Something I've come to realize over the years is there is no clear right way to fulfill your role as a communicator. That may be an unpopular statement. There are countless communicators and marketers who will vehemently disagree with me. “There is a process we must follow to get to the right strategy and tactics!” I’m sure people are judging my approach to this blog.
I admit – it is reassuring as a client counselor to have a structure that guides the annual planning process. But even that structure will vary from agency to agency and from client to client; maybe even from department to department.
During my agency life, I found inspiration and intimidation in hearing how my colleagues and clients approached their communication and marketing challenges. Inspiring because there were so many different thought processes at work. Intimidating because of this diversity of thought and the confidence with which it was expressed. And it transcended all communication disciplines. There were multiple times I received conflicting recommendations from different departments and even from the same department.
This divergence of thought helps reinforce that just as we are different people, our thought processes are different, and what appeals to us differs. What is important is that we recognize those differences and embrace them to find commonality and create a path forward, rather than donning blinders and pushing our own thoughts and recommendations on others. While there are guiding tenets that ground the various disciplines within the broader communication and marketing fields, each person and their experiences shape how they interpret and apply those principles.
A former colleague and now client recently posted a story about “systemic humility,” and the quote he shared applies here:
“We all have strengths, but none of us are experts at everything, so we must be humble and listen.”
At Common Thread, we understand there are multiple ways to approach a challenge, and we’re committed to listening and working with you to create the best one to achieve your goals. We maintain open communication, monitor the project’s progress, and if something’s not quite working, we’re not afraid to change course.
Reach out to talk about your marketing communication needs and how we can merge our experiences and ideas to achieve success.
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