2024 rolled up on us fast, and before I knew it an entire quarter had passed without us posting a new Drift. Like a pebble in my shoe, the choice of what to write about and how to break the drought was always present.
And then yesterday at 3:26 pm, on the shore of Lake Champlain staring at the dark side of the moon during totality, I found something truly worthy to share. What kept repeating in my head was. Tell them to start looking at it from the other side.
Our celestial moment has, of course, passed for now. No second bite at that apple for another 20-plus years. But we can all immediately start looking at our jobs, our goals, our relationships, the things we build and do from the other side of our careers.
Now in my mid-60s with 30 years in digital and 40 years in media and advertising, I see things through a different lens; a view that I wished I’d been able to access in my 20s, 30s and early 40s. On that side of one’s career it tends to be all about the striving, about what may be, what may come from it all. On this side, there’s a certain clarity about what has ultimately mattered, what and who have withstood the tests of time and circumstance.
To those on the other side of the career spectrum – and even for some closer to my own arc – here’s what it looks like from this side.
With every conversation and interaction with your peers, you are building your legacy – one way or another. Considering how you want to be truly remembered and valued years from now is a great way to make your choices today.
Own your intent and assume good intentions from others. Doing something just to win the point or to make someone else feel less than will never lead you to the best moves. Have an honest conversation with your inner voice.
Love the excellence over the victory. A successful sale, a monster quarter, even a killer IPO represent a handful of fleeting moments over a career. As victories go, they are transient and short-lived at best, pyrrhic at their worst. Excellence happens every day and the pride you take in your work – and the work of others – nourishes and sustains.
Your career is a network. Tend to its connections with care and generosity. While we must drive outcomes, we do not have to be transactional. Show up when you’re not expected. Put good stuff out onto your network not because of what will come back, but because it will make your whole ecosystem healthier.
Make the Choice. Be the change. Choose to be the teammate, the friend, the colleague, the mentor that you would like to have more of in your own future.
Gallup has done years of research on employee engagement, and it's not what you think. The majority of employees are actually not engaged with their companies or their teams. Engaged employees talk about their team using the word we, and talk about their work at the company in future tense. Engagement is not something you hire; it's something you - the manager - creates.
Whether you're a CRO, a regional manager, a vertical category lead or even a project captain, there are some immediate, tangible and highly effective moves to be made (e.g. Manage the Moments, Don't Scrimp on the Inspiration). Team You won't just happen. It takes work and discipline. But it's your most impactful - and controllable - driver of success.
Here are a few ideas and themes to get your motor going and shake off the cold of Internet Marketing Winter... Expect Nothing. Blame No One. Do Something. You are the one you've been waiting for. There are a million mopes out there who will only ever be a little better than the worst break they've had. Overcoming adversity and being better than your circumstances starts with a positive choice. Make that choice now and start acting on it.
Digital media and marketing are exponentially more complex and layered, and sales success is more interdependent than ever before. MVP 3.0 gets the award today because she's able to lead others to excellence. He can sit at the middle of a project and organize, inspire and reward those around him. She makes her teammates better even as she navigates them toward success for the client - a client who has infinitely more choices but is likely to be spending more with fewer vendors. Don't just make the numbers...make them work for the client and for us. Margin matters and so do our people. Make them both better.
Among the sales teams I work with, the list of symptoms is remarkably consistent: long, unstable sales cycles; buyers going radio silent after receiving proposals; small deal sizes; low close rates; too…
As a manager, I believe one of your greatest callings is re-framing situations and market conditions for your sellers and returning them to a centered, productive mindset. In confusing times, that's not easy. OK, it's never easy. In both private manager coaching and management workshops, I tend to elevate one truly vital piece of advice. Without it, all of your logic, strategy and motivation will end up going nowhere. It goes like this: Pay close attention to the very first thing you say. Spit back answers all day and you create dependent followers. Push the responsibility back to them - put the authority where the information is - and you empower confident leaders. Every one of us wants to have great conversations with our employees and team members. And we will. But only if we start them the right way.
At yesterday's IAB Annual Leadership Meeting in Phoenix, Chairman/CEO Randall Rothenberg doubled down (again) on the direct brand economy and how it's flipping marketing models and gutting sacred cows…
Yes, it sucks if the company's recent pivot and reorg means you're now doing a job you don't like quite as much. And yes, it's lousy that your firm has gotten a big haircut in its valuation. But no, this is not the beginning of the end. People Matter. Sure, great technology might win you some deals and make your company more valuable to investors and acquirers. But the dirty little secret is that smart people paying attention to a quality process still matter. A lot. Our customers are working with the lowest headcounts and brain-counts they've ever experienced. Care enough and focus on the right things and you'll earn far more than a spot on the plan... you'll become an in-sourced department and you'll be bulletproof. Default to Action. Every one of us has a finite amount of attention and energy. Spend it worrying about your competitors or watching stock prices and industry headlines and see where it gets you. Expect nothing...blame no one...do something. You can't control the outcome but you can control your own behavior and choices. And feel great about the work you do...every day.
Somewhere out there this morning, a seller has already been awake for hours. She's staring at a number - her sales goal for the next several months. Her company has a solid product, not a dominant one. Her…
Whether you sell digital media advertising, online marketing programs, multichannel marketing or a sophisticated ad tech solution, one thing's for sure: there's not an action, a word or a minute to waste. Welcome to the age of intentional selling. Living intentionally has been a long-held concept in self-help programs and books. It means getting in really close touch with why you're doing what you're doing, choosing what you're choosing. It's past time for those of us in this industry - and likely many others - to bring intentionality to the strategy and practice of sales.
Don't think of phone calls as just stepping-stones to in person meetings. Nor are they something you're settling for. They're a smart, effective tool that can speed up your sales cycle and help you compete in a time-starved world.
If she's spent even a dollar online, your customer is getting dozens of inbound emails every day from you and your competitors, and you all want just a few minutes of her time. As a result, your potential client is filtering and disposing of emails on her phone. Lose the long, brilliant emails and start writing the smart subject lines and strong opening sentences (e.g. I'm writing you because...) that will make sense on the small screen. If she doesn't swipe right, nothing else matters.