Comms Council Industry Youth Leadership Group, the First Five Rungs, has launched a social content series ‘Stolen Gems’, offering those in their first five years advice from leaders in the New Zealand’s advertising and communications industry.
The content series, which will run on the First Five Rungs Facebook and LinkedIn social pages, brings together ‘gems’ of wisdom from some of the biggest names in the industry including Priya Patel (CEO, DDB), Sean McCready (Co-Founder and Managing Partner at MBM), Jenny Appel (GM, Fuse), David McCallen (Chief Strategy Officer, OMD) and Daniel Hopkirk (MD/Partner, Crave Global).
“There’s no official rule book or manual for those first starting out in the industry or within their first couple years, so it can be hard to know what’s what as you cut your teeth,” says Becky Dawson (Senior Account Manager, Mango Communications), FFR Auckland’s Chair.
“Then you throw a global pandemic into the mix and it’s easy to get caught up in the everyday grind.
“Our ‘Stolen Gems’ content series offers nuggets of wisdom from Aotearoa’s top leaders to give those newcomers a jumpstart on some of the things we wished we’d learnt sooner. We’d like to thank the passionate leaders for providing their ‘gems’ for this project which we hope proves useful to those in the first few years of their promising careers.”
The ‘gems’ cover an array of themes, with those most common focusing on the importance of being ‘people first’ whether with your team, your clients, customers, or yourself. Another resounding theme focuses on doing the little things well and the effect that attitude can have on how others perceive you.
CEO for DDB, Priya Patel’s gem of advice is “Brilliant basics build trust”.
“Starting an entry level job can be filled with tasks aren’t as glam as you might hope! But my first six months taught me to recognise these tasks as an effective way to build trust. By being both enthusiastic and competent when delivering the basics – whether that’s prepping meeting rooms, considering gluten free client catering, filing work correctly, or writing an accurate contact report – you can showcase your reliability and problem-solving capabilities. This quickly leads to rapport with your team and new, bigger opportunities.”
GM of Fuse, Jenny Appel’s advice is “Let your character carry more weight than your title”.
“I’ve seen versions of this around on social media that has a slightly more negative swing on it (people are jealous of you because your character carries more weight than their title) but I gravitate toward the underlying message. It reminds me to lead with the person, not the ego or ambition or a title… People will respect and gravitate toward authentic strengths and honest encounters rather than bravado and hot air. It’s important to understand the strength in imperfection and the greater opportunities that are born from real connections. So let your character be calling card, the impression will last longer and the outcome greater.”
The content series, which includes gems from 17 leaders across Auckland and Wellington, launches this week and all leaders in the industry are encouraged to share their own ‘gems’ with the next generation of advertising and comms professionals.
The First Five Rungs is a Comms Council initiative made up of young people across the communications industry, whose mission is to help industry newcomers receive the best possible start.
Keep up to date here: https://www.facebook.com/FirstFiveRungs/
