5 Questions with Laura Ryan, Global President, Orion Worldwide

This year, Orion is kicking off “5 Questions With,” a new Q&A series with our leadership across the globe. First up is our new global president, Laura Ryan — a 25-year veteran of the media industry with more than 10 years of executive-level experience at Orion. In this candid conversation, Laura chats about what gets her motivated, how she’s taking time to develop other leaders and the secret to making tough decisions.

What do you enjoy about being a leader — and what’s the hardest part?

I really enjoy being part of a community. From a young age and through my background in playing soccer, I’ve had an appreciation for how different individual skills and strengths can gel to form a strong team that is greater together. Now in my professional career, I value the diversity of thought, experience, and perspective that I have the opportunity to draw on. And then the energy of people — I enjoy building relationships across disciplines, markets and agencies to learn as much as possible about our businesses. Collaboration is key to success. My roles at Orion have provided the opportunity to connect people across our business with those working in the agencies at Mediabrands and IPG. In many ways, this work is a bit like completing a puzzle. Gathering together the right people with the collective experience to create and develop new solutions is like having pieces start to fit into place. It’s thrilling to have a hand in watching that process unfold.

The hardest part is stepping out of the process. I really enjoy being part of the “day-to-day” work that ultimately drives results. So, moderating my passion for collaboration and my enthusiasm to “do” is a constant checkpoint.

What personality traits do you feel make up a good leader? 

I think a good leader has balance — ambition and also compassion. Ambition that is rooted in self-interest and ego will poison any team. But ambition that is focused on the greater good — rooted in the desire to continue to improve and be better — sustains the motivation of winning teams. The experiences of the past year during the pandemic have deepened my conviction that ambition must be paired with compassion and empathy. Doing so builds a foundation of trust amongst teams and a sense of responsibility to help one another.

My other guiding traits are to be present, have integrity, create trust, stand confident, share vulnerability, show results — good and bad — engage in self-reflection.

How do you develop other leaders? 

Building relationships and focusing on the unique attributes of each person is my favorite part of developing a team. Each of their traits have to be engaged. This entails being honest about areas of strength and areas of improvement, then providing opportunities and time to hone those skills. Plus, asking them to tell me when I get in their way!

What steps do you take when making tough decisions? 

For any decision, I need information and perspective. I always engage with key partners to get their point of view and get opinions based on their specific area of expertise. I write down my thoughts on paper to help me structure the decision. Once I am informed and organized, the conclusion is usually clear.

How do you get motivated?

Goals and results stimulate me! I like finding paths to generate outcomes and success. I draw energy from the people around me, so working within teams and hearing ideas on how to build those paths creates the energy to drive results. I’m competitive, but I also enjoy the achievements and milestones on that journey, as much as the big win at the end.