By Douglas Fouts - Managing Director at Xapsis Integrated Marketing
“Individual commitment to a group effort – that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.” --Vince Lombardi
At the risk of sounding self-serving, please allow me to toot the Xapsis Integrated Marketing horn of pride for just a moment.
Many times I look around the office of the amazing people I work with every day and I find myself filled with a powerful sense of gratitude, a feeling of being inordinately blessed. Jim Collins, in his terrific and enduring book Good to Great, talks about the mentality of growing a good business into a great company begins differently than comparable competitors. Competitors start with a single leader who develops the entire vision of the company, then gathers people around him to make the vision happen. In other words, the progression is first the WHAT and then the WHO. Conversely, companies that went from good to great started with a leader who finds the right people who help develop the vision he/she has more fully, and then they all figured out the best path to greatness together. The order became first the WHO and then the WHAT.
In mere written words it may seem like an imperceptible difference, but in reality it makes all the difference in the world.
The strength of Xapsis Integrated Marketing truly lies in the team of people that have not just embraced the vision of the company; they have made the vision better. They, coming in and working together, have created a firm that is more adaptable, agile and more effective than any one person could have imagined or executed by themselves.
I have watched this team daily:
- Challenge each other
- Incite deeper dedication in each other
- Nurture passion in themselves and in clients
- Work overtime, in evenings and on weekends
- Move through constructive criticism
- Pour their skills into projects, campaigns and ideas
- Truly listen to the needs of their clients
- Own up to their mistakes
I say this not to heap vain praise upon them, but to clarify two very important thoughts for any business that needs assistance in this exciting and complex era of effective integrated marketing.
- Who you choose to work with is not just about knowledge, strategies and technology. While these are undoubtedly important, make sure you work with a company that is not built around a model of “a genius with a thousand helpers.” Work with a firm that can display dedication to teamwork and a recognition of talent across all boards, at all of the stages of integration: Strategy, design, copy, programming, execution, etc.. Skill and knowledge are vital, but when you combine these two with a passionate team who truly feel a weighty desire to give their best and challenge their coworkers to do the same when tackling your marketing needs, you have a potent and magical combination.
- If, within your own company, you are struggling making the vision gel, or finding small victories every day, take a look at your team. The issue may not be the vision or the product, it might be a matter of asking yourself, “Do I have the right people on the bus, traveling in the same direction and in positions that they are passionate about and can thrive in?” If the answer to any of these questions is negative, start making a list of ways to change that and then act on it!
I am not suggesting that at Xapsis our team is perfect, but I believe we are all working together in the relentless pursuit of being better and improving ourselves every day, for our business and for our clients. That fact is worth a great deal to me, and so is this team.
