Ben Lydiat - Creative Leader & Team Builder

Ben Lydiat - Creative leader and team builder

I build creative teams that do great work.
Brand strategy, design systems
and creative direction across
110+ Web3 brands.

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0 → 100

Specialised in taking nonexistent structures and creating the systems and workflows that support and scale teams who actually care about the work they do.Specialised in building the systems and workflows that support and scale teams from the ground up.

3 → 15

Built my current team from three to fifteen in-house team members and grew the offering into one of the agency's most successful business units.Grew my current team from three to fifteen and became the agency's most successful business unit.

Top-rated leader for team development in 360 review cycles. Consistently commended for high levels of emotional intelligence and setting teams up for success.Top-rated leader for team development in 360 review cycles.

+499%

Increase in engagements over 16 weeks on a flagship campaign. Thanks largely to the ideation, creation and implementation of a highly successful creative platform.Increase in engagements over 16 weeks on a flagship campaign for one of our largest clients.

About

My journey to this position hasn't been the most straightforward…

A winding path of careers eventually led me to where I am today as a creative leader
in the Web3 communications industry,

but my core beliefs and strategies have always
remained the same, regardless of the role.

Having built and led teams in various environments and industries, I have always aimed to
support the individual as best I can…

…helping them past obstacles, encouraging them to grow where their interests lie and setting them up for success.

I hire for passion and curiosity as well as ability, then guide team members toward mutually beneficial goals.

I give people projects rather than tasks and provide regular feedback early enough for it to be useful.

I'd rather someone reach for something risky and miss than hand me something boring, so I make it safe to do.

The clearer I can make the path, the higher the quality and enjoyment of the work becomes.

AI has made this more effective than ever. Fewer repetitive ‘non-billables’, more space for the creatives to create.

I've been a cleaner, teaching assistant, barman, musician, cafe owner, bookshop proprietor, graphic designer, team leader and, briefly, a human statue…

…and each one of these careers has taught me transferable skills which I have strengthened
and repurposed over the years.

That route is why I am able to approach problems critically and with flexibility, not just an internalised playbook.

Serving the team is what I care about most. The title is irrelevant. What matters is that the team can do their best work without someone looking over their shoulder.

Although, to be fair, with my statue skills
they wouldn't know even if I was.

Career progression

Leadership · 2023

Lead Designer → VP of Creative Operations

SCRIB3 - Web3 creative & brand agency. Built the creative function from a handful of freelancers into the agency's strongest business unit. Full scope involvement and experience including P&L, Professional Development, client facilitation and creative strategy.

How this actually works

Leading a team is not a perfect science and I am not a perfect leader, however I thrive on the learning and have so far managed to take my natural affinity for making personal connections and support it with a strong series of principles and techniques. Mostly built from getting things wrong, asking advice from people smarter than me, and figuring out how to do it better next time. The efficacy of my approach doesn't lie in my own opinion, it lies in the successful campaigns, high quality output and constructive feedback from my peers, direct reports and managers.

From the 360 reviews and former colleagues

“His mentorship has been especially impactful, he helped me develop a mindset of self-belief and resilience. Through his guidance, I've learned to trust my skills and deliver my best work, focusing on quality rather than external pressure.”

Direct report 360 upwards feedback

“I worked closely with Ben when he was at Stake Capital Group, particularly on the BlackPool project: a highly dynamic environment with cutting-edge technologies (the hedge fund specialised in on-chain gaming assets). Ben delivered absolutely exceptional and sharp creative work, always striving for a global perspective and never afraid to innovate. I especially…” Read more

Colleague Stake Capital

“He creates an environment of psychological safety when the inevitable happens. After a flubbed deliverable that affected several team members, he gathered the group for a rundown of what happened, asked us what we could have done differently, and offered advice to avoid it in future. This approach has become common practice on the team, and we're better off for it.”

Direct report 360 upwards feedback

“Working with Ben showed me how rare it is to find someone who combines boundless creativity with such a strong sense of team spirit, integrity, and loyalty. We built a creative energy that turned what began as a support department into a fully fledged creative studio. One capable not only of serving in-house needs, but also external organisations seeking bold…” Read more

Colleague Stake Capital

“Ben is amazing at setting everyone up for success, continuously providing an immense amount of support. I know I can always count on him, and he's able to jump in at every level of the work and directly spot what's cranky when there's a 'rock' in the shoe.”

Direct report 360 upwards feedback

“His mentorship has been especially impactful, he helped me develop a mindset of self-belief and resilience. Through his guidance, I've learned to trust my skills and deliver my best work, focusing on quality rather than external pressure.”

Direct report 360 upwards feedback

1 / 5

I build the systems which allow the team to be exceptional without me in the room. Providing guardrails, not guidelines, to create an environment where creativity and productivity naturally thrive.

Not just stopping by once a month with a new initiative. Checking in daily to see where I can be of use and what blockers I can remove from the team's path. Deep involvement in the day to day. Not to keep tabs on people, but to ensure they have everything they need to get the job done.

People develop daily and grow on live briefs with live feedback. Despite being useful as a checkpoint or moment of pause, the quarterly review is too infrequent. Instead I aim for an environment of instant, constructive feedback and critique.

Despite objectively being the opposite end of the spectrum to the human-focused team building, the commercial operations side of leadership and account management is just another way of protecting the people (albeit through spreadsheets and formulas instead of direct communication).

AI should provide additional support for teams and workflows. It's not a substitute for a team's creativity or their professional opinion, nor should it be. I use powerful tools to produce powerful tools which enable creative teams to be creative - minimising the low-reward admin tasks and maximising the time the team has to focus on the task at hand.

While it's difficult to claim pride in the less pleasant moments, the elements of the job that don't photograph so well are an integral part of leading a team effectively.

The work

Creative direction and project management across 110+ brand engagements. Some I owned end to end. Some I only touched lightly. Every one of them taught me something new or strengthened a skill set.

Select a skill tag from below to highlight all the projects where this was put into practice.

Scoping a brand engagement, building out a creative team, or just want to compare notes? Let's talk! I'm always eager to make new connections or learn from fresh perspectives.

Contact →

About

Career progression

Founder, Owner & Company Director

Bartender → Floor Manager

Graphic Designer

Designer - Rekt

Graphic Designer → Design Lead

Lead Designer → VP of Creative Operations

How this actually works

The work

Let's talk

Ben Lydiat - creative leader and team builder

About

Career progression

Lead Designer → VP of Creative Operations

How this actually works

The work

Let's talk