I work in an industry that loves to make big deals out of everything.
Literally everything.
And yet, how many of those things were still being talked about a month later?
Or maybe a week?
Or even the next day?
The reality is that for all the work that claims to be revolutionary in its thinking/execution, the reality is few seem to be.
And the same is with agencies.
While it is difficult, the reality is any agency can hit the ad jackpot at least once in their life.
Maybe it’s a Super Bowl spot … or a Cannes award … or just something utterly, utterly brilliant/fun/funny/emotional … but for me, the true test of greatness is not about having done it once, but having done it on a consistent basis.
I don’t mean in terms of getting a headline in the industry press – however nice that is – I’m talking about capturing the mood and imagination of a nation.
Years ago I met someone who kept telling me about the time they ‘achieved something big’ in their career.
What they were talking about was admirable and certainly worthy of feeling proud about, however this thing was 15 years in the past.
Fifteen.
Don’t get me wrong, the person in question should absolutely feel they achieved something few do because they did … but if you are living 15 years in the past, you’ll never be able to move on into the future.
And that’s why one of the best bits of advice I ever got was to always be known for something in every job you have.
It doesn’t matter if you did something amazing over a decade ago, be known for having done something good things in the present.
Whether I have done that is questionable, but that advice has meant I have always gone into new adventures with the desire to make a difference. That should sound obvious, but you’d be amazed how many people try and live off their past.
So for me, it’s always about trying to find something I can improve, impact or instill … something that will last longer than my time there.
Now I appreciate you can easily fall into some post-rationalisation of achievement, because – let’s face it – when you’re judging yourself you’re rarely hard on yourself, but most people accept nothing worth doing comes easy so if they see you as having consistently done positive things wherever you have worked, it not only separates you from the lucky ‘one-off’s’, it lets you look at your career in terms of what it can still be, not just what it was.