Some people confuse leadership with being a jerk or making arbitrary decisions. That kind of abrasive approach is far more likely to result in a failed project

Some people confuse leadership with being a jerk or making arbitrary decisions. That kind of abrasive approach is far more likely to result in a failed project than a successful one. On a complex creative project like yours, it's far more important to make sure the lines of communication are flowing and the right people are talking to each other. You can't micro-manage everyone's work, but if you have good people on your team and your people are talking to each other (and listening to each other) on a weekly or even daily basis, a lot of problems will sort themselves out. Make sure everyone's work is reviewed on a frequent basis. It's far less painful to tell someone they've gone down the wrong path and wasted a week than a month. The shorter you can make that feedback the better. (Take a cue from Pixar, where they review work in progress daily and have a culture of constructive criticism.) The key thing you can do as the team leader is to build a bubble around them so they can do their work uninterrupted. This can mean anything from arranging for food and snacks to reducing unnecessary meetings and outside distractions to making sure everyone has all the computers, software and tools they need to do their jobs. Work hard to eliminate low value work such as voluminous requirements documents that no one reads or long boring reporting meetings where everyone is tuned out with their heads in their laptops. Sometimes to do these things effectively you need to stand your ground, but there's no reason to be a jerk about it.