Nusrat Jahan Progga
Were you always singing “Haven’t learned a thing” by Daughtry every time you got yourself into a difficult situation, passed poor judgments or made bad decisions? Below is a collection of stories from successful CEOs, which tell you exactly why you need to learn something from complex situations.
• STEPHEN BLACK (CO-FOUNDER AND CEO, ENGINE DIGITAL)
Stephen’s agency is often hired to solve other people’s problem because of their “fast thinking, knowledge, and craft”. However, for the first time, in their 14 years of existence, they had to seek the help of an outside company to solve their problems, and Justin claims it was worth the money and time. Stephen Black realized that it is okay to ask for help and that there is nothing embarrassing about it.
• GUY HOWARD (GLOBAL CEO, KBS)
Guy Howard was a founder of a creative agency at Amsterdam and one of their clients was Adidas. They were able to impress Adidas with their passion for sports and their past experience in the field. However, after a certain period of time, the clients wanted them to focus more on the fashion aspect of the brand rather than the sports. Instead of moving along with their new ideas, they kept pushing the clients to revert back to their old ways. This repulsed the clients and eventually made them leave, and the company has been suffering from that since. Now that Guy Howard has moved to a global company, he realized that people’s priorities will always keep on changing.
• ANDREW BENETT (GLOBAL CEO, HAVAS CREATIVE GROUP)
Andrew emphasizes on the importance of hiring someone who has a more positive effect on his workplace regardless of their experience or talents. He says that no amount of talent can outweigh the negative impacts of a big ego, and bad behavior.