One of the best pieces of advice I was ever given for the job was so simple.
No one needs you in the room.
So surrender your ego and be generous.
This was in a time when 'the people in the room' were account handlers and creatives, not much more.
They could get on quite happily without planning types.
Creatives thought they could do the strategy anyway, sometimes they were right.
Accounts handlers could advise the client, write briefs and evaluate creative perfectly well.
Planners were at best an necessary evil. You had to make people want you there.
Now, you have even more folks who can crack on quite happily without you.
Data folks, experience designers, UX specialists, SEO strategists...all these people in room or wanting to be there.
That's why planning types need to a radiator not a drain.
You can't be drain on everyone's energy, making everything more complex, with more barriers and hoops to jump through.
You need to radiate energy, make everyone's life easier, be a joy to work with.
In fact, I'll go further. Don't do anything to make yourself look good, make everyone else look good.
Seriously, make other people look good and you will do well.
If you're starting out, trust me on the following realities.
You're not as good as you think you are yet.
Most of what you've been taught, or read in books is at best a generalisation or at worst, plain wrong.
Your attitude and approach will need a LOT of fine tuning.
There's an easy to way to work on this, attach yourself to people who are already successful.
As they move forward, so will you and you'll absorb all their knowledge and experience.
It's not the route to quick glory but it is the route to long lasting success.
While you put everything into serving them, you suck up all they can teach you.
I'm not talking about brown nosing, I am talking about pouring all your energy into the success of others.
This will be a lesson well learned no matter where you are in life as a strategy practitioner.
Because your job is to make everyone else look good.
Insight that can help clients discover new paths to growth.
Ways to unlock the creativity in your peers.
Helping the Clint team reinforce a good relationship.
Forgive the football metaphor, but you're midfielder. You set up others to score.
Psychologists have long known that the best way to get someone to do what you want is to do them a favour first.
So scratch their backs first.
Think of it this way.
Who do you think others want around?
In an agency environment not without egos.
Someone who will compete for credit to attention?
Or someone they believe will help them get where THEY want to be.
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