Tackle the tough stuff, by George

When I was a young guy in advertising, I was invited to be on the board of the local advertising federation's club. I was nervous. After all, I was a young punk surrounded by these real ancient statesmen and stateswomen. That's when a real old guy (he must have been 45 years old) named George pulled me to the side and gave me some great advice:

Volunteer to take on the toughest assignment - the one that no one has done well, the one that no one wants.

George told me this with a wry smile on his face. Honestly, I wondered if he was pulling my leg. I nervously asked why and he gave me more sage advice:

If you take on a task that has already been done well, you'll have to deal with everyone's very high, maybe unreasonable expectations. Taking on the task that no one wants will give you a chance to do what no one else has done before. You almost can't lose.

I followed George's advice and took on an undesirable board task that was a perennial failure and, in doing so, became a hero in the eyes of the board. Truthfully, I did nothing particularly great. But I did take on the task that no one else wanted.

Sometimes, half of the battle is tackling the thing that nobody wants to.

Barry LaBov
LaBov and beyond Marketing Communications
http://www.labov.com/