When Account Teams Bypass Creative Leadership: Reclaiming Your Authority

We've all been there: you're leading a creative team, establishing clear processes and boundaries, only to watch account managers slip past you to give direct feedback to your junior designers. It's frustrating, undermining, and frankly exhausting when you're constantly having to police the same behaviour over and over again.

This question was answered by Ben Miles – Brand Strategist and Creative Leader – who brings transformative experience with major brands and company culture, and Katie Feder – Registered Psychotherapist – who specialises in emotional health and wellbeing. Andy Wright hosted this discussion as part of Never Not Creative's commitment to healthier creative workplaces.

Understanding the Root Cause

Ben highlights that we've moved into a world where "we want to give the platform to everybody" and "problem solving and ideas can come from anywhere." This inclusive approach is brilliant in theory, but it creates complications when someone with 15 years of experience might be overruled by someone with just one year's experience.

The key is understanding what's driving that person's behaviour. As Ben explains: "Is the person doing it because they genuinely care or they're actually trying to be difficult or they think they know better? Depending on the inputs is then how you decide to respond."

Remove Emotion, Stay Practical

When dealing with people giving creative direction to your team without going through you, Ben suggests taking a practical approach: "Remove your kind of emotions and actually be really practical about what you're trying to achieve."

If the feedback being given is negative and demotivating the team, you can redirect the conversation: "Can we start with the positives? Can we talk to the team about the things you like, the things that are going well, and then let's start to move into the things that need to tweak and change."

Check Your Own Boundaries

Katie frames this as fundamentally "a boundaries issue" that comes back to having "a really stabilised sense of self." She uses the analogy of someone commenting on her jumper: if she's clear about how she feels about it, external opinions don't shake her foundation.

"The person that we police is ourselves," Katie explains. "We police ourselves, we police our experience." When someone triggers your insecurity, catch yourself before fuelling that narrative and work with what's really happening for you internally.

Managing Your Response

You can't control other people's behaviour, but you can control how you respond. Ben suggests having a non-confrontational conversation to better understand the situation, while also "checking your ego too because everybody has a little bit of an ego."

Sometimes it's about giving somebody space to contribute while maintaining your authority. As Ben notes: "As long as you know that you're doing the best thing you possibly can, it's okay to give somebody space."

This situation is incredibly common in creative agencies, and you're not alone in feeling frustrated by it. The solution isn't about becoming more assertive or policing harder – it's about understanding the dynamics at play, strengthening your own boundaries, and responding strategically rather than emotionally. Remember, protecting your team's wellbeing and your own sanity is just as important as delivering great creative work.