1. don’t become irrelevant.
work hard to stay relevant.
and what that means is less about keeping up with the jones and more about staying knowledgeable and curious. this has always been a big deal to me. it was when i was young and now that i’m in my 40’s. it should have been a big deal to brands like radio shack and blockbuster video – right?
in my career of advertising this couldn’t be more true. it’s important to be up on how marketing is evolving and being aware of how consumers are communicating with brands is changing. when i hear people in business almost brag about not being in touch with social media it makes me sad for them. it’s sad because it’s like saying “no” to knowledge. when i hear that someone is too busy to learn modern technologies to better their lives, i know they are slipping down the path of not being relevant. and that is their personal prerogative, but for my career, it has served me very very well to strive to be relevant.
2. be passionate
if you don’t have passion for what you’re doing, then you’re going down the wrong path. turn around. change. figure it out.
we were made to do what we are passionate about, you know. you can’t hide passion. it doesn’t matter if you’re running a company or driving a bus – passion AFFECTS people. it gets you noticed – and not from your words, smarts or know-how. people feel passion and passionate people always win.
one time, ROF and i went to the nespresso store to buy espresso. it was our first time in the store and we were helped by dan. let me tell you, you would have thought that dan owned nespresso and was part-timing in the store in paris. he was fantastic. he gave us an experience of the store that will make us come back for sure. he knew what he was talking about but delivered it in a way that got us excited about coffee. he bagged our coffee, taught me how to really make espresso (whoops, doing it wrong), made me a coffee and gave us his opinion on machines. we can’t wait to go see dan again when our coffee gets low. be dan.
3. have a POV
how i start to get a point of view on something is i run it through this filter:
throughout life, you will be strengthening and building upon the point of view you have on things. as i get older, i find that my POV on some important topics changed just because i experienced something first hand. for example, you can have a POV on how to react to death but until you experience the death of a loved one, you can’t truly have an opinion.</
4. be a great leader
5. be true to yourself
why is this good career advice? i don’t know, really.