“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.” – Nelson Mandela
Being Brave is a quality that is an essential behaviour for success in this industry. I have been hearing this word since I joined the media world a year ago, and I believe I will continue to hear it for as long as I am in it.
So how does this translate to our work and our day-to-day jobs?
Our work revolves solely around our clients, delivering solutions and value. In an industry concerned with firsts, the reality surrounding our clients is clouded by fears. We keep asking them to toss their concerns and be firsts, be innovative, to try the new and be adventurous. Yet, the cost surrounding failures cannot be ignored. So, let’s not ignore them. Let’s make friends with those fears. Let’s understand them better than the clients do themselves. When you are just as concerned with the potential barriers in your way as the next big step, you can leap at every hurdle with firmer footing.
The word NO should become our biggest ally. By refining and redefining our clients’ alarms, we are a step closer to solving the real problems. Every NO should be seen as a push to answering our final ‘So what?’. To be Brave, we need to cut through all the baloney and give insights, that instead of being a paragraph long, we give them ONE true, concise ‘Why’. And let’s stop re-wording the clichés that have made us sound pompous. If you can’t explain your idea simply, you don’t understand it fully. I am sure Albert Einstein was on to something there.
Looking at previous Cannes Lions winners and nominees, I was struck by the truths each award winning campaign communicated simply, and also how much courage it must have taken to present these ideas to the client. Imagine presenting an idea, in its simplest, most basic form, and all the potential issues that surround it. I bet you can also imagine all the BUTs, and NOs, streaming in with a list of valid WHYs attached to them. So, let's look at those NOs and BUTs as part of our ideas and solve those riddles.
Big ideas, innovations, and new executions have many risks. I am sure that walking away from any idea, you walk away with much learning, the first being, let’s not ignore the problem.
Most believe that to be brave, you need to show no fear. I believe the opposite. Let’s be afraid and tackle our clients’ fears head on and with as much knowledge and resolve rather than ignorance and reservation.
Dana Khalil
Assistant IP&L
MediaCom