You can read more about the campaign in his recent blog post detailing the origins of some of his favorite ideas.

Here are a few of the tips John gave for sparking dormant creative genius:

• Travel often

• Switch up your work environment

• Take a break

• Hold an ideation session or ask your co-workers

• Phone a friend

Basically, try to get outside of your regular routine as much as possible. This will help you break free from your typical thinking patterns. Once you learn how to guide when inspiration strikes, your career as a creative will soar.

3. Know when to take the lead.

According to John, at one point early in his career, he received a piece of advice that has affected him to this day:

“Ninety percent of people in this world want to be told what to do. That means you only have to compete against the other 10%.”

John said this means there are fewer people standing in the way of your success than you think. All it takes is a conscious decision to be part of the competitive 10% and thoughtful consideration of the unique qualities that make you a capable leader, either in name or by example.

I respect John’s perspective on leadership. Increasingly in my own career, I’ve found opportunities to take charge and put my own stamp on a project. For example, in early 2022, I attended the AHR Expo, supporting a Wray Ward client’s public relations and social media deliverables from the middle of the action — the trade show floor.

The ability to step up to a challenge is what I admire most about my Wray Ward teammates. I like to think that special talent is at least partially responsible for transforming them from kids who like to write or draw into experts our clients can trust.

4. Good co-workers are priceless.

If you don’t work in a creative field, you may be a bit envious of the John Robertses of the world. After all, on top of everything else he does as Wray Ward’s vice president and executive creative director, John gets to travel to shoots and help create magic on-set.

Well, according to John, it’s not just about the job you’re doing or the clients you’re doing it for. In fact, one of his biggest takeaways from more than 30 years in the industry is that the people surrounding you in the office and on-set really make or break a role.

One of the last stories John told in his session described the scene of a recent photo shoot for Moen, where the team was charged with capturing photography for the upcoming product catalog. According to John, any team could have shown up and simply shot smiling models sipping water for a faucet manufacturer. Instead, he challenged his creatives, as always, to think outside the box.

Within minutes, the group was throwing props into a pool, building makeshift sets and capturing the models from new angles in real time, as they imagined them. John stepped back and admired the creative process in action, thinking that working with these folks was something he was truly lucky to do.

I work on the communications side of the business, so I didn’t expect a creative director to have so much career advice for me. However, at Wray Ward, anybody can flex their creative muscles and be a leader on their team. Like John, I feel truly lucky to be here.

Ready to step into your next role with our anything-but-boring team? Check out our open positions.