How to Make More Kool Aid
This industry has a real knack for turning optimists into hardened cynics. Is it the soul-crushing pain when a great idea never makes it past the internal review? Surprise budget cuts? I’m not sure, but I’ve seen it happen, and I bet you have too.
Which is why the level of positivity and ambition that radiates from my agency continues to surprise me, even after 10 years. Annoyingly, my co-workers are cooler than me, good humans, and deeply inspiring, both in and outside the office. The passion they throw into chasing big ambitions and then fighting tooth-and-nail to bring them to life is contagious.
But sometimes, as I look around the office or at my little Zoom boxes, I see that they are tired – even the most resilient. Their faces say it all: it shouldn’t be this hard to get a win, even a tiny one.
They’re all out of Kool-Aid, and as a leader in this organisation, it’s on me to make some more – quickly.
Let’s make one thing clear: I’m not talking about the unhealthy, dangerous Kool-Aid that some places manufacture to take advantage of their people (the origin of the expression speaks volumes).
I’m talking about Kool-Aid that is a vision partnered with action that inspires a team. A vision that creates momentum and, equally, a healthy sense of perspective.
So, how do you make more Kool-Aid when you're acutely aware of the not-so-glamorous realities that your people are living?
1. Give your people as much money and resources as possible. Dig deep. Scrub budgets. Times are hard and budgets tight, but do as much as you possibly can without making a foolish business decision that risks the greater good. No one wants to hear about your dippity-do agency parties before you’ve done this.
2. Give them your absolute focus. When you show up, show up. Your phone on the table during an important conversation looks like a lame power move. People can tell when you’re checking emails instead of listening to them on Zoom by the reflection in your blue light glasses. Telling people you’re squeezing them in during a day of back-to-backs might be true, but it sets a tone of pressure and anxiety. All anyone wants, from the smallest child to the most senior executive, is to have your undivided attention, to be listened to and heard.
3. Crystalise what you’re all rooting for. Agencies are the worst at nurturing their own brand. Clients and consultants have noticed, especially with the influx of new agencies and consolidations. They are CONFUSED. Figure out what you’re rooting for and share it with your people and partners so you can root for it together.
4. Bulletproof your cultural reward system. Be clear about what success looks like in your organisation. It can look like business success, yes, but it can also be someone’s behaviour that lives up to the collective purpose. Someone being accountable for something that isn’t in their job description. Then reward it, financially and with proper recognition. This is hard (truthfully, one of the hardest parts of this job) and we’re still on the journey to be incredible at this. But when you see glimmers of it working, it’s a beautiful thing.
If this feels irrelevant to you because of all your success - it’s not. This question should never be irrelevant, no matter how good it gets. Success always comes at a cost, and that cost is borne by your people, even if they’re willing to pay it.
It’s hard to balance vision and action. It might be the hardest thing for leadership: keeping the vision of the best possible version of the agency while radiating a wildly refreshing sense of reality.
But this is the job as Kool-Aid makers. Reminding your people what they’re capable of on their very best days, and proving why your agency is worthy of their best days too.
