A CLIMBER'S GUIDE

“To Be a Leader”
12/05/2007

As a high school hockey coach, I meet with my captains each season to discuss their roles as leaders. Last Thursday, I prepared a memo to the captains based on the leadership principles as put forth by ex-college football coach - Lou Holtz in his best selling book - Do Right. It is to these simple tenants that I owe whatever success I've experienced in my life as a husband, a father, a coach, a salesperson and an advertising man.

As I prepared this hand-out I was sitting with Evan, one of my rising superstar producers here at MMM and said to him: "These principles are exactly what we a trying to communicate to our clients - both in their approach to advertising and business - but for some reason they don't think this commitment to character lives in the world of advertising." Almost every law in the advertising universe coincides with the standards, principles and character of a human being. Here's a look at that memo:
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2007-08 SBHS Varsity Hockey Captains

To Be a Leader:

Everyone subconsciously judges everyone. Generally, here is how we judge people:

1. Can I trust you?
2. Are you committed?
3. Do you care about me?

If you want to be held in high regard, you should answer positively, all three of these questions.

In order to positively answer the above universal questions you must commit to following the 3 rules listed below:

1. Do what's right. When confronted with any situation, ask yourself: what's the right thing to do? Trust your instincts and let your conscience be your guide. Always do what's right and you'll earn the trust of everyone around you.
2. Do the best that you can, always. You are not perfect. You have your strengths and weaknesses like everyone else - especially as a hockey player. Do your very best, nothing more and nothing less, and you'll ultimately prove to your teammates that you are committed to excellence. You'll also develop a reputation for having a great work ethic.
3. Treat others the way that you'd (they'd) like to be treated. It's the Golden Rule. If you are compassionate and empathetic you will communicate a caring approach to your team and positively answer the question, "do you care?"
Remember that you can't live by these tenants on a part time basis. People need to know that they can count on your character in order to accept you as a leader. You can't be honest most of the time and expect people to trust you.

Your teammates are your equals. Don't try and be their personal leader. Your job is to represent the values that constitute our team culture and accept the responsibility of meeting those standards of behavior as a model for your teammates. Remember that you have as many weaknesses and strengths as the person sitting next to you. Be a teammate, not a parent, and represent our core values with regards to work ethic, responsibility, and accountability through a strong desire to keep our team committed and focused.

Most importantly - everyone involved with SBHS Hockey is a part of our team - regardless of popularity, ability or personality. We are a family with all of our strengths and weaknesses all rolled in to one unit.

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Your advertising is your voice. It's the introduction you make: the words you say, the philosophy you preach, and the personality you project that people will be judging you on first. Secondly, of course, is their experience with your business.

You can earn a reputation as a liar, a cheat, a thief, or a hypocrite. It's ok, really, because people have come to expect manipulation from businesses everywhere, so if you can't beat em' - join em'.

Or if you'd like, you can be leader. You can build a name and a reputation based on character for your business. You can conjure up thoughts of respect, confidence and integrity with the mention of your name. You could be the type of business that more and more people flock to because they trust you. And you'll flourish because your clients and associates will know that you're committed to excellence and that you really do care about your customers, the price they pay, and the service they receive.
That's becoming a true leader in your business category. The key is to do it consistently in every aspect of your business, advertising included.

As an added benefit - your advertising will work better than ever and you'll improve your brand in ways that no color scheme could ever achieve.

Keep Climbing,
Jake

	Climb With Passion
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