As a member of the Seattle Chapter of SMPS and a lifetime resident of the Seattle area you can imagine that I am swept up in everything Seahawks right now. As I reflect on what has made this team and many other Seahawk teams successful I came to think about our now famous 12th Man pretty quickly. Our fans are arguably the loudest in the league and give our Hawks a distinct advantage at home since it is so loud other teams have trouble calling offensive plays (more opponent false starts in Century Link Field than any other stadium the last six seasons combined). Our fans give our team a boost with their straight up loudness and vocal support. Players often comment after the game that they hear the fans and bad plays are quickly erased and the desire to hang on to the ball, make a big block or hold on for dear life when sacking a quarterback goes up a level or two. In other words, the encouragement of the fans directly affects how well the players play.
Then I started thinking about the beloved technical professionals in our firms and how rarely they get excited about successes or celebrate anything to pump themselves up or give them the extra boost to really go all out. After even more thought and reflection (scary, I know) it dawned on me that the marketing and business development professionals of a firm need to be the 12th Man. Technical professionals approach most of their work with the goal of designing or building something that won’t fail. Not to build the best looking bridge or highest building but to build a bridge that won’t fall into the water or a building that won’t crumble during a seismic event. Instead of looking for positives in their work they are often approaching it from a perspective of how can I do this so it doesn’t fail. It is a mindset that does not naturally lend itself to a lot of back slapping or jovial camaraderie among the technical staff.
This is where we can step in. We can make an event out of announcing a big win or have a BD person come back from a client meeting and tell the project staff how happy the client is with their work. Or let the staff know that because they are so good at delivering projects marketing the firm is easy. Sometimes it is the little things that can give someone that little extra boost to put in just that little bit of extra effort that may separate the work your firm does from the competitors. Now, none of us need to try and break 136 decibels at a staff meeting or anything but taking the effort to let folks know they are doing a good job and how it makes marketing the firm easier does go a long way.
And, of course, lastly, GO HAWKS!