Traits of High-Performing Digital Marketing Leaders
Overview Leadership skills can be practiced at any level regardless of the title you have. They are important skills to have because a good leader is able to bring out the best abilities in his/her team members and motivate them to work together in achieving a shared goal. We are all leaders in our own ways as professional digital marketers….we are leaders for our new team members, our clients & their business, and ultimately ourselves. With leadership skills, we’re able to empower each other to bring out the best potential in all of us. Below are some ways you can be a strong leader in your orginzation! Whether it’s an online marketing agency or pretty much any company! Your employer will likely find lots of value in these traits as well, and should fasttrack your sucess. Positivity A positive attitude can go a long way in an office. You should be able to laugh at yourself when something doesn’t go quite as planned; this helps create a happy and healthy work environment, even during busy, stressful periods. Working on Your Communication Skills Working on your communication skills. Great leaders will get buy-in and gain credibility when they can articulate their ideas and provide context for the “why”. Some examples of this are presenting a new strategy to a client or explaining results of complex data insights to a client with minimal digital knowledge. Investing in books or a coach or even doing mock-calls with your peers can be a valuable investment in your personal skills to help you become a better leader. Managing Self Regulation Being unable to regulate yourself consistently drives people away from you. Work is already tough enough, nobody needs to see their leader lacking the ability to control themselves. Engaging in activities like walking, taking short breaks, meditating, working out can help us become better at self-regulating during stressful times. Feedback Leaders should constantly look for opportunities to deliver useful information to team members about their performance. Some skills for giving clear feedback include: Being open to receiving feedback Building confidence in employees Clarity Clearly laying out expectations Coaching Following up Frequent feedback Listening to employees’ responses Mentoring Positive reinforcement Being Honest We may not always be comfortable discussing hard or uncomfortable topics but as a leader, you should be able to have these conversations and be honest about them. Beating around the bush or saying things that aren’t truthful only hurts your credibility as a leader. The best leaders can have tough conversations and they often earn respect for doing them well. Conclusion: As an account manager in the agency world, you’re expected to perform at your best. If you want to do better, you must adopt habits and behaviors that allow you to constantly improve over time. Improving areas of your life – physically, mentally, and emotionally — will allow you to increase your productivity and the ability to lead others in the workplace. Incorporating these traits into your life will help you overcome challenges faster, manage your energy better, and cultivate a happier environment for yourself and the people around you.
5 Work From Home (Anywhere) Productivity Tips
Overview Use the following tips to help you gain clarity on your goals and focus on tasks/activities that will move the needle! You’ll be able to get MORE done These tips will help you become ‘indistractable’ and perform at your highest level You’ll find Structure = Freedom These may sound like common sense, like taking a walk or drinking more water, but the value lies in making them common practice. Set Weekly Goals Early On in the Week What personal goals do you want to achieve by this week? New account? New project? What do you want to accomplish by Friday Doing so will reduce less time wasted and stress when it comes to steady progression with your development and work Wake Up Earlier Giving yourself 30 minutes to an hour before signing on can allow you to ease into your day with more control You can grab a coffee, get in a workout, relax and scroll through social media and set your intentions for the day instead of feeling overwhelmed with work tasks right away Utilize ‘Block Time’ in your work day According to multiple studies, setting 30-50 minute block periods to work on ONE thing allows you to get more done with less distractions. Some examples can include Agenda Prep Email Creative tasks During your block period, you don’t open any other browsers that aren’t relevant to the task at hand. Having discipline to stick to your structured system will provide you more free time and freedom. Take Hourly Breaks Sometimes taking 1 step back can allow you to go 2 steps forward. Greater mental energy Improved physical vitality Greater stamina in the work you do (especially if you have meetings and heavy tasks that day) Set a notification on your phone/laptop to go off at the hour mark and take a 2-3 minute break Get up Drink some water Stand in place Close your eyes & take some deep breaths Reset your eyes and look at something far away which is proven to relax the eyes from eye strain. Blue light from screens can be fatiguing on eyes & mind The world’s largest study of productivity that has ever been done with over 2,000,000 data points, 2,000,000 people participating, found that the most productive people tended to take a break at 52 minutes. Meal Prep Lunch structure at home can vary at home vs in the office Ex. You can be working until 3 and realize you’re super hungry and only to find some junk food in the pantry that’ll hold you over until dinner. Stock up on groceries for the week so that on days you WFH you have your meals and healthy snacks ready Fruits Protein bars Greek yogurt Instant oatmeal Sparkling water Overall, we believe that a hybrid method is the best way for our team to enjoy working collaboratively in the office as well as the comfort of their own home. However, we understand that there can be unintended consequences such as burnout and distractions working-from-home that can be easily addressed with these simple productivity tips to help you stay focused throughout your work day.
Just get the job done: Observations of Hybrid work
Remote Workforce Flexibility For The Win What a few years it has been figuring out how to adjust our working lives and environments to operate when it has been unsafe to meet and work together face to face. Businesses and individuals alike have had to make changes and sacrifices we hadn’t spent all that much time thinking about previously. All normal business operations were forced to shift to virtual, with the only exceptions of ‘essential’ services. If I were required to choose one piece of the whole COVID pandemic that could be considered a win, I’d probably go with the fact that there is an entirely new view on offering the choice to work remotely when appropriate. “Just get the job done.” Within my first 16 months working here at Four15 Digital, I worked from home for 6 weeks leading up to my wife delivering our first child, took 2 paid weeks off for paternity leave, and spent 3 weeks over the summer in Sweden, working for 2 and 1 on PTO. “Just get the job done.” I returned to the States and a few weeks later asked to work from Hawaii the week of Thanksgiving and for another 3 weeks in Sweden over the holidays; again working 2 weeks and taking 1 off. Also OK’d by our co-founders! “Just get the job done.” My wife delivered our second daughter just a month ago, and I’ve been able to choose as many days as we needed where I could work from home to help around the house, keep an eye on the older baby, join for ultrasounds during a lunch break and make it back home to work between calls, etc. “Just get the job done.” Not to mention that I’ve also been promoted 3 times – so I don’t think it slowed my career progression much! Four15 has fully bought into employees’ ability to provide a great level of service to clients, contribute positively to culture, and foster an environment of growth – all while having the flexibility to choose a work location that suits your life circumstances and your individual preferences. We have folks that work from the office nearly everyday, those who choose to work from home 1-2 days a week, and some who are home 4 days a week or only meet up in the office once a month or so. We do ask new employees to spend the first 90 days in the office with us from a training, upskilling, and relationship building standpoint, but beyond that, “Just get the job done.”
Celebrating Keenan Townsend with an All Expenses Trip To Hawaii!
We’re so proud of Keenan, and his beautiful wife, Kelsey. A few years ago, we sent the couple to Hawaii (all expenses paid) for some much needed R&R. Nothing matters more to Four15 Digital than it’s team, and we hope to keep doing these things as Keenan and the rest of our team keep improving every day. Thanks for all you do, Keenan, and congratulations.