A shout-out to my team

I am writing this sat in the sun, enjoying the scorching heat – while contemplating the late nights and frenetic weeks my team and I have experienced in the run-up to our (well-deserved) summer holidays.

As the heat rose, so did some tensions, and it’s fair to say responses on occasion became a little fraught. 

It brought to mind a quote I heard recently from that erudite author Jilly Cooper – bear with me here – which I really liked. It went something like… 

“Whenever you meet anybody, look for something nice to say about them, because even if they’ve got a hideous face they might have fantastic ankles or lovely hair, and compliments do cheer people up enormously.” 

It struck a loud and rather resonant chord. 

The marketing and advertising world is full of strong personalities, big egos, immense drive and personal (as well as corporate) ambition.

And we all balance the need to deliver against mad timescales, complex executional needs, reducing budgets and increasing targets. 

The recent AAR Pulse report report talked about glimmers of hope and recovery, but there’s no escaping the fact new business reviews are down 9% year-on-year – making mine and my team’s discipline even more challenging.

We are now more than halfway through the year and we all have one eye on the glimmering prize of end of year success and recognition.

How that manifests itself differs by the nature of the industry each of works in or the goals we have set ourselves – but irrespective of the details, what unequivocally unites us all is the relentless need to succeed. To meet our targets, ensure client satisfaction, innovate, create and inspire. 

And, as we propel ourselves forward, foot firmly on the pedal, at 100mph, it’s all too easy to forget the little things which really make a difference to people.

And what are we but buildings full of people, each with our own emotions, feelings, backgrounds and struggles.

So, with Jilly Cooper’s quote in mind, I urge you to say thank you to your teams, loudly and frequently. So commonplace are they, it’s easy to take the early starts, late nights, lunchbreaks cut short and all the other instances where people go above and beyond for granted.

Compliment, appreciate and acknowledge what others are doing to help and support. Make sure they know their efforts aren’t going unnoticed.

These compliments – although it’s probably best not to make them about an ankle or someone’s hair – exude little effort on your part, but make all the difference.

It shows awareness and respect. It makes others feel recognised and rewarded – and part of a team. And teams are better than individuals, without exception.

So, I want to take this chance to give a big public shout-out to my amazing new business and marketing team across Havas UK. Thank you. None of your efforts – and they are plentiful – go unnoticed.

If you manage a team – hell, even if you don’t – try it yourself. It does cheer people up enormously. And on top of that – and this should go without saying – happy staff will generate better results.

By Tracey Barber, Group CMO, Havas UK