On July 28th of 2011, VIA won the AdAge award for Small Agency of the Year.
Believe it or not, this is something we set out to do. We have always been a goal driven agency, so when John Coleman (our founder and CEO) and I set out on a five-year plan some four years ago, this was decidedly one of our top goals.
And so it is.
I’m really proud. I’m very grateful. I’m very hopeful.
But for some weird reason I am not overly joyous.
Maybe I’m an old grouch who thinks about things too much. Or maybe it’s the Irish in me that forces me to look at even the brightest successes with a sense of scrutiny and trepidation.
Regardless, while winning this award holds great promise, I’m worried about what VIA will become and at what cost. I’m not concerned that we will change, because change is inevitable. And more often than not, a good thing. It’s how we will change that’s “got my ass wonderin’” as Chuck D once said.
Mainly what I wonder about is myself. How will I lead through this period of exposure and possibly growth? How will I adjust my day, my hopes and fears? Or will I just do what I have been doing a lot of lately–pushing on, avoiding the time to reflect, choosing instead to produce.
I don’t have the answers. I know that I had been doing a lot of soul searching even before we were bestowed with the award. I know I wanna get back to being more patient and more nurturing. I know I wanna get back to feeling more, and maybe doing and saying less. I know I was once really good at this job. And I hope I can still be, and help this company grow.
It’s not that I’m scared. It’s just that I’m thinking hard about a lot of things.
My heart is full of hope and desire because it always is. I hope to get it back to love, patience and understanding as well.
Several years ago VIA decided to do a formal corporate list of “Operational Values,” and we came up with a list of five mundane, over-architected promises that we would all put on our walls (shit like, “respect others even though they don’t agree with you.”) There was a mandate to hang these values, framed, on your wall.
I refused. I decided on hanging my own “values” (courtesy of Lennon/McCartney) on the wall:
“AND IN THE END,
THE LOVE YOU TAKE
IS EQUAL TO THE LOVE YOU MAKE.”
And with that. I charge on.
