I’ve been doing this advertising thing for a long time.
Given I started back in 1989, that means I’ve spent 20 years trying to work out what the hell I am supposed to be doing.
In all that time, I’ve been hugely fortunate to work with some brilliant, brilliant people.
Some were my bosses … some my colleagues and some – for want of a better word – were my staff … but regardless who they were, in every case I always ended up a better person for the experience.
Don’t worry, I’m not getting all Gwyneth Paltrow … I’ve also worked with a whole bunch of fucking idiots, but I give them about as much thought as I do having a big shit [nice image eh!] so getting back to the point … as I get older, one of the things I get great pleasure from of is seeing people who worked for/with me move on to bigger, better and more challenging things.
I’ve said it many times, but I believe the role of a boss is to help his/her team achieve more than they would otherwise of thought possible so that when they leave – as they will – they end up in a role/job that they previously thought was out of their league.
In essence, I want our people to leave because another company wants them and only them … not because there’s a role that needs to be filled … but because they rate who they are, what they think, what they do and how they do it.
In all honesty, if someone leaves me/us to go to another agency and do basically the same thing, I view that as a major disappointment … mainly because I see we’ve failed in developing their skills and ambitions.
Sure we’ve had the odd ‘exception’, but in the main … with the companies I’ve had a hand in starting … we’ve been hugely fortunate with the people we’ve ended up working with.
The reason I say this is because I’ve just looked at Media magazine [Asia’s Campaign] and saw this picture …
The guys are basically the new big wigs at IRIS Australia and the guy on the far right – Cass – once worked for me … so seeing him as Planning Director of the fastest growing agency network in the World, makes me very happy indeed.
Not because he’s a ginger Scouser who has a job [though that is quite impressive in itself] … it’s because he has always been one of the brightest talents I’ve ever worked with [despite the odd moment of madness like his “Mental Oriental” campaign for an Asian flavoured Pot Noodle clone] and seeing him develop to the position of Planning Director makes me very proud.
There’s a lot of people out there who have ‘planning director’ on their card … infact it seems in some agencies, you can go from dispatch boy to head of the department in the blink of an eye … but I was not brought up that way and I don’t subscribe to giving out titles willy-nilly so I know Cass really earnt the right to be called this and I know he will be brilliant and will move IRIS into areas that will get the snobby ATL agencies looking nervously over their shoulders.
However, like Baz – who went from junior planner to one of Steve Jobs personal advisors – I still feel a sense of responsibility towards my old guys, and whilst they could all eat me for lunch interms of brains, ideas and knowledge, I know there’s one thing I can do, and that’s keep their feet on the ground … so whilst I am sure Cass will hate me for this, I hope in time he will realise I’m not doing this to take the piss, I’m doing it for his own professional good.
Well done Cass, I’m very happy and proud of you … especially for the fact you managed to ensure your press shot was taken in black and white – ensuring your Satsuma head is only known by the relatively small population of Sydney. Now that’s planning!