When I was in college, imagining my life as a graphic designer, I pictured success as winning awards and having my work published in magazines. While approval from our peers is great — and we have achieved industry recognition for our work — I’ve learned that, more importantly, success means creating work that our clients love.
There are a lot of platitudes about “excellence,” but I think it’s more about attitude. It’s an absolute sense of mission about performing at your highest level in everything you do.
Integrity is about being honest with yourself at all times. Warren Buffett has an interesting thought experiment: “I want employees to ask themselves whether they are willing to have any contemplated act appear the next day on the front page of their local paper — to be read by their spouses, children and friends — with reporting done by an informed and critical reporter.” In this day and age where anyone with a Facebook account can play the role of the informed and critical reporter, integrity is an especially important value in life.
Success is closure. It’s a great feeling, no doubt, but it doesn’t come without hard work. Like many, I consider myself addicted to success. But more than that, I consider myself addicted to hard work. For me, the journey to success is equally (and oftentimes more!) satisfying.
Our theme song could be “Nobody Does It Better,” from “The Spy Who Loved Me.” We may not have a 007 on our staff, but we do have a few tricks at our disposal. And when it comes to tackling your project, we’ll give it everything we’ve got to obtain the excellent results that we expect and you deserve.
Being boastful is antithetical to our collective persona, but the fact is, “Baby we’re the best.”
Integrity. Schmegrity.
Integrity is so central to how I was raised, I find myself unbelievably offended by those who lack it. Integrity is at the heart of one’s personal reputation. Jettison your integrity and what do you have left? Not much. Integrity. Schmegrity? I think not.
For me, it’s simple: I try to behave like my mom is watching. That means more than just looking people in the eye when you speak to them, or simply telling the truth, or being respectful. It means being up-front and honest with people – from clients to vendors to members of the media – and it means making sure my actions follow my words.
People or organizations who meet their goals are often defined as successful. I tend to think beyond that definition. Success for me means that goals are not just met, but exceeded – on time, under budget, and with an approach that is both disciplined and creative. Success also means that we have developed a strong partnership with our clients, which means that we build lasting relationships that extend beyond a single project and, instead, continually broaden into the long-term.
I want to get it right for my clients. I want it – whether “it” is a brochure, a logo, a website or a new name – to shine. I want it to reflect who they are and to reflect well upon them. And I want it to get to them on time, grammatically correct and spelled right!
