Page 16 - AdNews magazine Jul-Aug 2021
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                 Profil
  “I had no idea what I was going to do.
I was no performer, I wasn’t a journalist and hand modelling wasn’t exactly
a lucrative trade
so I took a sub- major in advertising and surprisingly things clicked.”
In 2019, Long stepped up to head PHD’s Sydney Strategy team and he led the strategy on the winning pitch for Virgin Australia.
“There are definitely those tick-box accolades which are really humbling to get,” he says.
“But for me it’s more about the sum of all parts versus a specific moment in time. Strategy isn’t something delivered in a single campaign so if I think about the journey I’ve been on with clients such as Google helping to genuinely transform their marketing function,
what I value most is having been part of their broader journey.”
In recent years, Long has focused on finding his own style of leadership. “There’s a point in your career when you need to shift from striving
to be the best, to enabling the best in others. Part of this is finding inspiration in the superpowers of those around me, from my boss, Alex Pacey, and his inappropriately disarming humour, to members of my team and their infectious curiosity.
“I find the best leaders have the EQ to read people and the self-aware- ness to identify the gaps in their own behaviours to give others what they need from them to do their best work.”
In 2020, Long became Sydney co-chair of Omnicom’s Open Pride and helped lead initiatives and events across Omnicom’s media and creative agencies to drive greater diversity and inclusion across the broader network.
For Wear it Purple Day, Long shared his personal story growing up gay as part of the Heart on My Sleeve initiative which he regards as one of his “scariest but also most rewarding” career moments.
“I saw an opportunity to turn some of the negative experiences I had left behind growing up into something positive that could hopefully help other people on their own journeys of self-discovery,” he says.
“The problem with many diversity and inclusion conversations is we often look at things through one dimension. Sometimes people can be really sensitive on one issue because it relates to their own identity, but dismissive of another and I find that bizarre. I believe sharing our stories enables us to recognise that we all have hang-ups, past trauma or that little nagging voice in our head, and if we’re kind and open with one another, we can do a lot of good.
“That’s what I love about Open Pride, it’s inclusive for LGBT+ people and their allies as there are life lessons we can learn from each other that have nothing to do with who you sleep with.”
One key lesson that Long himself has learnt is shaking off the experience of his younger years and rethinking what his image is to other people.
“The big learning for me coming through into the industry is that my childhood years of feeling judged based on my sexuality ended up causing me to judge others later in life in terms of who I felt I could be authentic with,” he says.
“But when you realise you’re carrying a lot of unnecessary baggage and projecting that onto how you assess others, at some point you realise it’s your problem, not theirs. That was a big learning curve for me.”
When asked about his future goals, Long says he’s more focused on what he can bring to people he works around.
“When I started out it was easier to know where I wanted to go as it was about a destination, such as getting into strategy. Now I’m in a role that feels aligned to my skills, and I find myself pursuing more of a feeling as my role isn’t just about what I do anymore.
“One of the KPIs I routinely set myself each year is to be described as a joy to work with. I use that as a guiding light to constantly ask myself am I energising others? Am I empowering them to be their best selves? Am I giving them the confidence to do their best work?
“It can at times be draining if you’re more introverted, but the further you progress you realise leadership is all about how you make others feel. Of course, being great at your craft is essential, but that alone will only get you so far.
“Be good to others, do good work that resonates with you, and you will find your ‘Goldilocks zone’.”
Mitchell Long accepting the 2020 AdNews Emerging Leader award.
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