Wendy Clark, President of Coca-Cola North America's Sparkling Brands and Strategic Marketing, gave a masterclass on leadership at Cannes Lions. She discussed three of her most cherished principles: bravery, being underestimated, and belief. Bravery involves having a strong point of view and acting on it despite risks. Being underestimated lowers expectations and fuels competitiveness. Belief is a powerful tool when leaders inspire both individual and collective belief through humble confidence.

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Insights from
WendyClark
President, Sparkling Brands & Strategic
Marketing, Coca-Cola North America
BRAVERY,
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why
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By Jeremy Katz,
Worldwide Editorial Director,
Ogilvy & Mather

2. WHYBRAVERY,BELIEFANDBEING
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Wendy Clark, President of Sparkling Brands and
Strategic Marketing, Coca-Cola North America,
departed from her usual main stage presentations
here at Cannes to deliver an inspiring masterclass
on leadership to an overflow crowd of young
(and young-at-heart) attendees. Her talk, called
“Bravery, Belief, and Being Underestimated,”
illustrated thee of her most cherished principles
with creative work and leadership advice.

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Bravery“You can’t say ‘bravery’ inconsequentially,” said Clark
before demonstrating the principle in question with Coke
Zero’s Drinkable advertising campaign. The technically
complex work had many places to go awry, but Coke
Zero was brand (and prepared) enough to go forward.
To Clark, bravery is a crucial leadership principle
that drives one to disrupt the status quo. Leaders
manifest this trait by having a POV, stating that POV,
putting it into action, and doing so even with the
knowledge that it may be easier to do nothing.
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4. WHYBRAVERY,BELIEFANDBEING
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Underestimated“It is a gift to be underestimated,” Clark
believes. Being underestimated lowers
the threshold for success and, because
being underestimated is infuriating,
also lights one’s competitive fire.
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BeliefBelief is one of the most powerful leadership tools.
Clark distinguishes between individual and collective
belief, and one depends on the other. Individual belief
is manifested through quiet, humble confidence. When
you have that confidence, you inspire it in others, thus
creating collective belief. Collective belief is “food for the
soul,” and Clark believes that nothing is more powerful.
Speaking of the power of the collective, Clark closed by
repeating a Coca-Cola axiom: “No one has the corner
on smarts. A great idea can come from anywhere.”
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