TJ Bennett, ACC 🐱’s Post

The sh*t that annoys us is usually trying to tell us something. Let's talk about the hard stuff and try to make it a bit easier. I'm an executive coach with 25+ years experience as an ECD, CD and copywriter at agencies including Chiat, Saatchi, Ogilvy, Hill Holliday and this one place you've never heard of but I swear we did some cool stuff. I've seen some things over the years. And now I help other creative leaders see the things that can help them take the suck out of work and put some joy and fun in its place. So, what's your biggest frustration as a creative leader right now? Let's talk about at the Creative Leaders Kvetch & Learn session on October 2, 2024 from 12:30pm to 2pm PT.

It's scary out there. I can help. #desuckifywork #executivecoaching #leadershipcoaching #advertising #creativeleadership #fridaythe13th

I spoke with Dan Nelken for this week’s DesuckifyWork® podcast and we touched on an unfortunate reality. Creatives rarely get to bring all of themselves into a role, unless the stars align perfectly. 🐱 Right Agency 🐱 Right Client 🐱 Right Time I think we can do better. And it starts with hiring. We often hire the person with the best portfolio. You’ve done killer work somewhere else, of course it will work here as well. But that’s bullshit. We need to dig deeper. To look at the whole person.  🐱 What are they passionate about?  🐱 What drives them?  🐱 What experiences have they had?  🐱 What do they know, outside of what shows up on their website? We’ve gotten away from the term “cultural fit” in recent years, and with good reason. We don’t want to create bubbles of conformity and exclusion. But what about fit for the role? Will this human being thrive amid the peculiarities of your process? Will they become obsessed with the things your client is obsessed with? Will they use that obsession as fuel to challenge the current thinking you’re brining to the work? I’ll admit it, I’m a dreamer. I love to imagine what’s possible, even in the face of hard realities. But I’ve also spent 25+ years working my butt off to make those dreams real. And I’ve had a fair amount of success. Probably because I was fortunate to have a few folks look beyond my own portfolio and see me. All of me. And that allowed me to thrive. I’d like to help make that a reality for as many folks as I can. Call me if you’d like to do the same for your agency. #desuckifyworkpodcast #desuckifywork #executivecoaching #advertising #adagency #hiring #creatives 

Work sucks when it’s harder than it has to be. It’s even worse when we’re the ones making it harder. As creatives, we resist structure. It’s confining. It’s corporate. It’s boring. It will also blow up your career in the best way possible. Just ask Dan Nelken, today’s guest on the DesuckifyWork® podcast. Dan is a best selling author, has over 40,000 LinkedIn followers and has created courses, talks and workshops that have impacted nearly every corner of our industry. If you told 5-years-ago Dan that he would be doing all of this right now, he’d probably laugh at you. But today Dan is doing what he’s doing because he did a whole bunch of research and learned these life-changing lessons: 🐱 Structure isn’t “cheating.” It’s freeing. It allows you to focus on the work vs. how you do the work. 🐱 Structure provides confidence, giving you multiple starting points to fill up the dreaded blank page, fast. 🐱 Structure is used by almost all top creatives, including Jason Bagley, who rose to ECD at a little shop called Wieden + Kennedy and now runs The Audacious School of Astonishing Pursuits helping other ad folks learn the magical power of process. During the show, we also dive into the need for better leadership and more professional development opportunities in advertising. We talk about the importance of having your own personal creative projects. And we explore some of Dan’s favorite headline techniques like The List & Twist, The Smile and The Mullet. If you’re nice, I’ll share some pics of my own mullet from back in high school. It was pretty epic. Dan’s pretty epic himself. Let’s take a listen. ---------- You can follow Dan on LinkedIn. And check out his site, where you can learn about his courses, his speaking offerings and his amazing book—A Self-Help Guide for Copywriters. Which is really a self-help guide for people who like to think. I like to think my site and my Substack newsletter are pretty nifty too. I’m on a mission to make work suck less and I’d love for you to join me. Want to make that desuckification happen ASAP? Let’s set up a free half hour strategy session. If you enjoyed the episode, please like, share, rate, review, subscribe or consider starting a booty short company called DesuckifyTwerk and creating a co-branding opportunity where we put our logo on one cheek and yours on the other. Bye, everyone! #desuckifyworkpodcast #desuckifywork #executivecoaching #advertising #adagencies #copywriting #structureandcreativity #creativeprocess ---------- LINKS: Listen: https://lnkd.in/gErkkiDu Watch: https://lnkd.in/grs-M-hc Follow Dan: https://lnkd.in/gpd-eXqh Dan’s Site: nelkencreative.com Dan’s Book: https://lnkd.in/gAFdCFm4 My site: thepuddingfactory.net My substack: tjbennett.substack.com Free Discovery Session: https://lnkd.in/gA8nechy

I spoke with Katie McDonald for this week’s DesuckifyWork® podcast. And she reminded me why I became a coach. Katie’s good like that. Her words are ninjas, synaptic mercenaries bringing clarity to a chaotic mind. I began my coaching career a few years ago after 25+ years in the ad industry, working as an ECD, CD and writer for agencies big and small, including TBWA\Chiat\Day, Saatchi, Ogilvy, Hill Holliday and Garage Team Mazda. My mission is to desuckify work. And my long journey through ad-land has taught me one powerful truth, a truth Katie helped me reconnect with during our conversation: Only creativity can stop the suck. We spend years using our creativity to solve massive client problems. We’re good at it. And yet, despite our success, we’re often unhappy, frustrated, stuck. As an executive coach, I help clients turn their creativity inward. So you can tap into that beautifully weird mind to make your work life as amazing as the work you create for clients. Better, even. We can solve big, juicy problems like imposter syndrome, lack of purpose and meaning, low employee engagement and lack of fun… remember fun? And yes, we’ll develop an actual creative brief for this work, together. It may just be the best one you’ve ever worked on. If you’re ready to begin, let’s talk. #desuckifywork #executivecoaching #advertising #adagencies #youarethecreativebrief ---------- Listen to episode: https://lnkd.in/eN8thGZF Watch episode: https://lnkd.in/eMyHeHum Free Strategy Session: https://lnkd.in/gA8nechy

Afternoon doom scrollers, we see you. Call me if you'd like a little less suck in your work life. #desuckifywork #executivecoaching #creativeleadership #advertising

You’re a selfish bastard. You spend all day doing things. Work things. Family things. Community things. You’re busy as hell. Impacting people everywhere you go. But you’re not making time for you. You know, that dude or dudette in the mirror who stares back at you pleadingly, begging for some relief. Maybe tomorrow, you think as you run off to do more stuff. Important stuff! People are counting on you! You are also counting on you. And it’s pretty selfish of you to ignore that fact. Because the version of you that everyone else is getting is depleted, distracted, and drowning. How is that helpful? Today’s guest on the DesuckifyWork® podcast, Katie McDonald, is here to help you nurture your soul, so you can bring more joy, inspiration and love to everyone around you. It starts by remembering that we are human beings first and foremost, not human doings. So who do you want to be? Our relationship with ourselves will outlast all others. We must nurture it. We must confront our mortality and allow that awareness to lead us to more intentional choices. Ones that align with who we truly are. We must stop seeing work as this “other” thing separate from our “real” lives. It’s all life. We can start to see this with a simple experiment—stop keeping separate work and personal calendars. Put it all together and see the difference it makes in how you choose to spend your time. We must listen to Katie… she is wise and compassionate and brilliant. ————— You can follow Katie on LinkedIn. And check out her site—it’ll grab you from the first headline… “for doers mastering how to be.” I think we can all relate to that. I bet some of you can relate to my site and my Substack newsletter as well. I’m on a mission to make work suck less and I’d love for you to join me. Want to make that desuckification happen ASAP? Let’s set up a free half hour strategy session. If you enjoyed the episode, please like, share, rate, review, subscribe or consider raising a flock of carrier pigeons and training them to deliver messages that threaten an unholy unleashing of poop if they don’t listen to this show on the reg. Bye, everyone! #desuckifyworkpodcast #desuckifywork #executivecoaching #advertising #adagencies #selfcare #worklifeintegration ————— LINKS: Listen: https://lnkd.in/eN8thGZF Watch: https://lnkd.in/eMyHeHum Follow Katie: https://lnkd.in/eWgE7Jbj Katie’s Site: bnourished.com My site: thepuddingfactory.net My substack: tjbennett.substack.com Free Discovery Session: https://lnkd.in/gA8nechy

I’m honored and excited to join the brilliant team of coaches at Strong Training & Coaching!

What you do > what you say. That’s not just true for ad agencies, btw. Are your actions supporting what you say you believe in? If not, perhaps we should discuss during a free half hour strategy session. #desuckifywork #executivecoaching #advertising #adagencies #practicewhatyoupreach