"The idea is always your boss." Ian Grody on making the thing people seek out

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Ian Grody's kids tell him they hate ads. He has a 12-year-old and a 9-year-old, and he can't help taking it personally. So he reminds them what their dad makes: not the stuff you pay to skip, but the stuff you'd seek out.

He came to advertising from screenwriting. After film school at NYU, he did what working screenwriters do: got an agent, took the meetings, and sold about a script a year. He developed a series with Tom Hanks's company Playtone and co-created and pitched a show with Billy Crystal. In his words, it was a living, but it wasn't a life. The scripts sat on development executives' shelves. Meanwhile the ads he was writing on the side actually got made, and he loved being on set and seeing work go live.

So he switched. He spent more than five years at Kettle, ran its content practice, and helped reimagine Apple's App Store as an editorial platform. Then Giant Spoon called and told him he could paint with every color on his palette. He came in as head of design and experiential when there were about four creatives in the New York office. Today he's global chief creative officer, overseeing campaigns, experiential and design across New York and LA, and he's an Adweek top 100 creative.

What stuck with me, as someone who sells for a living, is how he gets people to give their best.

The big idea: who would you want to give to?

At Giant Spoon, the bar is high and the volume is big. Ian asks people for maximum generosity. So he asked himself a simple question: if I were being asked to give that much, who would I want to give it to? The person who makes me feel like one mistake ends my job, or a team that has my back?

"Creativity thrives in an environment of positivity and gratitude." (Ian Grody)

He was clear this isn't "great job, everyone, here's a sticker." It's specific thanks when someone earns it, which happens often, plus straight talk when something is off track. He won't compliment you into the wrong direction.

Sales floors run on fear more than most places. Hit the number or you're out. Fear gets you compliance. Gratitude gets you the extra call on Friday afternoon. If you want your team to go above and beyond, make them want to give it to you.

3 things to do about it

1. Thank people specifically, so they know what good looks like

Ian's point is that recognition isn't just nice. It gives people a target. When you say "that was amazing" about a specific piece of work, you're showing them what good looks like, so they can aim for it again. Without that, they're shooting in the dark.

This week: name one specific thing each rep did well, the exact email, call or question, and say why it worked. Then give one piece of straight feedback where it's needed.

2. Distill your playbook until it can be taught

Ian taught a one-hour pilot writing class as an adjunct at The New School. Preparing for it forced him, for the first time, to crystallize his storytelling philosophy and make it simple enough to teach, apply and measure. He still does that at Giant Spoon.

Most sales playbooks live in the top rep's head. If you can't teach it, you can't scale it.

This month: write down how you run a discovery call on one page, simple enough that a new hire could use it tomorrow. Then have someone run it and see what breaks.

3. Be the thing they'd seek out

Ian's creative test is whether the work feels like what people already choose: the music, podcasts, comedy, experiences and memes in their feeds. If it fits into that, it doesn't interrupt.

Your outreach is an ad. Most of it gets skipped.

Next sequence: make the first touch something your buyer would actually want to read, like a useful insight, a relevant clip or an intro, not a calendar link.

Bonus: the idea is always your boss

Ian admitted nobody gets into this business hoping to attend meetings and point. But as a leader, jumping in and imposing your idea, even a better one, won't help your team do more good work next time. What let him step back was hiring people he trusts. He picks for three things: an "everything is a canvas" mentality, openness to input without ego, and a personal stake in the work. He also loves hiring from the "cabbage patches of culture": galleries, architecture firms, political campaigns, stand-up comedy. Sales leaders can steal that. Some of the best reps never planned to be in sales.

Best line of the episode

"The idea is always your boss." (Ian Grody)

Watch the full conversation

We also get into how Ian uses AI as a research assistant (ten minutes of conversation instead of weeks of research), GE's final campaign as GE before splitting into three companies, Giant Spoon's Ritual campaign, and the mentors from his screenwriting years who shaped how he leads.

Watch the full episode on Spotify. Also on Apple Podcasts and YouTube.

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Talk soon,Dylan