What is undersharing costing you?

We spent the weekend in Dallas as I completed a bucket list goal of seeing a baseball game in every ballpark in North America.

After pursuing that goal for 15+ years, just walking into the final ballpark was going to be pretty exciting. But I couldn’t have imagined just how amazing the weekend would turn out to be.

Danyel and I could have just gone to the game, and it would have been awesome. But I’d been sharing this goal with people for years. Odds are, even if we’ve never met, you probably know I’ve been chasing this dream for a long time. As a result of sharing that goal, people wanted to help or participate. They’d ask which parks I had left. I got invited to games or people offered to get on a plane and meet me at the final ballparks.

They were cheering me on and felt engaged.

As a result, for my final ballpark — we were surrounded by 30 family and friends who were very invested and wanted to celebrate the milestone with us. Their participation made it so much more than just a checking of the box.

At AMI we are constantly reminding you that we learn faster and better when we learn together. That’s true inside our shops as well.

One of the things we hear from your employees over and over is “I wish we understood the agency’s/owner’s goals so I could help us get there.”

I know you think you share the goals. But most of you don’t do it often enough, with enough detail or context so they get excited about helping you get there.

This has been a tough year for many of you and I know that’s weighing on you. But many of you are bearing this weight alone. Or maybe sharing it occasionally with your leadership team.

A couple weeks ago, we facilitated our Digital Summit and hung out with 50+ agency employees. The common denominator was that they all desperately want to contribute. They want to be amazing team players. They’re hungry to be vitally useful to you, your team, and your clients.

The truth is, no one can help us accomplish our goals if they don’t know what they are. Your employees want to contribute. Let them.

As summer winds down and we think about the final months of 2023, make the agency goals (and not just the financial goals) a part of your ongoing conversations. Invite them to help you find solutions. Share progress and obstacles.

You will get there faster together.

Drew McLellan, with Agency Management Institute, produces a weekly newsletter with updates, tips, and market information of value to marketing agencies, owners, and employees. If you'd like to receive the weekly newsletter, follow this link to subscribe.