Chapter One

Do You Believe in Magic?

"Before I present you with the television commercials, print ads, and radio scripts that we have prepared for you, let me explain the underlying thinking that went into your advertising campaign."

After months of work, this was the moment Steve had been working so hard for—his first campaign proposal. And he was scared to death.

Steve distributed the spiral-bound proposal to the eleven vice presidents, and then handed one to Roger, the President of United Bank. The ten men and two women sitting in the semicircle in front of him were his clients, and they would decide if his advertising campaign was acceptable for the upcoming year.

Steve directed them to the budget section of the proposal, forwarding his PowerPoint slides to support his presentation. He detailed the percentages of the budget allocated to the creative design, production expenses, and media buys. He outlined the media recommendations and the rationale behind each one.

No one asked any questions, and Steve sensed they were just waiting to see the creative approach. The energy in the room seemed to shift as he pulled several large foam-core posters from his oversized presentation case and declared, "Since there seem to be no questions regarding the budget, let me move on to the creative approach we're recommending for television, print, radio, and direct mail."

Steve held up the storyboards depicting important frames from the television commercials and the handsketched layouts for the print ads. He projected the accompanying scripts and ad copy onto the screen.

After reading the radio scripts aloud, Steve sat down, took a deep breath, and waited to hear what they thought. There was an awkward pause until one of the VPs said, "You took a much lighter approach than I thought you would, but maybe that's good—it projects a friendly bank."

Another VP spoke up. "You've obviously put a lot of time and effort into this campaign."

After another awkward silence, all heads turned to the center of the semicircle as Roger announced, "This is garbage."

Everyone was stunned. No one looked at Steve, who went blank. He didn't know how to respond. He nodded his head up and down as though he were trying to shake out a thought. Realizing he had to say something, he mindlessly began gathering the boards.

"I guess we've missed the mark," he said. "I'll go back and talk to the creative team. I'll be back in touch next week."

Steve didn't remember how he got to his car. He found himself driving—but not back to the agency. There was no way he could face his creative team. Thank heaven his boss, Rhonda, was out of town. He needed to find a place where he could be alone and think. He also needed a good cup of coffee. Driving through an unfamiliar neighborhood, he happened upon a place called Cayla's Café. He went in, hoping to find relief.

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Excerpted from Self Leadership and the One Minute Manager: Increasing Effectiveness Through Situational Self Leadership: Discover the Magic of No Excuses by Ken Blanchard, Susan Fowler, Laurence Hawkins
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