Chris Kay joins UTS Business School as Industry Professor

UTS Business School welcomes influential creative leader and former Saatchi and Saatchi CEO, Chris Kay, whose brings world-leading expertise in creative leadership, communications and strategic leadership to the School and its programs.

Most recently, Chris was CEO of Saatchi and Saatchi in London, the world’s most well-known global creative agency, before leaving the company and returning to Australia in July this year, where he will soon be launching andOpen.xyz, a new coaching and content collective for modern leaders.

Chris started his career at the TBWA advertising agency working on campaigns for PlayStation Europe, followed by an eight-year tenure at Fallon, marking the launch of several highly influential campaigns, including the iconic Sony ‘Balls’, Cadbury ‘Gorilla’, and ‘It’s a Skoda Honest’.

He went on to be head of marketing at Manchester City FC as it became a global brand and the richest football club in the world. Immediately prior to working at Saatchi and Saatchi, Chris was global partner and Asia Pacific CEO at 72and Sunny, one of Fast Company’s most innovative companies, working with brands such as Google, adidas, Instagram, Starbucks, Miller Coors and Samsung.

Chris recently trained to be a professional coach with the Henley Business School in the UK, and is the author of an Amazon best-selling book about the changing workplace coming out of Covid, called Reset Inc: A Handbook for the Future of Work.

As one of the most successful and influential advertising executives of his generation, Chris brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the UTS Business School. Chris’ work with the School will include providing thought leadership on the creative industries, advertising and brand management, sharing insights on contemporary business and strategic leadership, and leveraging his deep expertise to inform our degrees and other learning programs, and industry projects and partnerships. 

- Professor Carl Rhodes, Dean of UTS Business School

“Chris’ appointment will also further support the School’s vision of being a socially-committed business school focused on developing and sharing knowledge for an innovative, sustainable and prosperous economy in a fairer world.”

What excites you about your new role at UTS Business School?

Chris: There are two things that excite me the most.
 
First, playing a small role in helping shape the continuing success of Australia's most modern, and top ‘young’ university Business School is something that feels incredibly energising and exciting, and I feel honoured to be given a chance to be part of the team.

Second, I see a great opportunity to contribute to the next generation of talent, but maybe more selfishly, I see it as an incredible opportunity to learn from the students and thinkers that are shaping what the new normal of modern business will look like.

Throughout your career you have worked with some of the world’s largest and most influential brands, and your agencies have produced advertising campaigns that audiences still rate as their favourites of all time. How important is creativity and innovation in strategy and leadership?

Potentially unsurprisingly, I see creativity as the lifeblood of strategy and leadership, but I would also go one further and suggest that in a broader sense, creative thinking has a larger role to play in being the key driver of modern business success.  

We see this belief in the power of optimising creative thinking from a recent Deloitte survey of 1,015 executives which shows that creativity contributes to real growth and is an increasing business necessity.  

And that's the point for me, if you want to win in today's new normal you need to have creative thinking in you and your company's DNA.

You’ve written extensively on the seismic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on how business and industry operates – forcing many organisations to reevaluate their purpose and how they function. What do you see as the key opportunities and challenges for businesses in the next three to five years?

Talent, talent, talent.

Attracting, motivating, optimising, growing, and retaining an unfair share of great talent is an opportunity and challenge in equal measure. The world of work has shifted dramatically and the old rules don't apply, so ensuring a company builds the right systems, creates stronger cultures, gives clear purpose, defines exponential personal growth for and optimises talent to thrive are the key ingredients to driving the win both today and into tomorrow.
 

Can you share a key learning that helped shape your approach to leadership and strategy?

It's okay to be wrong.

When you grow up in a fast-paced environment that is craft-driven and continually striving for perfection like advertising, this is not something that comes naturally, so this was a muscle I had to learn. 

That said, the freedom you have when you know it's okay to be wrong is uplifting as it gives more opportunity to make more radical decisions. And the other muscle to flex once you know it's okay to be wrong is to make sure that when you are wrong, you are open to learning.

What advice do you have for aspiring leaders, students and young professionals who are keen to make their mark in their field and generate positive change in society?

Define your story and start to live it.

We all have a story and value that we will play in the lives of the people who spend time with us in the company or culture we inhabit.

How we think, act, and be, will be important in creating a deeper and valuable relationship with those that we affect daily, so being clear on your story, your role, and the mission you want to achieve is key. And then just start to live it and feel free to change it as you learn, but having a story gives a focus to how you will make your mark and create positive societal change.