Bossing It: Risk Taking, Rule Breaking and Decision Making with Joel Mishcon

Joel Mishcon founded Chrome at 24 years old. His work has won numerous industry awards and he has been a guest keynote speaker at SXSW, IBC and other major industry events. Joel continues to lead Chrome as the group CEO.

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?

Joel> I never set out to be a leader. I never set out to really grow a company. I hoped to follow my passion for extreme sports and to somehow turn it into a career. I fell in love with filmmaking from an early age and, by combining both of those passions, I was able to begin a career which started with the birth of Chrome at the age of 24. I never experienced working for somebody else, which could have brought many advantages, so I’ve basically been winging it for the last 20 plus years! 

The kind of leader I want to be now is somebody that brings out the best in the amazing team I have around me. I was always told from a young age, ‘You’re too nice to run a business.’ I always felt that that was a load of BS. Kindness is a huge part of Chrome’s identity, and creating an environment where a team can support each other and thrive – not only as a team but as individuals – is one of the greatest privileges I've been able to experience as a founder. But kindness isn't always about being nice. Kindness is about being honest, and leadership is about having a vision and doing everything in your power to lead a team to achieving that vision. I read a lot about other leaders & founders who have documented their experiences and wisdoms. I take pockets of their insight and apply it to my own instincts and that helps me fill in some of the blanks.

Chrome's ethos is simple – we're on an adventure together where everybody who is part of Chrome has the opportunity to touch their full potential. My job as the head of Chrome is to find people that I believe have untapped potential, align them with our shared mission, and then to create an environment where they can thrive. 

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

Joel> Considering I never had the privilege of working for anyone else, leadership is, for me, about trusting your gut instinct. It’s really the only thing I’ve ever had to guide the many decisions that I’ve made over the years. 

My first experience in trusting my gut came early on in my career, when I was filming some snowboarders in Canada. We were hiking several hours to a face that hadn't been descended that winter. To reach our destination, we had to traverse a large couloir (open face). As part of my training for filming in the back country, I had done an advanced avalanche rescue course and a guide told me something that resonated heavily. He said: 'You can study the science; you can analyse the snow and the weather conditions. But when something doesn't feel right, you have to listen to that inner voice, because gut instinct is the most powerful tool humans have’.

So here I am, with a group of snowboarders, about to traverse this wide-open face. We had traversed it the day before to get to another run and were simply following our footsteps – but something felt different to me that day. The wind was up. It felt warmer. I could see way up high that the snowpack had built up on the cornice above the face. Something just felt off.

I told the group I thought we should not attempt the traverse. We got into a heated debate because they felt comfortable doing it. While we were deliberating, our neighbours – a group of seven Norwegians – walked past us and began to traverse the face. I stood firm and said we should go somewhere else, and eventually managed to persuade my group to turn back. They really weren't very happy with me, but I felt compelled to stand my ground. An hour later, a huge avalanche came down, exactly where we would've been in the middle of the traverse. It wiped out our neighbours, killing two of them, with five having to spend the night on the mountain alone. I've carried that day and that experience through many of my most difficult business decisions over the years. I've tried to always trust my gut instinct for things, and when I haven't, it's often come to bite me.

LBB> Did you know you always wanted to take on a leadership role? If so how did you work towards it and if not, when did you start realising that you had it in you?

Joel> Leadership wasn’t something I ever thought about when I started Chrome. I just knew that I wanted to surround myself with great people and work on awesome projects. As my career developed from camerawork through to directing, producing, and now primarily running a business, I found that I had an ability to get people excited about the work Chrome was doing. Through that passion, I guess I was able to bring great people together for the ride. I realised that leadership started with finding talent better than me at a range of necessary skills, and then aligning those individual strengths on a mission to achieve something greater than the sum of our collective parts.

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?

Joel> There are many parts of leadership that I think come naturally, and there are also parts that simply must be learnt and honed over time. There are aspects of leadership I find great fun and immeasurably rewarding, and there are other parts that are, quite frankly, damn hard. To lead a team you have to be at times empathetic, and at times firm. You have to be optimistic, and a realist - a risk-taker, and measured in equal measure. You have to know when to push, when to pull, and when to stay still. You have to learn how to listen, to coach, and to let others find their way. You have to set standards, delegate, be a driving force, and a shoulder to cry on. You have to accept that you will make mistakes, others will too, and there will be consequences. As a leader, you are ultimately responsible, and you have to take on that emotional weight, because there will be great times, and dark times - but at all times the buck stops with you. When you add all these things together, you can appreciate that a leadership position might not be for everybody, and also that no leader can simply be born with all these attributes and deliver perfect outcomes. I don’t think any leader ever stops learning how to do the job. In some ways that’s the most rewarding part of it, because there’s always a ladder to climb.

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

Joel> I believe it's important to be as transparent as possible. However, there are times for and against full exposure. My head is consumed with the big picture. A large part of my workload is planning for the future, whilst also overseeing everything in our present. So, it's much easier for me to appreciate that a bad day, a challenging project, or tough period is not the end of the world, because of the fuller context I have over our journey to date, and a well-cultivated belief in what lies ahead. 

But for a member of the team who is head-down focused on an individual project, it can feel a mountain of pressure or a negative force when something isn't going right, or if things move outside of their control. Being open with the team about headwinds can help to build trust, but it can equally be overwhelming without big picture context, so transparency and communication has to be carefully considered and measured. 

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?

Joel> Many years ago I was given the opportunity to have a mentor – John Varney - for a 12-month period as part of a government backed mentorship programme. At the end of the year, John, out of the generosity of his spirit, offered to keep mentoring me for free. He knew Chrome couldn’t afford his rates, so he traded his advice for the price of lunch whenever I needed. I took him up on that on and off for 5-plus years, and then one day I picked up the phone and offered him a consultancy retainer for ongoing advice. His experience in business and leadership, together with an objectivity that comes from looking from the outside in, has helped Chrome to grow and for me to become a better leader. He's a trusted confidant that I’m very grateful to have.

I’ve also been fortunate in that our sports work led us to collaborate with one of the leading performance coaches in the world, Owen Eastwood. He’s worked with the England Football team, England Rugby, South Africa Cricket, Manchester City, the Royal Ballet, NATO….you name it. Over the years we’ve become good friends and Owen kindly coached me to help draw out Chrome’s identity anchors or values as they’re otherwise known. The work we did together created a language / code that not only helped us define who we are, but that now guides pretty much every decision we make at Chrome.

In terms of being a mentor myself, I believe that my role is to be a mentor for all of my team, some of whom are in leadership positions themselves, and others who will grow into having management responsibilities. If I’m honest, it’s one of the best parts of my job!

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

Joel> For me, it’s about having enough conviction and belief in where we're headed, and to responsibly take risks for growth, all while making sure the worst-case scenario isn’t going to potentially jeopardise the business.

Continually looking forward is important, as is remaining agile enough to adapt in good time to changing tides. A Le Mans racing driver once told me that, when driving flat out in the dark, watch the dotted lines in the centre of the road. When they start to appear smaller, you know a bend is approaching. This is a useful analogy for running a business. It’s okay to move forward at pace, but know there will always be twists and turns, and ensure you have the ability to see, and react, before it’s too late. 

I believe Chrome has always been good at navigating an ever-evolving industry. Early on in our journey, we sensed the growing need for brands to create high-production-value work for the internet. We responded by adapting our business model to become an optimised content company with a mission to deliver commercial-grade films on digital budgets. As our journey continues, we’re continually harnessing new technologies and distribution avenues to keep us, and our clients, ahead of the competition, and forever searching for ways to gently disrupt traditional processes that may be in need of refinement. 

I also like to keep Chrome living healthily on the edge, and I have a pledge with the team to make sure we’re doing one project every year that scares us. My favourite jobs are the ones we say yes to, and then have to figure out how the hell we’re going to pull them off. To date (he says touching any wood he can find) we’ve never not found a way! 

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?

Joel> The culture at Chrome is one of the things that I'm most proud of. I've tried to create an environment where everybody feels that they belong, are valued and respected, but also challenged and inspired to do their best work. New Zealand’s All Blacks have a “no dickheads” policy, and we have one too. We’re a small/medium sized business (<30 people), but we punch above our weight for our clients and a big part of that is the strength of our team and the culture that binds us together. 

The pandemic was the biggest sucker-punch to our culture that I’ve encountered. No matter how hard we tried to maintain it through 100% remote working, we simply couldn’t. We’re a creative business, we fuel off each other’s energy, creativity, and passion. We also work really hard, and sometimes we need to be in it together, physically….not just on the other end of a screen, but in-person.

Saying that, I also see the benefits off a flexible working pattern, especially when some of the team have long commutes into work. Now we’ve landed on a three day a week in-the-office policy, I feel like we’ve reached a productive medium. Everyone has to be in on a Monday, so we kick the week off together. It’s the day we celebrate birthdays, have our company-wide status meeting, or just end up in the pub. It connects the team and sets the tone for a productive and collaborative week. 

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

Joel> Books, audiobooks, and podcasts are an essential resource for me. I take inspiration from other people’s successes, and gain insights from their failures. Sometimes, it’s just reassuring to hear, from the experiences of others, that maybe you’re not making a total hash of things! 

The books I come back to most often are:

- Belonging by Owen Eastwood

- The Great CEO Within (Alex MacCaw, Matt Mochary, and Misha Talavera)

- Radical Candour by Kim Scott

On a personal level, I walk to work most days, which is an hour door-to-door, and it’s a great opportunity for thinking time. I also have a lake on my commute that I swim in most mornings year-round, which is the best alarm clock, and stress leveller, I can recommend.