Edited highlights of our full length conversation.

Why are you doing what you’re doing?

Gabriel Schmitt has just celebrated his one year anniversary as the Global CCO of Grey.

Grey’s proposition is that they have been coming up with famously effective ideas since 1917.

Gabriel is somewhat younger than that, but over his career, has learned one of the most important leadership lessons that I think often gets overlooked.

The importance of context.

A few years ago, I wrote an article for Fast Company called The Four Weapons of Exceptional Creative Leaders.

I got some pushback on using the word “weapons” in the context of creativity. My response was that if you’ve ever done battle with the status quo, then you already know that you need to bring some serious weapons to that fight.

Context is the beginning and the end of the leadership journey. Without it, you have no ability to answer critical questions, like where are we on our journey? How much further do we have to go?

Context is the reason why you are trying to make that wild idea.

It is why you hire that person.

It is why you invest in that technology.

It is why you make that decision.

It is why you come up with the answer.

It is why people follow you.

And without it… everything else is just a guess.

So why are you doing what you’re doing?

And are you sure?