put so much emphasis on competence and expertise that we forget the human side i.e., the warmth, charisma, and joy that attracts people to listen, learn, follow, and grow. 

I strive every day to balance competence and warmth. These are real skills that can be taught and learnt. They don’t happen overnight and I’m certainly still working hard on them! 

LBB> What experience or moment gave you your biggest lesson in leadership? 

Judith> My biggest challenge as a leader came during the pandemic. It was a time of great personal stress: my children were 4 and 10 months at the time, and my husband and I were juggling parenthood and the needs of both of our full-time jobs. There was no play book for any of us at that time. It was just an ongoing struggle without knowing exactly what to do. 

One of my guiding principles is ‘do the right thing’ and during the pandemic, it was something I asked myself daily. What is the right thing to do for everyone at FIG, for my clients, for my family? 

One example of this: in April 2020, we promised everyone at FIG that we would not do any layoffs, furloughs, salary reductions. The right thing to do was to keep everyone safe physically, emotionally, and financially. The result? Everyone at FIG rose to the challenge and it ended up being one of our best years in terms of the quality of work.

LBB> In terms of leadership and openness, what’s your approach there? Do you think it’s important to be transparent as possible in the service of being authentic? Or is there a value in being careful and considered? 

Judith> During the pandemic, especially the period of sweeping social change, I learnt that I couldn’t hide my emotions from the people of the agency. One of the rituals of FIG is a weekly all-hands meeting. For 15 to 20 minutes, we share work, what we are proud of, what’s going on in our culture, the world or anything that we are passionate about. I was very transparent with my emotions and my personal beliefs because for me, vulnerability and authenticity has always been an important part of being a human leader. It goes back to balancing high competence and high warmth and having the courage to show how you are feeling while also showing up as a sturdy leader that people can rely on. 

LBB> What are the aspects of leadership that you find most personally challenging? And how do you work through them? 

Judith> I’m a natural introvert, so things like networking are torture for me. Just last week, I was at the ANA Master of Marketing Conference, which was great, but walking into a room of strangers and plucking up the courage to say hi is still daunting for me. It’s essential that I have time to recharge on my own after events.  

LBB> What are some ambitions and plans you have for the company and yourself in the coming year? 

Judith> In 2024, I’m working on listening more than I speak! For FIG, it’s an amazing time for a creatively-led agency to have invested in creating an AI platform that turns creative into actionable data. We call it StoryData™ and it underpins how we work. We also licence it directly to other companies as an insights tool. We are firmly on the side of humans, and we want to harness the tech & data in service of breakthrough storytelling, not have it manipulate or replace us. 

We are really leading the industry in this innovation. Now we can make more confident creative decisions, we can help creative folks get their work sold, we can make solid predictions on what type of story a brand should tell for greatest effect - in any channel, medium and whether it’s for awareness, consideration, or performance. As of this year, we can tie the type of stories we tell to in market performance. I predict FIG’s going to scale fast off the back of amazing talent & leading tech. 

LBB> What have you noticed as the biggest changes in the industry during your career thus far? And do you have any predictions for future trends or themes? 

Judith> I started my career in the very early days of digital marketing, which became social, mobile, AR/VR, retail, performance, AI very quickly. The media fragmentation is beyond intense today, and people are overloaded with information. Our industry needs to value creativity and storytelling again. 

Why? For the simple fact that it’s proven again and again that creative drives 49% of incremental sales and remains the most critical driver of advertising effectiveness - vastly outweighing media & brand impact. We need to lean hard into creativity and tell stories that are strategically sound AND breakthrough. At a time of high risk for marketers, it’s getting harder and harder to convince a board to not follow the crowd, but in reality, making a status quo decision is really the riskiest thing a brand can do. 

That’s why we find StoryData™ such a powerful tool for creativity, because we can show a CMO their brand and communications in the context of a competitive set, show them how they are blending in, or illuminate how and where they are not communicating the driver of the category. StoryData™ is a powerful leap forward for creative people. We finally have a data tool made by a creative leader for creative people. 

LBB> How important is your company culture to the success of your business? 

Judith> Incredibly important. We are a people-based industry. We make people feel psychologically safe, appreciated, and are always pushing the boundaries of what is possible for them. These are the core areas of focus for us as we really come at everything from a growth mindset. We believe you don’t start your own company to replicate others. It’s about forging a unique path for FIG, and the people at FIG. 

LBB> What are the most useful resources you’ve found to help you along your leadership journey?

Judith> The single most valuable thing I did was to invest in a professional coach when I was transitioning from my role as president to CEO five years ago. This time coincided with the birth of my second child, Felix, and it was a time of great change therefore, personally, and professionally. My coach - whom I still see - helped me be objective, clear and confident in my abilities to lead as CEO. This experience was transformative for me, and it was one of the prompts for FIG to provide access to coaching to all team members through an innovative online coaching company. People say it’s one of their favourite and most valued benefits that FIG provides.