NOTE: This is the draft of an article that I've just written for the next issue of the online newsletter of the SMPS New York Chapter.
Let me begin with a story... A few years ago, Gensler hired Bob Quintana, a local affiliate of Tony Robbins, to run a one-day motivational/sales training workshop for about 40 staff members. We met on a Saturday in a large multi-purpose room that we had designed for one of our clients. Personally, I was a little bit apprehensive about the Tony Robbins style, but I went into it with an open mind, and found a lot of the training to be quite useful—the goal-setting exercises, the personal warm-ups, and, especially, the culminating activity of the day, breaking boards.
After a day that alternated between introspection and rah-rah exercises, we were each given a 8”x10”, 1/2”-thick piece of plywood. We were asked to write on one side an obstacle that we were facing in our careers, and to write on the other side what would happen to our careers if we could break through that obstacle. I wrote on one side, “marketing as secondary to design,” which popped into my head as an obstacle I was facing—that I saw marketing as a support function, rather than as a collaborator with design and technical professionals. On the other side, I wrote “increased influence,” which would surely be the result if I could just learn to see marketing and design as equally important partners in building the business of my firm.
They gave us a demonstration of how to break the boards, Bob cued the high energy music, and each of us, in turn, broke our board. I've never looked at the relationship between design and marketing the same way again.
As President of the SMPS New York Chapter, I talk to a lot of marketers about their jobs and their career development within their firms. “They just don't appreciate me.” “I feel taken advantage of.” “My principals don't see the value that I bring.” “You're not going to believe what they did this time...” I think we've all been there, at one time or another.
But we all have it within our power to change the roles in which we are cast by our principals. But first, we have to change our own beliefs about our jobs and the value that we bring to our firms.
Many marketers feel beset by “tasks” (production, administration) when they really want to be doing “strategy.” “If I could only get past these tasks, I could be a strategic partner to my firm's principals,” I've heard many marketers say.
Your firm's principals have expectations of what you do, and how you do it. The challenge for each of us is not only to fulfill their expectations, but to exceed them. You have to get the production tasks done, and then look for ways to add value to your firm that your principals can see and appreciate. One easy way to add value is through online research, Googling the client that your firm is pursuing (without being asked!) and providing your principals with intelligence that they can use to understand the prospective client and their needs. When you take the initiative and do this, you demonstrate that (1) you care about the same things your principals care about, (2) you have the intelligence to find information that is valuable, (3) you are driven, and (4) you can provide more value than just typing, collating, and stapling. You're saying a lot, without saying a word.
That's only one example. My point is that, in order to change the perception that your firm's principals have of you and your role, you have to find a way to deliver what is expected, provide something more, and have it recognized as adding value. In order to figure out what the “something more” is that you can provide, it helps to see yourself as a strategic partner to your firm's principals.
You
aren't overhead. You are a strategist. Change your own perception
(while still getting the job done) and you can change the perception
of everyone around you. As Gandhi said, “Be the change that you
want to see in the world.” If you want to change your situation,
start by changing yourself.
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