By Kevin Oates
If agency years are like dog years, I’m celebrating my 182nd at Ketchum this month. It will be my last.
Twenty-six years ago, I graduated from the University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communications with a degree in Public Relations. I was fortunate that some amazing professors and veterans of the industry helped identify an internship that eventually turned into my first and only job to date. Given how much I benefited from mentorship, I feel compelled to pay forward some of the wisdom and insights Ketchum, and the tremendous people inside its hallowed walls, imparted on me.
The Power of Yes: Every highlight in my career began with a question mark born of self-doubt, self-preservation, or both. But finding a way to say “yes” opened doors to client, team and agency leadership that I never expected, especially early in my career. I credit my long-time manager for helping me realize that grabbing every opportunity and making it the most important thing in the entire agency (at least in my mind) gave me greater authority to advocate for and serve my clients. Finding the confidence to say “yes” truly unlocked my career.
Show Up to Lead: You will discover, if you haven’t already, certain teams get stuck in a rut. You see it when no one is quite certain of the purpose of a client call. (“Who called this meeting, anyway?”) Or a project lingers for weeks without meaningful progress. (“So we’ll circle back on that next week, right?”) A client once told me at the very beginning of our relationship that she expected me to show up to lead every time. It’s a lesson I apply to every meeting, every call, every on-site experience, every new business opportunity … everything. Even when unnecessary, the mindset of always leading makes me a stronger counselor and partner to clients.
It’s Not About Me: I invested a lot of emotion into what people thought about me… until I realized it’s not about me at all. Watching leaders at the agency engage clients helped me understand that effective consulting means awakening something inside others. It’s not how people feel about me (or my agency); it’s how they feel when they are with me that counts. I always strive to be the best part of my clients’ day. I want others to feel creative, strategic, confident, emboldened, engaging, maybe even funny after spending time together. It is liberating to realize consulting means creating valuable interactions that allow people to solve problems in their world – that is the lasting imprint that counts.
Respect Your Influence: A relatively recent experience helped me grasp the influence that my “little” role could have on the world. I’m not talking about the giant global brands or seismic programming that we get to work on… no doubt, those have their own gravity… I’m talking about the almost unconscious decisions communications professionals make every day. Word-choices in a blog post, selecting influencers for a campaign, fine-tuning a media list, deciding which data to present in an executive summary. It’s minutia. It’s monumental. We are gatekeepers and tone setters for the organizations we serve and the audiences we reach. I appreciate a certain group of media and some really sharp students who reinforced this lesson in recent years.
Define Your Values: Working at an agency means being a bit of a chameleon. I enjoy flexing my style to match the client’s strategic approach, vernacular, even preferred work attire. However, it took me a while to recognize that style-flexing doesn’t mean bending my own value system. I always embraced the agency’s values – “brave, curious, inspiring and a force for good.” I can even co-sign on many of our clients’ values as well. But my values aren’t ctrl+c any of those. My hunch is that yours aren’t either. For the record, mine are: Win as a team. Respect individuality. Anything worth doing deserves 100%. Brighten someone’s day. Walk the dogs. Tuck the kids in.
Those are hard-wired.
Be Kind: People work for people, not the logos on their company-issued sweater vests. When treated with fairness, consideration, decency and empathy by their colleagues, clients, teams and leadership, they always step up. I recently navigated through a near-impossible program, working with a small, dedicated group through the holidays to launch a new campaign. Honestly, I didn’t forgo time off, take the late-night calls and respond to thousands of urgent texts because of my passion for the brand. I did it for the people, and they did it for me.
Enjoy the Ride: When I started my agency career as an intern, I shared a computer and worked from our “library” that stored hardcopy issues of dozens of the top print publications of the day. I loved it. I admire people who find beauty in every moment and try to do the same. Weather braving sub-zero windchill in Chicago to make a dinner, or flying the redeye to join a planning meeting in New York, or staying up all night to finalize a new business pitch in a stuffy conference room, I can honestly say that I found joy, purpose and friendship in all my Ketchum experiences.
Ironically, spending 26 years at one agency and having the confidence to leave are both a reflection of the amazing mentors I’ve had in my life. I already see an entirely new set of experiences and learnings in front of me, so I’ll call on that trusted network yet again to help me figure out what’s next.
Until then, I want to express my sincere gratitude to Ketchum and all those mentors that shared their wisdom, expertise and insights to help me along the journey. I will continue to pay forward your generosity to the best of my ability in tribute to 26 amazing years (or 182 dog years, however you may be counting).
Kevin Oates