This is one of the funniest things I've ever seen while working in an office, and maybe the most secretly wise piece of management advice ever written.
I was wandering around the offices of the GM account team for some reason, and passed the closed door and empty office of a smart account guy named Jordan Schooley. On the glass of the door he had scrawled, in one of those dry erase markers, "I'm not ignoring you, I'm empowering you."
It still makes me laugh. Today a sticky note with this quote on it claims a prized place on my wall.
And over the past couple of years it's become increasingly, sneakily smart.
Why?
Well, I'm a control freak. I admit that freely. If I could come up with all the ideas, write and art direct everything, and present it and then execute it, some dark part of me would. It's the secret voice that says to me, you know what's best so just do it. And the people who work on my team would probably not be surprised by that. (I'm sure I'll find out tomorrow.)
But I know I can't. It's not only impractical, as there are only 24 hours in a day, but it's also plain crazy. To be a control freak is to be subject to a serious delusion. In advertising, and especially in digital and direct, you have to work with a team; there's too much knowledge, experience and creativity required, and it's hard enough to find scrape up the little bits we all possess. How many lives would you have to live to become a kickass combo account supervisor/creative director/art director/writer/production person? And as much as experience, you need other people's perspectives. In brainstorming, in presenting, in executing. It's essential; it's what gives ideas life.
So we rely on teams. Our clients do, too, even though they don't always realize it. I've been finding that it's tempting for them to respond solely to the creative director, and not take what the writer or art director say as seriously as they should. That disempowers them; and a disempowered creative team can soon turn into a bad creative team.
So, I've been selectively ignoring people. Okay, not people – meeting invitations. I've been saying no or "forgetting" about meetings when I think I'm becoming an impediment to a strong team communicating with client. And if the meeting doesn't go as smoothly as I might like, fine. The team learns from it. And I've definitely learned from it.
I can't control everything. In fact, it's made me see that I actually don't want to control anything; I see my job as guiding the process and inspiring people to make their own work better. (I'm picturing the smirks on some people's faces right now. And yes, this means you.) That's the only way that good creatives grow. And if it takes me doing a little ignoring to make that happen, so be it.