The Overshare 05
Nerves of steel
I’ve been a strategic thinker since I began work. I had no idea that’s what I way until decades later – in fact, in my last paid job prior to setting up Run Jump Fly (thirteen years ago today, as I write this) I realised that ideas I shared with my employer just annoyed them – I was an inconvenience, wanting to shake things up and set us on a different commercial path. Deals were made on the golf course and that wasn’t going to change because of a motormouth in the marketing department.
Related to my other blog about discomfort, delivering strong strategy does require nerves of steel – and that got me thinking about other attributes that are vital for being good at this. here goes:
An undiminishing sense of curiosity and wonder. You need to genuinely be interested in finding out about things – even if they are carbon fibre washers or a loo cubicle manufacturing process. I joke that I should be incredible at pub quizzes* because of my job. (*I confess I have never knowingly yet been on a winning side). You cannot get bored.
A near-supernatural ability for empathy. If I had to claim a single superpower, it’s this: I ‘get’ people, quickly. I can engage with anyone, no matter where we both come from, because I’m genuinely interested in people and what makes them tick. If you can’t get inside the heads of an organisation’s employees or customers or stakeholders, this is not the path for you.
Trust. This is directly linked to the above – a vital two-way street. If you aren’t credible, no one will follow your lead – whether you’re me, the strategist, or the CEO and leadership team who will need to back and deliver the strategy. Putting an organisation through its paces requires high levels mutual trust and respect. I realise, looking back, that the projects where this has been missing are the ones I’m least comfortable sharing, today.
Sharp heels. Back to discomfort being a force for good. I’ve presented ideas to CEOs and CMOs who’ve genuinely thought I was out of my mind. I once presented a name that I felt was absolute gold to a technology client who was appalled and laughed me out of the room (we took it back in with some stellar creative the following week and they fell in love with it and went for it). Brilliant ideas often wind up in the bin. That’s par for the course. It’s a bit like meeting a life partner – it’s all about where you both are at that moment in time. They may not be completely ready for what you’re proposing. But digging one’s heels in gently but forcefully is a necessary skill. I’m here to challenge you, kindly.
Encouragement. Sometimes what I deliver is daunting and can feel overwhelming to an organisation. I loathe the agencies that ‘dump and go’. I will work with my clients to help them figure out the strongest delivery approach – this is as important as any other element of a project. It determines whether a brand will sink or swim. Absolutely vital – and often overlooked.