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This dilemma hit my radar when I was
managing North American advertising for a Fortune 150
corporation.
 I
used the same
photographer for a lot of our campaign work, and developed a
good, candid relationship with him in the process. Always demanded
excellence, and had a reputation for being highly prepared and creative
in driving increasingly better results over the years.
As I moved into increasingly senior and international positions, I
delegated this work to members of my department staff.
"Of course," said the photographer to me.
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"Important people have to make important decisions." |
His theory was that the same person could not make the same decisions as
his position increased, because by virtue of promotion, the decisions he
was supposed to make had to be more important than the decisions he'd
made before.
"What if an important person 'must' make an unimportant decision?" I
indulged, fascinated by his thinking.
As it happened, the photographer had had just a case. The line manager
with whom he normally worked was out of town, and some additional images
were needed to reflect product changes on a brochure facing a trade show
deadline. So the boss deigned to step into the breach.
"My regular contact called me two weeks ahead of time to let me know
that I'd be hearing from his director. But the director didn't call me
until two days out to book. That's when she started planning,
telling me to FedEx product in from locations all over. The day of the
shoot, she hadn't had any layouts prepared — she'd know the shot when
she saw it, she insisted (taking four times as long as normal). And I
had to call in four assistants on same day notice, at premium rates, to
run around town and rent equipment and props real-time, as she thought
of them."
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"Important" people don't make "unimportant" decisions. |
When they are faced with such terrors, they flex their organizational
might by transforming those challenges into a scale rivaling The
Odyssey of Homer.
Key elements include last minute changes, unphased by team decisions and
published lead times created before them. Pulling the marionette strings
of every underling they can touch, like a puppet master tripping on LSD.
Generously salted with caustic remarks on everything that is being done
— alternatively behind folks' backs and in fits of rage designed to keep
alterative reality checks at a minimum.
Pretty smart guy, this photographer.
Over the years, of course, I have seen important people make unimportant
decisions — though not often. What's their secret?
They already believe themselves to be important; no need for a
"show."
And they're not afraid that respecting others will compromise that
importance. Indeed, they actively respect others, and they realize that
leaving to trust those smaller positions and decisions, collectively, is
the key to their rise to even greater importance.
Behavior such as my photographer witnessed fundamentally makes any
organization less important.
How important can anyone be who's in charge of a group like that? |
