It’s been over ten years since I graduated from university and jumped into the advertising and marketing industry. I was like any other degree holding graduate - an excited, bouncy, enthusiastic junior that wanted to make friends, impress the boss and wear cute work outfits every day. Little did I know that the most important lessons you can ever learn aren’t from a college or university – they come from experience.
I'll be honest – I thought with that handy piece of paper (my degree), I knew everything that was needed to know. The truth was I knew nothing and It was a harsh reality when I was in a position to train a younger staff member and they possessed a similar budding enthusiasm coupled arrogance. (yeah I said, I was a cocky piece of shit).
I’ve been taken down a peg or two since then and learnt from my mistakes. I can laugh about my past attitude, but really I’m embarrassed by how I acted. I have learnt a lot since then and it wasn’t until recently when a potential employer asked me “what is the greatest lesson you’ve learnt?” that I realised there’s multiple - and I want to share them now, exclusively with my beautiful and bright MFFs.
1. Always be listening
The day my old manager sat me down and shared this advice, was the day my entire career trajectory changed. I’m an extravert. I love a chat and if you’ve ever been to a boozy lunch with my family – it’s amazing how we can all hear each other and talk at the same time.
Alas, meeting and presenting to clients works better if you’re not constantly talking over them (palm meet face).
My manager’s advice was simple – wait 3 seconds before speaking again. And while they are speaking listen intently. I’ve applied this method to every meeting since and it’s incredible how much more information you can squeeze out if you give them an opportunity to take a breath and start again. Try it – and feedback in the comments your thoughts.
2. Relationships trump qualifications
This is a controversial one. I believe you should be an expert in your field and strive to learn more and more – but if you’ve created a trusting relationship with your clients and colleagues, they’re going to be more flexible on the finer things. Every corporation hires individual people to be experts in different fields – you shouldn’t be responsible to be an expert in everything. BUT you absolutely are expected to have a good relationship with the people who are in order to create the best experience for your clients.
3. Keep everything on record
WRITE IT DOWN!
PUT IT IN AN EMAIL!
Record a meeting. Ok, that last one will rarely be used – but yes make sure you have a written and dated record of your communications. I can't tell you the number of times I’ve been accused of misquoting or not explaining T&Cs properly. And there are a lot of people out there that want to catch you in the act so they can negotiate a better deal. Processes are in place for a reason – follow them and note everything from your end. Cover yourself and you won't be forced into a pickle.
4. Trust your instincts
If it feels unethical, don’t do it! I had an experience in my early career where my boss asked me to inflate rates – it could have been done easily too. But I didn’t have a firm understanding of why we were inflating the rates, or why I was the one doing it. I pushed back – said to my boss “I’m not sure we should be doing this, can you show me where it’s been approved by the client?” to which their response was “everyone does it, just do it, stop arguing”. Turns out – the media buying industry has a huge rate transparency problem and my instincts were right. I felt bullied into doing something I wasn’t comfortable with and I stood up and said so. Years later rate transparency for clients became a huge buying priority and it’s slowly being phased out. You don't always have to be a robot - and as a strong and fierce woman your instincts are incredibly powerful, use them!
5. Read your contract
It's naïve to think that everyone reads their entire work contract – but really, this is your livelihood and your role is expendable. Read your contract, get a trusted friend or family to read over it – know your worth and know your rights so you are always protected and geared to fight if it ever comes to that.
6. Be authentic
Not just authentic. But honest. If there has one thing that has never resulted in a positive outcome it’s lying or being deceitful in any way. Yes, this includes “chucking a sickie” (for my Australian impaired reader “chucking a sickie” means faking a sick day).
By all means, if you need a personal day or if you are truly unwell please don’t go to work. Just don’t lie about it, or pretend its worse than it is. Trust me, it will come back to haunt you.
Flip that though – if your manager doesn’t accept that you are unwell or creates a hostile environment where you cant be unwell, then you got a bigger problem (I could write a whole other piece of terrible bosses – comment below if you want to explore that topic).
I would stress to anybody that if you make a mistake, don’t lie about it. Ensure you tell someone, and take responsibility to rectify it. Mistakes happen, no ones perfect, and mistakes are how you learn.
7. Never say 'No'
I can’t stress this enough. The word “no” creates a roadblock into productivity. You can’t move forward effectively if you’re stopping productivity dead in its tracks and not encouraging creative brain flow.
No one is denying that sometimes the impossible has been asked, and to agree to full fill it is idiotic - but Instead of using the word “no” try and explore where this idea has come from and whether we can't find another solution or have the requester come to the impossible outcome on their own.
8. Always gripe upwards
OK, I’m guilty of this. I’m a chatty female like anyone else. But it does me or the person I'm speaking with no favours if I’m complaining (or griping) to my peers or subordinates.
Here, Tom Hanks explains it better than me. Who here has seen Saving Private Ryan? Cool people that's who.
9. Ask for the promotion
If you haven’t been told this before, then read extra carefully. Yes, companies want you to grow and learn and do your best work every day. But it’s your responsibility to speak up when you’re ready to level up. Don’t take it personally, but in a lot of cases in the corporate world, an employee doing their job and the job above them is a cost saver and they will coast on that for as long as they can.
That’s the tough love – here’s the soft love. If you present your worth and are confident in your ability when you present this case to your manager – it’s going to go one of three ways;
1. They say “we value you and want to make you happy – ill reach out to HR and we can start a proactive conversation”
2. They say "you’re not ready yet, but let’s put in a plan to get you there in 3-6 months" (that’s basically a yes)
3. They say “there’s no budget to promote you”, “we need your competency in this area to be higher”, “there's a hiring freeze” or some other excuse. Then you leverage this conversation with another company and ask for more money.
10. Identify your strengths and weaknesses and stick to them
It's ok to say, “I’m not the best at writing emails” “I need some help when presenting”.
Not everyone is good at everything and you shouldn’t be expected to be. However, you are good at something else – so be the best at that!
I spent my first 5 years in Advertising in a role that I was not good at – and I was miserable. It wasn’t until I pivoted from a buying and planning role into a client management role that I began to succeed because my strengths are relationships and presenting. I still say to my colleagues that I need help looking at analytics and double checking invoices – not because I’m bad with numbers, but because that’s not my area of expertise. And I'm humble about it. But the door swings both ways – I’ve been brought in to help smooth over conflict or be an asset when pitching to a large group. My advice to you is to identify the parts of your role that you really excel at and become an expert in that area.
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