Don't take it personally

Those of you who read this blog regularly know that I'm a fan of Seth Godin. And, I always read Godin's daily email, some of which are short, sweet and directly to the point and others that are longer thought pieces.

Today, Godin wrote about the difference of "seriously versus personally.

We all take our work seriously. It matters to us and the impacts, both positive and negative, are real.

I often see co-workers and colleagues take criticism, and rejection, far too personally versus taking it seriously. As Godin writes, "When someone rejects an idea, or if a project doesn't succeed, we've learned a valuable lesson about strategy and about tactics, but it's not a reflection on our worth as a human."

Are there bad clients and co-workers out there who might delight a bit too much in saying "no?" Of course. The bigger reality, though, is that being told 'no' is far-and-away the usual right answer that one should take, consider and use to grow.

The traditional saying is "Don't take it personally." I'd suggest that you're better served by hearing "Don't take it personally but do take it seriously."

Chapter Two: You're your own boss...now what?

(Editor's note: On February 1, I wrote my first blog post in this space about my personal "Art to Start" and what I encountered as I started Goff + Marketing. Here now, three months in, is Chapter Two of this journey, which focuses on my experience of working solo.)

A colleague of mine recently presented at South x Southwest to a packed room audience of 400 people. The topic? Working remotely.

He and I were catching up today and commiserated on what we are both encountering, he as a former agency executive who worked remotely and is now starting his own consultancy, and me as my own boss with the marketing consultant shingle hanging outside my home office now for the past three months. If attendance at his SxSW conference is an indicator, many others are also curious with what it means to be a remote worker.

What personally is ironic is that I started my professional career as a remote employee. I worked in Florida for a publishing company headquartered in Chicago and with a Kansas City office, which is where my management was located. I covered the Southeast and learned quickly that self-discipline was an absolute mandatory if one expected to succeed as a single worker operating out of a Florida apartment. I was on the road frequently in this job but it wasn't easy as a single male, with a beach about a mile away, to wake up those mornings when home and consider the work day versus the many options for fun in south Florida.

Fast forward to today. Remote working conditions are incredibly easy - technology that is location agnostic makes it simple to connect and produce from anywhere. What's lost, and thus a challenge, is the face-to-face human interaction.

I miss my office environment with the energy and creativity that was on display every day. I miss the actual experience of "going to work." I miss the camaraderie that comes with hallway conversations that lead to big ideas. Sure, the commute was no fun but I felt a part of something as I decompressed on the drive home every evening. Now, my commute is up 14 steps every morning to the home office.

What's it take to succeed working on your own? Here are a few suggestions based upon my experience to date:

Network, network, network. I've found that my regular (almost daily) coffee meetings with colleagues and prospects have served as my proxy for no longer having an office team that I'm around every day. Use the time networking to not only develop your business but to learn - make sure that you're connecting with a broad group that not only can provide business opportunities but learning opportunities as well.

Establish new rituals that provide energy and cleanse your mind. It's easy to become cocooned in the home office. Build in time in your day to get up, get outside, take a brisk 10-minute walk, and clear the head. (Just make sure that when you go outside that you don't suddenly get distracted by the flower bed that needs weeding!)

Own your office space. Limit distractions. Children, a spouse, a pet - all cause distractions for the worker who is trying to crunch on a project at home. Do the simple things to limit distractions - close your door, make sure you have a space that is truly yours versus working from the dining room table or the couch, and don't answer your door or home phone unless it's a necessity.

Find those that you can share success with...and failure too. You no longer have an office work team. So, create one. Maintain regular contact with a mentor or with a friend/colleague you can use for ideas, feedback, or to share a success or failure story. Working as an individual out of a home office doesn't mean that you have to cut off regular contact with the outside world.

Like - I mean really like - what you do. It's a challenge. And, given that challenge, you'd better well like what you're doing...and I mean really like what you're doing. That passion translates into the needed discipline to generate the ideas, to do the work, to get on the phone with clients...and to succeed! If you're going to embark on this journey, your first question to yourself should be "do I like what I'm doing well enough to take on this remote working challenge?"

That's it - my suggestions on how you make this remote work opportunity meaningful and successful.

Are there other ideas? Sure. In fact, email me (mgoff@goffmarketing.com) with your suggestions and I'll publish them here. I look forward to hearing from you!

I'm speaking to Gen Z...and I'm nervous

I've been invited to speak to two business and marketing classes at a local high school and gladly accepted when the invitation was extended. I'm now in deep prep for my appearances and, as I research and plan, have to admit that I'm very nervous about what I'm to present.

Think about it - this is a generation that has never known a world without mobile devices, that for the majority of its motor skill life has only known touch screens, and for who the paradox of choice means the only product and service consumption life they have known. I, on the other hand, remember when we had three television stations to choose from and when a wireless phone required antennas and battery packs! Talk about a generational divide!

Seriously, the learning divide between how my generation gathered information, learned and applied is so vastly different than this current crop of tweens and teens. Yet, this whole effort is helping me realize the challenge that brands face as they figure out this new cohort.

In recent research conducted by Futurecast, a Barkley company, this cohort was dubbed the Pivotal Generation because they are "battling the duality of traditional and non-conformist values and behaviors."

Interestingly, Futurecast's work indicates that Gen Z resembles Boomers in that they are earnest, hard-working and driven by traditional values of success. Yet, they're also bringing radical views on race, gender, identity and sexuality into our culture. They're socially and technologically empowered, meaning that their impact on our society is going to be immense.

I'm working much harder than expected on a presentation that I initially thought would be easy. Yet, as I prepare, I'm fascinated by the differences in my content for these two classes compared to the undergraduate and graduate class guest lecturing that I've handled in the past.

I'll let you know how it goes - wish me luck!

When a brand becomes the story

This year's Academy Awards broadcast on ABC continued a ratings slide for the live event, down 4% overall year over year and down 14% against the coveted 18-49 year old audience. And for those who didn't tune in, what an Oscars telecast to miss!

By now you know the story - Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway called the wrong name for Best Picture, mistakenly giving the award to La La Land when the correct winner was Moonlight. In the ensuring chaos, it was determined that the wrong information had been placed in the envelope delivered to Beatty and thus the ensuing gaffe that was unprecedented in Academy Award history.

A brand that is ordinarily a side note to the Oscars ceremony is now squarely in the crosshairs. PriceWaterhouseCoopers has been called out publicly as the culprit and the two PwC accountants responsible have been barred from future shows.

To their credit, PwC quickly confessed to the mistake and did their best to deflect blame from Beatty and Dunaway. It was the right move but the whole episode highlighted the risks taken by those brands that are intimately involved in the success of a live event.

Earlier in my career at Sprint, we were an integral player in the success of World Cup Soccer 1994. This global event - the largest sporting event in the world - came to the U.S. with enormous technological and telecommunications needs given the worldwide viewing audience and the massive media contingent from across the globe reporting on this month-long tournament. Our company built a network linking the nine involved U.S. host markets and media center and worked closely with the international media, ensuring that the network worked flawlessly.

Our company took a gamble and our brand was exposed. We pulled it all off with nary a major glitch and avoided our own PwC moment.

As I look back, I shudder at what might have been and think about current brands whose technology, product and/or service are a part of the game or event. These brands cannot underestimate the importance of product or technology performance and quality service if they hope to raise the profile of their brand through these partnerships and avoid their own PwC moment.

Unfortunately for PwC, their brand's role as a side note took only a moment to become the story. Rebuilding the brand after a public outing like that is a challenge no brand manager ever wishes to face.