Running Towards The Fires with Dom Robertson

Dom Robertson started his career at RPM as a brand communicator, paving his way through the client service teams to become managing director in 2009.

Along with his board of directors, Dom sets the agency’s strategic direction and culture. Under his leadership, RPM has evolved and diversified its offering, set up an office in Nigeria and Amsterdam, navigated the covid pandemic, became a B-Corp and most recently transitioned to an Employee Ownership Trust, reinforcing a people-first ethos and securing the agency’s independent future.

Dom is passionate about fostering collaboration, championing employee engagement, and ensuring RPM builds meaningful client relationships and delivers outstanding work.

Dom sat down with LBB to discuss what he learned about leadership during the covid pandemic, the influence of his brother – the founder of RPM, and how he actively embodies the beliefs of the agency.

LBB> What was your first experience of leadership?

Dom> I was lucky enough to be captain of various sports teams throughout school and university.

LBB> How did you figure out what kind of leader you wanted to be – or what kind of leader you didn’t want to be?

Dom> I was quick to recognise and understand that I was never going to know all the answers, so realising that allowed me to understand a key role was identifying key skills in others that I under-indexed in and to work out how to motivate and lead those individuals. I am a big believer in ‘always surround yourself with people who are smarter than oneself’!

LBB> What experience or moment gave you your biggest lesson in leadership?

Dom> Most recently, during covid. It was a very stressful and emotional time in the business, and people were looking for leadership, reassurance and stability. All the pieces were moving so fast, and all we could do as leaders was (not panic) be open and provide clarity where possible to our team. Being present and available albeit on zoom was key.

LBB> Did you know you always wanted to take on a leadership role?

Dom> It still doesn’t feel like a natural position for me, I think I started to realise I had potential when I started to see areas that I thought would improve the agency and more importantly having bosses (my eldest brother being one) that were willing to listen and allow me the room to make changes and mistakes!

LBB> When it comes to 'leadership' as a skill, how much do you think is a natural part of personality, how much can be taught and learned?

Dom> I think you can learn a huge amount from others and training, however I believe what can be harder to teach is empathy and humility.

LBB> What are the aspects of leadership that you find most personally challenging? And how do you work through them?

Dom> I am rather impulsive / impatient and can make quick decisions without enough thought or input from others. I have learnt to be better at recognising some of the harder decisions, often centred around people, while painful and emotional, need to be made quickly and decisively – ‘rip the plaster off’ analogy. I do have to remind myself that decisions should be made against what is best for the business versus individuals; easy to say not always easy to do.

LBB> Have you ever felt like you've failed whilst in charge? How did you address the issue and what did you learn from it?

Dom> Yes, many times. From losing pitches, or when bad behaviours have creeped into the agency and I haven’t nipped them in the bud early enough.

One of our agency behaviours is ‘run towards the fire’, so if as an MD I am not embodying that behaviour, then in my eyes it’s a failure! One of the biggest learnings we had was we use to ‘hide’ the situation from the broader agency, which in turn meant if we had to deliver ‘bad’ news it would come as a total shock to the agency, so our big learning was to trust our people and share relatively sensitive financial information early and regularly,

LBB> In terms of leadership and openness, what’s your approach there? Do you think it’s important to be as transparent as possible in the service of being authentic? Or is there a value in being careful and considered?

Dom> I think ideally you have a balance, I believe you have to be yourself, life is too short however you have to recognise with leadership comes responsibility and your job isn’t to be everyone’s friend, your job is to lead the business / the board to create an environment and culture that brings the best out of everyone within the agency.

LBB> As you developed your leadership skills did you have a mentor, if so who were/are they and what have you learned? And on the flip side, do you mentor any aspiring leaders and how do you approach that relationship?

Dom> My brother Hugh, founder of RPM, he has always been incredibly authentic, passionate about RPM, our clients, our culture and most of all our people. He was very much the ‘lead from the front’ type of leader. I have really enjoyed mentoring others, I have learnt more from them than I think they did from me. My main piece of advice currently is be patient, get brilliant at the basics and be proactive.

LBB> In continually changing market circumstances, how do you cope with the responsibility of leading a team through difficult waters?

Dom> Surround yourself with people who are brighter and smarter than yourself. Never be afraid to ask for help and ensure everyone knows we are in it together. During tough times you have to be present, transparent, and where possible provide clarity and a plan even if the plan is to make a plan.

LBB> As a leader, what are some of the ways in which you’ve prioritised diversity and inclusion within your workforce?

Dom> This is very much an ongoing brief, we are a proud B-Corp and we ensure we champion diversity and inclusion in everything we do, and as a leader the/my priority is ensuring the team feel empowered, valued and like they belong here.

We focus on an inclusive recruitment approach, our champions across the agency and working with external partners, such as Creative Equals and Creative Lives in Progress, to deliver this.

As well as focussing on this internally, we are also keen to ensure we are shining a light on our industry and creating pathways where possible. We’re particularly proud of the work we do in our community with our local Academy in providing work placements, workshops and talks to their students

LBB> How important is your company culture to the success of your business? And how have you managed to keep it alive with increases in remote and hybrid working patterns?

Dom> It is vital, as without culture, work places will become homogenous and everything will become transactional. Most recently we have become an EOT and created an employee council who will work with the board to help identify what is important to people from an environmental perspective, to working practices and benefits.

Collectively we believe we can try and create a flexible, inclusive environment that will bring the best out of everyone, create a sense of belonging, and produce outstanding work while trying to have a bit of fun on the way!

LBB> What are the most useful resources you’ve found to help you along your leadership journey?

Dom> Watching, listening and learning from others and support of my board directors. I have a few fellow agency leaders that I totally respect and have honest council with. Rightly or wrongly I still very much lead with my gut but with a huge caveat knowing that my gut will be better had I listened to others.