Awhile back, I read an article by blogger JT O’Donnell who is the Founder and CEO of CAREEREALISM.com. As I read it, I thought about my career in sponsorship marketing, my role in sports marketing, my management style over 30+ years, and my time as an employee.
I am very organized-very “anal” about organization, routine, and “everything in its place” (this may come as a surprise to some!). For decades, I have made lists. Each morning when I get up, I do the same things (or try to), get to the office, fire-up my laptop or tablet. Some of the things I have been doing are just what JT suggests in his article “10 Things to Do Every Workday.” For those of you that have not seen it, I want to share it. I think it is a good formula for overall success, and specifically for anyone in our profession. I have adapted it to the sponsorship marketing industry.
- Read something related to the sponsorship marketing industry, be that online or hard copy.
- Read something related to business development.
- Send two emails to touch base with old colleagues.
- Empty my in-box (all in-boxes-email and social media) by responding to business-related questions within one business day.
- Check in with each team member or associate on their progress and see if I can help.
- Have a short non-work related conversation with every employee or person I interact with.
- Review my top three goals for my company that are focused on its growth.
- Identify and execute one task to support each of my top three goals.
- Post five valuable pieces of content on all my major social media accounts.
- Take a full minute to appreciate what I have and how far I’ve come.
As JD notes, this list could be longer, but…
“…if it was longer, I wouldn’t be as good at getting them all done. To me, this list is manageable. Of course, I do more than ten things every day, but these are the ten I choose to do with consistency. Why? Over the years, they’ve proven to be the best way to grow my career and my business. The collective results have made completing these tasks consistently well worth it, even when I don’t feel like doing them.“
Give it a try. For those in management (either over staff or accounts), it will really change your relationships and you will reap the rewards. Our industry is about relationships, and ongoing growth and development. These ten tasks will help you with both!
These are just one person’s thoughts. Yours are welcomed as well. Please add your thoughts or comments below. Thank you for reading and your feedback.