The day you sign a client is the day you start losing them.
I sometimes look across the boardroom table thinking to myself ‘what would Don Draper do in this situation’. These clients wouldn’t stand a chance! As we eagerly await the return of AMC’s Mad Men for a fifth series in Spring 2012 we were wondering whether Don Draper’s 1960’s style management had a place in the new millennium. What does the great man have to say for himself…
I can’t decide… if you have everything… or nothing.
You have a career, an office, a company car and a nice suit. On the other hand you have a career, an office, a company car and a nice suit. It’s everything. It’s nothing. It certainly says a lot about you as a person depending on what you believe to be true.
You want some respect? Go out and get it for yourself.
No one is going to hand you respect. If someone just expects it you’d respect them less right? You demand respect from those around you by your actions. Let who you are and what you do speak for you. Just remember to also give respect where it’s due even if you don’t like the prospect. Extreme example, Steve Jobs was a great public speaker but then again you’d hate to admit it but so was Hitler.
We’re going sit at our desks typing while the walls fall down around us. Because we’re the least important, most important thing there is.
We’d all like to think we’re special. That we’re irreplaceable and no one could do our jobs if we weren’t around. Wrong. The corporate machine keeps on running. Take José “The Special One” Mourinho for example. Six trophies over three years still just wasn’t good enough for the Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich.
Change isn’t good or bad. It just is.
It amazes me how many people fear change. What astounds me more is how much time people waste thinking about it. I bet even now there’s something changing in your life that you are giving thought to. Focus on what’s in your control, make a decision and take action. If it’s not in your control, just await the outcome.
I don’t care if you work ten seconds if you bring me something I like.
Presenteeism. A ridiculous notion if I ever heard one. Just because you’re at your desk at 7am brushing your teeth looking busy does not mean you’re productive or efficient. It doesn’t even mean you’re working. For a start you’re brushing your teeth! If you’re good at your job and can do it twice as fast as anyone else, don’t hold back. Get it done. Have a work life balance if you can make one.
I’m glad this is an environment where you feel free to fail.
We fear failure constantly. We fear the judgement and the disappointment. We are geared to winning, brought up thinking it’s the be all and end all. In a sense it is. One of daddy’s swimmers beat 180 million others after all. Failure is not the end. If utilised correctly it’s an opportunity grow. One lesson to learn and learn well is to fail fast. Brush it off, learn swiftly and move forward. Don’t dwell.
So there you have it. Wise words from the sixties. Turn that old school into new school thinking.
When a man walks into a room, he brings his whole life with him. He has a million reasons for being anywhere, just ask him. If you listen, he’ll tell you how he got there. How he forgot where he was going, and that he woke up. If you listen, he’ll tell you about the time he thought he was an angel or dreamt of being perfect. And then he’ll smile with wisdom, content that he realized the world isn’t perfect. We’re flawed, because we want so much more. We’re ruined, because we get these things, and wish for what we had.
