How to survive changes in leadership as a junior creative

In case you missed it, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer resigned this week, meaning that as we battle a record-breaking heatwave, we Brits are also facing another kind of meltdown. Political chaos! Since David Cameron left Downing Street after the Brexit referendum, we’ve had Theresa May (remember her?), Boris Johnson, Liz Truss (who famously lasted less time in office than it took for a lettuce to go mouldy), Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer – that’s six prime ministers in ten years, with a seventh now looming.

At this point, UK politics has the leadership turnover of a chaotic creative agency: a new boss, a new strategy, a “reset”, everyone saying “you know, this could be a real opportunity”, while trying to work out whether the thing they were told to prioritise last week is still a thing.

But leadership change isn’t only a sign of instability. Sometimes it clears space. Sometimes it brings in better ideas, better communication, or a long-overdue rethink. The difficulty, especially when you’re junior, is that you’re often expected to stay creatively brilliant while the org chart performs a kind of contemporary dance above your head.

In creative companies, where work is often subjective and personality-led, a change at the top can ripple through everything: tone of voice, budgets, timelines, taste, client relationships, even what counts as “good”. A new creative director might arrive with a different eye. A founder might step back. Your line manager might leave. So how do you stay steady when the people above you keep changing?

Don’t assume chaos means catastrophe

A new leader does not automatically mean everything is about to collapse into a pile of branded tote bags and abandoned decks.

As a junior, you may only be seeing a small part of the picture, so try not to fill every silence with doom. There is a difference between ‘my manager has left’ and ‘my entire career is over’. One is a fact. The other is your brain writing Succession fan fiction at 2am.

Start by separating what you know from what you’re imagining. Has your role changed? Has your workload changed? Has a project been paused? Has anyone actually said redundancies are likely? What has been confirmed, and what is just being whispered about?

Keep your own continuity document

When leadership changes, institutional memory can get wobbly. Suddenly, the person who approved a project has left, the person replacing them wants “fresh thinking”, and you’re left trying to explain why a campaign response was very on-brief at the time.

This is where a simple personal work log can save you. Keep a private document tracking what you’re working on, who asked for it, key decisions, useful links, deadlines, results and feedback.

This helps you brief a new manager quickly and prove what you’ve contributed in the fog of transition.

Ask stabilising questions

When a new manager or leader arrives, you do not need to immediately impress them with a 17-point manifesto and a personal brand refresh.

Try asking questions that help you understand what has actually changed:

Don’t become the office detective

It’s tempting to piece together the truth from obscure calendar invites, and chatter in the kitchen, but resist this kind of speculation.

A little awareness is useful. Full-time workplace sleuthing is exhausting. It also rarely gives you the whole picture.

Pay attention to what affects your work, but don’t let gossip become your main source of information. The more uncertain things feel, the more important it is to stay grounded in direct communication: your manager, project leads, official updates and what is actually being asked of you.

If you’re worried, ask. If you need clarity, request it. If you don’t know, it’s okay to say, “I’m not sure what this means for my work… could you help me understand what I should focus on?”

Build relationships beyond one manager

When you’re junior, it’s natural to rely heavily on your line manager. They are often the person translating the business to you, giving you feedback, explaining priorities and telling you whether it’s normal that the client has used the phrase ‘make it pop’ seven times in one email.

But if managers keep changing, your sense of stability can disappear with them. One way to protect yourself is to build a wider support system at work.

Get to know people in adjacent teams. Ask for feedback from more than one person. Build good relationships with producers, designers, editors, strategists, account managers, social teams - whoever helps the work happen. In creative industries, your reputation is built across the room, not just upwards.

That way, if your manager leaves, you’re not starting from scratch. You still have people who know how you work, what you’re good at and what you’ve contributed.

Stay flexible, but keep your own compass

As a junior, being adaptable is valuable. It shows that you can take direction and keep moving when the brief shifts. But you don’t need to reinvent your entire personality every time someone new joins the senior team.

Keep developing your own taste, standards and point of view. Notice what kind of work you’re proud of. Notice what environments help you do your best. Notice what kind of leadership makes you feel clear, trusted and challenged, rather than constantly confused.

Instability can teach you a lot about what you need from work.

Look for the opportunity without pretending everything is fine

There can be real possibility in leadership change. A new manager might spot your potential. A team shake-up might create space for you to take on more responsibility. A new direction might suit your skills better than the old one did. Sometimes change gives you a chance to step forward (just ask Andy Burnham!).

If things are shifting, ask yourself: where could I be useful right now? Is there a gap I could help fill? Is there a project that needs organising? Could I offer to pull together a handover, moodboard, process doc or ideas list?

Know when change has become churn

If every new leader brings a total reset, if priorities change before anything can be finished, if managers keep leaving without explanation, if you’re constantly being asked to prove your value to someone new, it’s reasonable to ask whether the chaos is temporary or structural.

Meanwhile, keep your portfolio updated, save examples of your work, track your wins and stay aware of opportunities elsewhere - the Creative Lives in Progress opportunities board is a good place to start.

Leadership change can be disorientating, especially early in your career. But it can also be a chance to become more visible and learn to be resilient. Keep your receipts. Ask clear questions. Build your network. Don’t confuse other people’s instability with your own lack of direction.

And remember: if the UK can somehow keep functioning through another prime ministerial handover, you can probably survive a new creative director with a slightly different deck template.