Creative Coaching
Talks - Training - Workshops - Mentoring
“Creativity is the single most important business & life skill.”
Spending over 30 years at the top of the advertising industry has taught me a great deal about the power that creativity has to transform brands, and bring about positive change in organisations and individuals.
The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report puts creativity and innovation as the most valuable skills needed to stay relevant in the workforce and thrive during a time of accelerating change. Unicef consider creativity a core life skill. “Creativity allows for adaptability in various life situations by leading to solutions, methods and processes to tackle old problems and contemporary challenges.”
Creativity has never mattered more as we enter an age of unbridled progress that demands a creative mindset to prosper. I want to help you to embrace your innate creativity, develop it, use it with confidence, and enjoy it. Below are my talks, training courses, and workshops available to brands, businesses, and individuals. Contact me to discuss them in more detail as well as availability and costs.
The Creativity Kickstarter.
3 Hour Training Workshop. In person or online.
Anyone who places a value on fresh, innovative thinking, and needs a nudge in the right direction, will benefit from The Creativity Kickstarter Workshop. Not only people who work in the creative industries.
It’s a lively and fun way for businesses or teams to:
•Kickstart transformation programmes.
•Encourage a more open-minded and progressive culture.
•Discover new ways to think differently.
•Power up their innovation capabilities.
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Creativity isn’t a job title. It’s not about being an artist. Creativity isn’t even about being able to draw. Creativity is a way of looking at the world in a fresh and innovative way. There’s creativity in every industry, every walk of life. Breakthroughs in science, medicine or technology don’t come by accepting received wisdom. Or by maintaining the status quo. The future is in the hands of creative thinkers. In fact, the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report puts creativity as the most valuable skill needed to stay relevant in the workforce and thrive during a time of accelerating change. Creativity is no different to any other innate skill. It can be developed and improved. Like music or sport. You just need to know how. And to have a great teacher to encourage you. This workshop will unlock the door to a more colourful and vibrant world of possibilities. It doesn’t matter who you are, how old you are or what you do for a living, you were born with the ability to think creatively. So, lets harness it!
I have had the privilege of spending all of my senior career, over 25 years, nurturing creativity in others. As the Chief Creative Officer of 3 of London’s largest and most creatively awarded advertising agencies, I have been responsible for establishing and maintaining a creative culture and environment that has helped all kinds of people to flourish. The behaviours that I have used to achieve that have been distilled into this workshop and been validated by some of the UK’s finest behavioural scientists. The Creativity Kickstarter Workshop is based on my best selling book, The Creative Nudge. Creativity Kickstarter Workshop - About. Creativity isn’t a job title. It’s not about being an artist. Creativity isn’t even about being able to draw. Creativity is a way of looking at the world in a fresh and innovative way. There’s creativity in every industry, every walk of life. Breakthroughs in science, medicine or technology don’t come by accepting received wisdom. Or by maintaining the status quo. The future is in the hands of creative thinkers. In fact, the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report puts creativity as the most valuable skill needed to stay relevant in the workforce and thrive during a time of accelerating change. Creativity is no different to any other innate skill. It can be developed and improved. Like music or sport. You just need to know how. And to have a great teacher to encourage you. This workshop will unlock the door to a more colourful and vibrant world of possibilities. It doesn’t matter who you are, how old you are or what you do for a living, you were born with the ability to think creatively. So, lets harness it!
Talk Section - I will introduce you to the key behaviours that I’ve defined in my best-selling book, The Creative Nudge, that will help you to unlock your creativity. I will then explain the sociological and biological double whammy behind each of them that is currently inhibiting you, before discussing how to overcome them, giving examples of the nudges that will help you.
Work Section – You’ll be split into teams, then, with my help you will create your own nudges for your three chosen chapters, and look at how you can apply them practically to your day. You’ll then present them back to the room for discussion. By the end you will have a series of personalised nudges that will stimulate fresher and more innovative thinking in and out of the workplace.
1 to 1 Monthly Mentoring - 1 Topic. 3 Hours. In-person or online.
Workshop - 3 Topics. 7 Hours. In-person.
Why are there so few training programmes for creative leaders? And even fewer training programmes given by Award Winning CCO’s with hard won experience? Well, not any longer.
The Complete Creative Director.
*Book of the programme is due for publication Spring 2025.
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Being a CD is tough.
So why are there so few training programmes for creative leaders? And even fewer training programmes given by Award Winning CCO’s with hard won experience? Planners, producers, and account people have them in abundance. Yet creatives are left to work it out for themselves. Well, not any longer.
I’ve been a CD, an ECD, and a CCO at some of the very best agencies in London and worked on some of the most famous brands in the world, enjoying a long and highly successful career. Being placed on Campaign magazine’s annual top creative director list at every agency I ran. I’ve learnt a huge amount in the process and want to pass it on to help you be the most confident, informed and successful creative leader you can be.
This talk/workshop/programme is everything I wish someone had told me when first became a creative director over 20 years ago. It would have saved me years of mistakes, wasted effort, and anxiety.
Chose any combination of topics, or work through all 12. I can tailor each talk, workshop, or programme to suit you.
Do I have what it takes?
What exactly does a cd do all day?
Getting comfy with the chaos of creative directing.
What does everyone expect from me?
Building and running a creative department.
Inspiring a creative culture across the agency.
Clients. Love them or lose them.
How to pitch.
The business of creativity.
10. The pros and cons of awards.
11. How to build a profile. (Even if you don’t want to.)
12. Adapting to change.
3 Hour Coaching Workshop. In person or online.
One of the most Googled questions about creativity is: How do I start being creative? So, you are not alone. Creativity can seem overwhelming. Until you have a map to follow. I’m going to show you exactly how to set a creative goal, get inspired, have loads of ideas, pick the best ones, polish them until they’re awesome, overcome the wobbles that you’ll meet along the way, feel incredibly happy with what you’ve achieved, and want to to do it all over again straight away.
Creativity For Beginners.
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The world is full of guides on how to be more creative. I've even written one of them. But what there never seems to be is a guide to how to start being creative in the first place.
Creativity, for many people, is an utterly alien concept. An amorphous alternate state. The exclusive preserve of the wild-eyed, and dangerous. They don’t perceive creativity as accessible.
Schools are to blame. Society is to blame. The workplace is to blame. The creative industries are to blame. But you are not top blame.
The fact is, creativity belongs to everyone. Everyone was born with creative ability.
In Creativity For Beginners I will take you through not only how to get started, but also how to set a creative goal, find inspiration for it, generate lots of ideas for it, pick the best ones then polish them into something to be proud of.
By the end of the session you will have your first fully formed idea and the knowledge and confidence to do the next one on your own.
How to be creative when there’s no time to do it properly.
90/60/45 Minute Interactive Talk
In person or online.
When you’re under real time pressure to deliver for a deadline, your ability to think creatively plummets by an alarming 45 per cent. The trouble is, the need for creative thinking has never been in greater demand, whilst as the world speeds up, the pressure to think faster has never been more intense. And frustratingly, our evolutionary brains can’t cope.
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I’ve gathered up a whole host of simple and fun ways to help your brain keep pace with progress and keep creativity levels high when time is against you. Most of them have been developed, trialled, and thoroughly tested during a lifetime spent chasing deadlines in the advertising industry, so that I know that they work in the real world.
And they are all available in a fast paced interactive 90-minute talk. A breakneck, less interactive 60-minute talk, if you’re in a hurry. Or a blink and you’ll miss it 45-minute talk. No coffee breaks or lengthy intros required.
The Insider’s Guide To Giving Creative Feedback.
60/90 Minute Interactive Training Talk. In person or online.
Communication is only what the listener hears. It doesn’t matter what you said, or what you think you’ve said. Only what the person you were speaking to heard.
So when it comes to giving creative feedback, getting it wrong when you think you’re getting it right can easily lead to disastrous misunderstandings. Domino-ing into missed deadlines, demotivated colleagues, fractured relationships, terrible creative work, and frustration all round. Giving inspiring creative feedback to creative people is another language. But it’s one that I can teach you. Get the insider’s guide from an insider.
You need this interactive training talk if you regularly have to give feedback on creative work to creative people. Regardless of what industry you are in and how junior or senior you are, this insider’s guide will teach you something that you didn’t know about the creative mind and how to inspire it to deliver for you.
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I have spent over 20 years giving feedback to creatives in my various roles as CD, ECD, and CCO in some of the most successful ad agencies in London. I had to inspire them to do the best work of their careers and at the same time, to stay on brief and on time.
I've turned all of that knowledge and experience into a lively and provocative 60/90 minute talk that will give you a checklist of 12 simple, practical, real-world actions to help you get the most from your creative partners. Whether you’re agency side or client side, I'll give you the inside track on how to give creative feedback in a way that’s not only understood but will make your creative partner feel trusted, respected and engaged.
Whether you’re agency side or client side, this invaluable talk will give you the inside track on how the creative mind works and how to inspire it.
“Mick is a great creative leader that helps build teams.
He was such an inspiration and great help for me in developing my very young marketing team. He gave training sessions and workshops and always dedicated the time and effort for junior members of the team when they had questions. “
Bilge Ciftci. Ex Head of Brand - Vodafone UK
Rewire your brain in 60 minutes.
60/90 Minute Interactive Talk. In person or online.
Simple, fun, practical tools to boost your creativity and get you thinking in new, fresh, and innovative ways that will rewire your brain forever. A lively, fast paced talk suitable for any industry. Great for events and conferences.
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‘Without creativity there is no progress.’ - Ed. De. Bono.
Creativity can benefit every industry. All breakthroughs are a result of creative thinking. The future of all progress in science, medicine, engineering, even farming, is in the hands of creative thinkers.
We’re all born with creativity, and yet society, the workplace and education teach us to think and act in ways that can limit our creative thinking. Because they all want us to conform. In this talk, you will reconnect with that innate skill and learn how you can utilise it in every aspect of your life. And come away more creative. A promise I can guarantee through some practical exercises.
It doesn’t matter who you are, how old you are, or what you do for a living, you will discover a capability for creativity that you didn’t know you had.
I will take you through the nine key behaviours that will help you to embrace this creativity and a selection of nudges to help you embed them into your day.
6 Week Programme. 1 hour per week. In person or online.
Imagine a weekly bootcamp of creative inspiration backed up by simple, practical tools to fire up your brilliant brain. Think of it as like having a PT for the most important muscle in your body. One on one, or small groups of up to 5.
Personal Creativity Trainer.
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Week by week we will go into one of the 9 key creative behaviours in detail and unpick the reasons behind each of them that are currently inhibiting you, before discussing how to overcome them with failsafe creative nudges. Working with me, you will then write your own nudges for each behaviour and look at how you can apply them practically to your day and your work. At the end of each session you will have a series of bespoke nudges to start your creative journey with.
This programme is suitable for anyone who wants to boost their creative thinking capabilities regardless of the industry that they are in.
