It's hard to believe another year has passed. I have always heard the older you get, the quicker time goes. I never believed it until this past year. It was an amazing year - both personally and professionally. It was one of those years that make you happy to be alive and leave you feeling blessed beyond measure.
As we move ahead and set goals for 2018, one of the most pressing ones is growth. Growth not only for our clients, of course, but growth for the agency. When people hear the word growth, they immediately think of growth in a financial aspect. While yes, this is important to us - it isn't the growth we are speaking of.
Growth to us means:
1. LISTENING - Listening to our clients' customers and better understanding the reason they engage, follow and buy. Listening to our clients' concerns and developing better strategies for them to get in front of their target audiences on a more intimate level. Listening to our constituents and vendor partners when they want to show us something new or challenge us to step away from the status quo and become more innovative.
2. LEARNING - Pushing ourselves to learn at LEAST one new thing EVERY SINGLE DAY. Keeping abreast of new technology that will better serve our clients. Learning from our clients, whether it be about a new innovative product in their industry or a new communication strategy that they have recently implemented.
3. LEADERSHIP - Leading the agency with integrity, respect and accountability. Improve my ability to see the big picture and take a longer range, broader business perspective. Learn to step back from the day-to-day tactical details of my business and focus on the “why”, not just the “what” and “how”.
4. BEING BETTER CITIZENS OF OUR COMMUNITY - Taking time out for things like community service, mentoring underprivileged kids and/or adults, serving on a board or volunteering for an event. Kansas City is an amazing city and full of philanthropic opportunities so there is really no excuse for not finding something near and dear to your heart to be a part of.
5. TAKING RISKS - Putting ourselves out there - in a BIG way. Going that extra - often times uncomfortable - mile for our clients and our agency. Refusing to take no for an answer. Pushing ourselves to take that step to DO MORE. DO BETTER. BE STRONG. After all, you just never know who you are inspiring along the way.
So here's to a BRIGHT, BEAUTIFUL and BLESSED 2018!! We look forward to the next step in this exciting journey. God Bless.