After correcting my many grammatical errors, my friend John had this to say about my CEO post. I thought it too pithy to languish in "comments." Oh yeah, he works in advertising.
This is so very true. Here’s how you can tell if an ad agency is bad at what they do: They think that culture is a foosball table. They think that foosball and pool = AWESOME culture. And if you add in a little ping-pong? Well then, you’ve got yourself your very own cult, Mr. Creative Director!
In the science lab, a culture is something that grows. What ends up growing is often beyond the CEO’s complete control, but it is very much influenced by what that culture gets fed.
Building brands is pretty similar to building cultures. First you communicate your values and make your stance. After that, all you can do is wait and see if you’ve fired up the people enough to do what you want.
If I was a potential client, I’d never pick an agency without a strong culture.
Wow. Wow. That is some powerful, insightful stuff right there.
Really good stuff. Hope you don’t mind if I quote you at our next district meeting. It’s worth remembering…daily.