I know a bunch of people in this class are graduating in a mere few days, and I know like myself you are probably full of mixed emotions of being ubber excited and scared basically to death. Since we are all in the same field of Advertising, I came across an article in AdAge from this guy in the Advertising his name is Peter Madden. I don't know who he is but he has some great advice to remember and live by. Peter is a 40 year old man who has been working in Advertising for 10 years, and throughout those years he's acquired some pretty great advice, that unfortunately he had to learn the hard way. So take a minute and read what I consider to be the five best of the twenty tips hes bestowed upon to us. (Feel free to click the link at the bottom of the page to read his full article).1. Realize what you're great at and do it all the time. Realize what you suck at and stop doing it completely (and put the right person in place to do it).
2. If you want to make a point that sticks, stop yelling. (Or keep yelling and look ridiculous.)
3. Work as hard on your presentations to your staff as you do on your presentations to prospects and clients.
4. Are you completely freaking out, nervous, worried and losing sleep over something about your business? Welcome to being alive. Now calm down, move on, and step up your game.
These are simple, but great tips to being a successful professional and I think if you listen to just one of them you are already in a better place than you were before!
http://adage.com/smallagency/post?article_id=143803
The tips you selected are great, Erin. Peter's got the blunt language that resonates with people our age and I think you picked the ones that are most relevant to people in our positions. The fact that it was in AdAge makes it even more awesome. And seriously, he's right about the hand note thing.
ReplyDeleteI agree. These seem like tips on life... period. I especially like the one (not listed above) that talks about going with your gut. He advises to trust your instincts and "if your Spidey Senses are tingling, something is amiss." Even at 22, I am surprised with how often I can look back and say, "Man, deep down I knew sh*t wasn't right from the start." Whether it's academically, in relationships, or in the professional world, we've all got this general instinct that lets us know when something's not right.
ReplyDeleteA few weeks ago I went on a job interview with a guy I met at Career Fair. At the fair he seemed really interested in my group-work experience and presentations. When I asked him if it was a sales position he dismissed it and said he worked for a "financial planning" company. After a one-on-one interview he invited me back to an "open house" that turned out to be a group sales pitch of the company. He rambled on about helping families and how much money could be made in doing so. At the end of the presentation he showed a clip from Fox news of his CEO being interviewed after the company just went public. The interviewer asked him "What exactly does your company do?" to which the CEO replied, "WE-SELL-AFFORDABLE-LIFE-INSURANCE." I pulled the guy aside and grilled him a bit about this life insurance. He tried brushing it off by flattering me with how "perceptive" I was an why he thinks I'd do so well... aka make him a boatload of money.
To make a long story longer, after dismissing a bad feeling about the whole thing from the beginning, I learned exactly what Mr. Madden referenced first hand. Take that Peter Parker.