Leading Questions with Emma Newman – PubMatic
Leading Questions
PubMatic’s CRO EMEA, Emma Newman, is in the hot seat for our quick-fire Leading Questions.
As PubMatic’s chief revenue officer, EMEA, Newman leads the adtech company’s growth in the region. The company, which this week expanded its presence to Hong Kong, provides advertisers a scaled supply-side platform (SSP) for programmatic advertising.
Newman has been at PubMatic for 12 years, working her way up from a senior international marketing director to UK country manager before being promoted to oversee EMEA in 2019. She entered the advertising industry through the tech sector, working earlier in her career for Microsoft and AOL, later becoming marketing director of Clear Channel UK before moving to PubMatic.
In this edition of Leading Questions, Newman discusses how she stays ahead of the curve, and explains why the future will be driven by leaders that combine soft skills with fluency in how AI tools work and when to use them.
Leadership
How do you define success as a leader in today’s media landscape?
If your team are clear on what they’re being asked to do, why they’re being asked to do it and how you are going to help them, I think in the uncertainty and constant change that is today’s media landscape, that’s a pretty good definition of a successful leader.
How do you personally stay ahead of industry disruption?
I read (or consume content) a lot: podcasts, reports, articles, and not always from the most obvious sources. I talk a lot to younger team members, my son and his friends; I’m a big believer in reverse mentoring.
I also think we can learn a lot from what’s happened in the past – the rate of tech adoption, the change in consumer behaviour, how content consumption changes, as well as why and how publishers and brands have responded. History does have a habit of repeating itself. That said, I’m not sure that necessarily keeps me ahead of industry disruption, and I’m OK with that; I like the challenge of navigating the unknown.
People and Culture
How do you build and maintain a strong company culture in times of rapid change?
Be open and transparent. Share what you can as soon as you can – even if you don’t have all the information. Be authentic and consistent. The team need to know which version of me they’ll be getting (I actually only really have one version, just different ‘levels’).
Be clear on your non-negotiables. Praise in public and give constructive feedback in private. Remember that how you do anything is how you do everything. Integrity is how you behave when no one is looking. Accept ownership and accountability, even when things aren’t going to plan. And be willing to admit when you’re wrong.
What’s your approach to developing future leaders?
I pay attention to those already showing leadership behaviours, even if not in a formal or structural way (i.e., it’s not in their job description), and then I find ways to make those behaviours more visible and a little more ‘stretching’. Perhaps ask them to lead a project or attend a meeting as an observer (and then, hopefully, a contributor), and expand their network both inside and outside the organisation by inviting them to industry events. A lot of leadership is about opportunity, so I focus my time on putting opportunities in front of them.
How do you handle failure, both personally and within your teams?
I’ve had to learn to reframe what failure means and how it affects my confidence. Now, instead of thinking that every failure means I am not good at my job and that I’ve finally been ‘found out’ (imposter syndrome anyone?), I treat it as a source of data: collate it, analyse it, look for trends, and use it to inform what I’ll do differently next time. It’s taken me a long time to get comfortable with failure, so I don’t necessarily expect my team to treat it the same way. Instead, I encourage them to accept that failure is an integral part of learning, and if they haven’t failed, then they probably haven’t reached their full potential.
AI, Innovation and Skills
How is AI changing the way you lead and make decisions?
I use AI to synthesise research and quickly surface patterns. However, it can’t tell me what actually matters in my market, to my customers or my team, or when the technically correct answer is culturally or commercially wrong. That’s still based on my judgment. So, AI makes me faster, and my judgment makes the speed count.
What skills will define successful media leaders in the next decade?
Building psychological safety, reading what’s unsaid, and strategically deploying AI; knowing when to use it, when not to, and being visible about how. The leaders who win will need to combine soft skills with AI fluency. It’s not about choosing between them; it’s about designing how they work together. That pairing is rare, unautomatable, and will differentiate good leaders from great leaders.
The Quick-fire Round
Which book would you make required reading for all media leaders?
Start With Why by Simon Sinek – it’s an oldie but goodie which I’ve recently revisited as I think about the constant change we find ourselves in as an industry (and society). Taking things back to basics and ‘starting with why’ is certainly something that I’ve found myself leaning into recently.
Which leader from TV, film, or literature most inspires you?
CJ Cregg from The West Wing – a woman who led from the sidelines in a position that (probably) wouldn’t be viewed as a leadership role. In a male-dominated world, she often had to stay calm under fire and communicate complex ideas and messages without all the details. When asked to take on an even bigger role (CJ was promoted to the President’s chief of staff), she was clearly scared but did it anyway.
What’s your go-to source for inspiration when you need it — work or otherwise?
Any body of water (preferably the sea). I’m not sure if it was because I was born by the coast, but I find just sitting and being present next to water helps to clear my head and free up space to allow me to problem-solve, ideate and generally be in the moment (I guess I was being mindful before being mindful became a ‘thing’).
Media lunch or media breakfast meeting, and why?
Media breakfast. Breakfast is hands down the best meal of the day – so much variety, all of which is acceptable to eat either alone or in combination with each other; a good hotel breakfast buffet is my idea of heaven. Plus, my day usually hasn’t gone to pot by 8:30 am, so I am less likely to have to cancel at the last minute.
Which media leader would you like to answer Leading Questions next?
Bee Pearson from Picniq
Leading Questions is published by The Media Leader every Friday.