Working with a global boss directly will be an advantage: Dheeraj Sinha

Last week was Dheeraj Sinha’s time in the sun – from being appointed as the CEO of FCB India and South Asia, succeeding Rohit Ohri at the network, to being elected as the Vice President of the Ad Club. We caught up with Sinha as he temporarily wanders in a no man’s land between the formal transition at his new agency and the exit announcement at Leo Burnett. He shared some interesting facts about both sides. 

Excerpts:

When did you feel that your work here was done, and it was time to move on from Leo Burnett?

The shift was not triggered by the notion of 'I'm done here and want to move on'. It is a chapter that has been written. I have that sense of comfort and closure, of course. But there's a lot more that I could have done at Leo Burnett. It's always evolving.

You were thrown into the deep end at Leo Burnett a year after you were elevated as the MD when Saurabh Varma quit. There was a lot of negativity in the market back then. Would you say bringing the agency out of troubled waters was one of your earliest achievements? 

Actually, in the last seven years, on a personal note, I've had a dramatic transformation myself. I was a strategist working with 25-50 people. I used to run the APAC strategy in Grey and Bates and my team across APAC comprised 50 people. As a strategist, you are responsible for your vertical. You do your job and get out, but as a CEO you are responsible for 700 people, and the salary that gets credited into their accounts, growth, new business, happiness, health of your people etc. It's a completely different sense of responsibility. When COVID hit, I started looking at cash flows, which I had never done before. I was worried about how much money we had and if we could continue to pay the salaries of people. In a way, the people at Leo Burnett gave birth to this leader in me, and I am taking all that love and learning with me to FCB.

Then, what really compelled you to move out of one of the most successful agencies in India today, and what made you pick FCB as the next chapter for your growth?

There's this whole concept of serial entrepreneurs. I wish there was one on serial builders too, as I'd like to see myself that way. I've been committed to the idea of creativity and humanity. My vision is of an organization where creativity and strategic thinking are at their peak. A place where we're solving high-end client and human problems and where you have a suite of services – Digital, Performance, Production, Video, and Experience to bring that alive. That's the simple structure in my mind, and when I was talking to Tyler and Susan, I understood their commitment to creativity as an economic multiplier and how it can transform businesses. I liked that idea and found that it was authentic, wanting to bring about a change in the world. Some of the conversations went really well, and I felt that I could give this a shot.

Rohit Ohri has built a formidable agency in the past many years, from back when you saw FCB as a competitor at pitches and awards shows, where did you feel the agency had an upper hand?

One thing always stood out for FCB, not just from when I joined Leo Burnett, but from the time that I've joined the business, is that they hug their clients very tight. If you look at some of their relationships, they have stood the test of time. It’s amazing how an agency has managed to build brands over decades. In my early days at MICA, for example, FCB was known for its fantastic strategy, there were stories on how FCB folks knew their client’s sales chart and the positioning curve better than the client. In the years that followed, Rohit and Swati also brought about a huge creative transformation there. 

Was there a downside to FCB when you saw it as an outsider?

Like a good strategist, I would like to understand the core of brand FCB first before I comment.

You have a very solid partnership with Raj. How easy or difficult is it going to be to recreate something similar at FCB?

Raj and I are like brothers and this relationship is forever. It's hard that we won't be working together again. But having said that, this relationship has taught me how to put oneself behind someone and let him/her shine. Both me and Raj took turns to do that and stood up for each other. Those are learnings on how you create partnerships and a safe environment between two people. They are the principles that are imperative in building creative-strategy partnerships. I'm completely sure that there'll be more partnerships like that.

And you have three CCOs at FCB - Swati, Robbie and Keigan. What do you think of them?

I know Keigan from my past stint at Bates and I'm looking forward to working with him. I have admired Swati as an industry professional and heard fantastic things about Robby. I am looking forward to meeting them.

Rohit is really excited about you bringing digital/technological expertise, which differentiated Leo Burnett, to usher in an era of creativity at FCB powered by data and technology. What is the kind of timeline you will give yourself to blend the two?

Honestly, no timelines there. My learning has been that you build an environment, set a goal, and enumerate advocates because any big achievable goal needs a team, where everyone plays an important role and succeeds together.

The networks today are under immense revenue pressure, and this is the first time that you will be directly reporting to a global boss. So, does that excite you or make you nervous?

It excites me because Tyler and I have had a lot of conversations. He is a great guy and straight shooter. What it allows me to do is be a lot more closely knit with the global network. For e.g., if we are a global agency then why isn’t there more flow of talent within, some such ideas are being discussed. So, I think this relationship will be an advantage, I will learn more and be able to leverage the globality of FCB as a network for India.

Who are the clients you are really looking forward to working with at FCB?

As a leader of an organisation, it’s my job to see all clients are healthy, happy, growing and getting importance irrespective of their size and scale, that has been my policy always. What I do see from the outside is a fantastic roster of really large and successful clients.