Notes on the industry: Susan Credle, global chief creative officer of FCB, New York

18 August 2016 - 10:25 By Staff reporter

In the summer of 1985 I bought a one-way ticket to New York. My plan was to return home after three months. After three decades and a career that's spanned New York and Chicago, I'm still here. During those 30 years, I've learned a lot. When I arrived in New York, BBDO was "Agency of the Year" and on the cover of every trade magazine. I wanted to learn from the best, so I found the nerve to ask for a job.They offered me a position as the fill-in receptionist - the person who gives the actual receptionists their bathroom and coffee breaks. It paid $11500 a year. I took it. Then I found two other jobs - teaching aerobics and checking coats - so that I could just about scrape together enough to make ends meet.The first lesson: don't follow the money; follow the opportunity.As soon as I started at BBDO, I began offering to work late or on weekends, helping any group that needed secretarial support. When I wasn't answering phones or typing reports, I spent every minute learning as much as I could about BBDO and the advertising industry.I interviewed all the top people in the company, which not only gave me a lot of insight about what made them successful, but also gave them an opportunity to get to know me. It is amazing how generous people are when you don't want anything from them but their wisdom.The second lesson: take responsibility for promoting yourself. That starts by showing up with enthusiasm, again and again and again.When I finally became a copywriter, I threw myself into the assignments. But I also looked for other opportunities. Luckily, my creative director didn't get mad at my enthusiasm and raw ambition; he got interested. We worked together for the next 20 years.The third lesson: don't wait for the opportunity; go and find it.My early instinct was to try to work only on the brands doing the best work in the agency. But over time I learned that the impact was even greater when I did really good work on something that people saw as uninspiring or as a lost cause.The fourth lesson: turnaround stories are the kinds of stories that make careers.I soon realised what I did well and where others had better instincts and skills. One day, I looked around and realised my then-partner, Steve Rutter, and I were surrounded by incredibly talented people. They made our work better by opening us up to new ways of looking at things.The fifth lesson: look at the talented people around you as partners rather than as the competition.After 24 years at BBDO New York, I was offered the chief creative officer job at Leo Burnett Chicago. My first answer was: "I am flattered, but I think I will pass."Thank goodness they didn't take this as my final response. Six months later, with my stomach sitting in my throat, I said "yes".The sixth lesson: do the job you aren't sure you are ready to do.In the job, I tried to pivot from caring about my career to promoting other people's careers. To this day, my first question to my staff is usually: "What do you need from me?"The seventh lesson: as a leader, people don't work for you; you work for them.As I look back over the last 30 years and look forward to what the future holds, I'm sure of two things. We're each capable of more than we know. And we need each other to fulfil that potential.Susan Credle is an international jury president for the TV, Film & Radio Communication category of the Loeries. She has won many accolades, including Advertising Age's 100 Most Influential Women, and was inducted into the American Advertising Federation's Hall of Achievement..

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