Ad land’s young guns: Priyanka Dey, Business & Strategy Head, Ideas Farm

Priyanka Dey, the astute Business & Strategy Head at Ideas Farm, is a dynamic leader whose democratic and affiliative leadership style has fostered a unique team culture. With a penchant for understanding individuals and their motivations, she has achieved zero attrition in her organisation over the past three years. A trailblazer in the industry, Priyanka Dey seamlessly blends innovation and risk-taking with stability, ensuring her team delivers creative solutions while maintaining reliability. Her strategic vision, honed through diverse experiences, recently contributed to the success of a competitive Myntra campaign. Dey’s leadership journey reflects resilience, adaptability, and a commitment to ethical decision-making and social responsibility.

In an interaction with Adgully, Priyanka Dey, Business & Strategy Head, Ideas Farm, talks about her current roles as well as some common challenges that young professionals face when starting their careers.

Could you describe your leadership style and any specific leaders who have influenced it?

I believe in very democratic and affiliative ways of leading an organisation. The intent is always to understand the person and the deeper motivations behind the person and then work along with them. This has led to zero attrition in our organization since the past 3 years! I’ve learnt both - what to do and what not to do thanks to some fabulous mentoring from one of my ex bosses.

What led you to pursue a leadership role at a young age, and what are your long-term leadership goals?

It was more destined than designed. Though I have always been one of the youngest members in senior management teams, branching out on my own and taking responsibility for all the goods, the bads and the uglies has hammered the valuable life lessons, which also shape who you want to be as a leader. Long term goals aside from business are culture building and bringing about an ease into the way we work as an industry.

Could you share an example of a challenging leadership situation you’ve faced and how you handled it?

I think leadership roles are ripe with challenges! In our first two years, we struggled with attrition, and yes, our industry does see a lot of it anyway. However, that made me stop to assess the kind of organisation we wanted to be and thereby derive what kind of people we wanted to work with - was it going to be only talent or folks who only want to grow or was it going to be people who want more from both life and work. This assessment singularly changed our hiring criteria and we have made a team who are also friends!

How do you prioritise and delegate tasks when leading a team or project?

Priorities are actually dictated by the timelines of deliveries. We have a team which works across functions and with various skills. And I am happy to let the primary skill lead the project with a collaborative input from everyone, including me.

What strategies do you use to motivate and inspire your team members or peers?

It’s usually a hearty mix of catch ups, frank conversations, speaking about deeper motivations and also simply letting our hair down!

Could you provide an example of a successful project or team you've led and the key factors that contributed to its success?

There have been multiple instances of this. What contributes to the success of a project is to ensure that the team is talented across functions, even if it means to get someone on board who bolsters an area where I am personally not as strong. That ensures that we have a well rounded team, capable of handling any project properly. Very recent example is our Myntra campaign, where we had to build a brand strategy and a brand universe around a very functional feature to make it larger. Strategic vision is a strength and that coupled with creative and research strengths we were able to win a very competitively fought pitch.

How do you handle conflicts or disagreements within your team or group, and can you give an example?

There’s nothing that a frank and open conversation can’t solve. We are a unique set of people who actually enjoy each other's company and we are always on for an open chat, if needed.

What initiatives have you taken to develop your leadership skills and knowledge?

Business is the best teacher. Right from cash flows to team management, it will teach one everything, if one chooses to be hands on.

How do you set and measure goals for your team or projects, and what key performance indicators do you consider most important?

The biggest metric in gauging anything is a match between the brief and the most creative delivery of the brief. This metric by default ends up including if one has understood the brand, the business and the consumer and if the creative solution on the table is the most natural and true fit to the problem statement. While we in our field also end up chasing “talkability” a lot these days, especially with the pressures of social media, what forever lasts is the ability to do justice to the brief with the most honest and creative solution!

What is your approach to building a positive and inclusive team culture?

Inclusiveness is a state of mind. We are all from varied backgrounds and with different ideals and work with people from all walks of life. We do not feel that we need to specifically do something to promote diversity because it comes very naturally to our culture sans it being an added “metric” of sorts.

How do you balance the need for innovation and risk-taking with the need for stability and reliability in your leadership role?

After years in the industry and taking copious amounts of notes from all my past leaders, I have developed a sense of risk assessment. This helps in understanding which high visibility work we should spring for while also securing and innovating in businesses which keep our lights on. One needs to satiate the creative appetite while paying all the bills and we happily balance both out.

What do you believe are the most significant challenges facing leaders today, and how would you address them?

Attrition! Especially in our industry. Like I’ve mentioned before, we are a happy bunch and we work with likeminded people and we are always up for an honest chat and hence, we have managed to tackle it well. Also, keeping up with the tech whilst ensuring that the tech does not overrule instinct driven ideas. This is again a carefully calibrated understanding of brands, their businesses and an honest evaluation of what will work best for them, in that moment.

Could you discuss a time when you faced a failure or setback in your leadership journey and what you learned from it?

If there was only one! That’s the thing about leadership, the world sees a leader but you know how many times you have had to get back up on your feet and dust yourself off and carry on. I’ve mentioned navigating attrition in our first year, almost making me believe that an organisation cannot be built like it used to be. However, connecting with the right people and using the right EQ filter and not just IQ filter has not only solved for this but made us stronger.

What role do ethics and social responsibility play in your leadership decisions and actions?

These are subliminal factors which are consistently present. We evaluate at every step if our actions will cross any lines at all. We are mindful of our policies and internal on goings and we happily partner for a cause.