DDB North America CEO Wendy Clark sat down for an expansive one-on-one interview with PCG Sportsdesk co-Founder & Partner Eric Fernandez at the ’17 Game Changers Conference in N.Y. Clark, a marketing veteran whose career includes stops at AT&T, Coca-Cola North America and GSD&M, recalled moments and lessons from her career that saw her ascend from a secretarial position to the c-suite of one of the world’s largest advertising companies. “Never get frustrated when people underestimate you,” she said, recalling times she often sat outside of closed conference room doors in her first job at an agency. “In the moments when someone underestimates you, they lower the bar. So what are you going to do? You’re going to crush it, leap over their expectations and use it as fuel, not as frustration.”
Quick Hits:
* On work-life balance: “People ask how do you compartmentalize your life. I absolutely don’t. That’s a fallacy. My life is a complete blend. My kids or my husband probably texted me while I’m up on this stage. ... It’s about life integration, and progressive companies and technology have allowed us to do that. I am a CEO and a mom, and my rule is when my kids call I’m going to answer -- although it’s not something to take lightly and I may answer the phone asking what limb is broken. The one thing anyone wants more from you whether its colleagues or family is that they want your attention, they want your presence in that moment. If I’m in a meeting, my team wants my presence, when I’m with my kids they want my presence. If you’re trying to do both, you’re failing at both.”
* On moving a family for a career change: “When you make those decisions, and I’ve moved in my career a fair amount, the moment you make that decision, it feels so big, and in the heat of the moment it seems so risky. I wish I could have told myself to lean into them even harder. It’s going to work out and it’s going to be fine.”
* On not worrying about what you don’t know: “I’m not intimated by what I don’t know. If you feel insecure by the things you don’t know, you probably won’t lean into change the way you should. No one is born knowing everything, and the willingness to say I don’t know this and have a commitment to learn is how I want to live life, period.”
