I'm reading Seth Godin's Tribes. He's got a lot of good things to say about leadership, which relates to anyone putting their book together. Why? Two reasons:- No matter what product we're working on, we're trying to create a leader. Don't confuse that with trying to create a behemoth megabrand like Coke and Microsoft. Small niche brands also need to lead to be successful. On a brief, the Who are we trying to communicate with? section may as well read Who are we trying to lead?
- Not to get all Tony Robbins on you, but you need to see yourself as a leader, too. Whether it's because you're an aspiring ACD with longterm CCO goals, or you're simply trying to win a client's trust and respect, to be successful, you need to lead.
So with that in mind, let me share something Seth wrote (page 55) that's really stuck with me:
"If you're not uncomfortable in your work as a leader, it's almost certain you're not reaching your potential as a leader."
When you're given your next assignment, what are you going to do to make yourself uncomfortable?
(Disclaimer: If you're still fresh and putting your book together, there are more important books to be reading than Tribes. As much as I'm a fan of Seth, don't even think of picking up one of his books if you haven't read Hey, Whipple a couple times through a spend every spare moment flipping through the annuals. Once you've done that, if you really want to read something by Seth Godin, I recommend The Dip for these reasons.)