Ad Agency Leadership in the US, UK, and Australia: A Mixed-Method Analysis of Effective Attributes and Styles

Unlike the extensive scholarship on leadership in related disciplines, research advertising is almost nonexistent. This study investigates practitioner views attributes and styles of effective agency leaders US, UK, Australia using GLOBE’s (Global Leadership Organizational Behavior Effectiveness) Culturally Endorsed Theory. All three regions are part Anglo cultural cluster. The examines whether theory’s central proposition—that global contexts has universally endorsed elements but also culturally contingent—is valid an setting. Using a mixed-method approach, data were collected from staff via 255 survey responses 40 in-depth interviews. Findings indicate that best seen as people-focused, collaboration-driven, future-oriented. Integrity, vision, inspiration top attributes, with collaborative performance-oriented considered most effective. Views fairly consistent across regions, some nuanced differences. One interesting difference main GLOBE findings emphasis soft skills core component leadership. Future should examine this further, well relationship between culture, millennial gender differences, training challenges other clusters.