Someone steals a client, employees recruit others to start up their own firms...
I'm binge watching The Good Wife. I feel almost guilty to say this out loud, but I am and for years I have avoided it because the name of the show and the images they used to sell it wasn't enticing enough.
But I did something I have never done before, and that is subscribe to Netflix, less than a month ago. Exhausted at work, I found myself watching shows - basically any shows.
Eventually I stumbled upon The Good Wife. My television watching, anti-social behaviour is simply because I can't do anything that uses energy outside of work. Right now I am at a pivotal moment in my business where we all can feel the take off and it requires every inch of my being. It's exciting and scary all at the same time to watch my company Marketing Eye and Robotic Marketer transform but of course there are not enough arms and legs.
Dreaming a little bigger
I'm dreaming a little bigger and putting myself out of my comfort zone on a daily basis. I feel daring, powerful by default and ready. It's kind of weird. I am in control of what comes next or at least I feel as though I have grasp of what the next steps are and how I am will work towards the end game.
There is something that has caught my attention by watching The Good Wife that I never quite expected. Firstly, I am in love for the first time in years with a fictional character Will Gardner (Josh Charles). I am absolutely certain all of his smirks, stares and cheeky remarks are aimed at me. He is for sure my first television crush and I am loving every episode. You can tell that I am spending way too much time alone!
Secondly, the law firm is going through things. Betrayal, lying, cheating, backstabbing, manipulation, stealing of clients, plotting, and basically everything imaginable in between. In the real world, not all of these things happen in business and certainly not in small business. However, there are some things I can relate to and it brings back a few memories:
- Someone you put your trust in lying. It is a tough pill to swallow and no matter how much you want to forgive them, there will always be doubt. Well, that was the old me. Now, at the ripe age of 45, I just see this as something people do because they make bad decisions and perhaps they have spent a lifetime getting away with it. It may not mean that they are as bad as the face value of a lie might suggest. Best thing to do is to grade the lie (is it a white lie, is it a deal breaker, is it criminal) and work out what made them do it. Deal with that, rather than the lie itself.
- Stealing clients even though there is a non-compete cause: I worked with a woman for many years and gave her the power to run my company. I supported her through her breakups with boyfriends and cancer, yet when her performance was in question and the results were not there, I had to address it. It was best that she leave and we both realised this. What I didn't realise was that this person that I trusted not only stole my clients, but had plotted to take staff with her and had been working on this for quite some time. When you give a person a position of authority, you let them do their job. You don't micro manage them and you never not trust them. I was shocked and very hurt. It was personal. I did nothing except say that she cannot use the clients that were the company's clients on her new startup website. Other than that, I never bad mouthed her or said anything to stop what she had done. She picked two big clients - just enough to set up. To be honest, she wasn't a great marketer, but she was a good operations manager. For that reason, I suspect her business didn't work out and everyone moved on. I refused to say anything other than express my hurt at her actions. What I realised fast was there is enough business out there for everyone. People can try and copy you, but in the past when they have, I have found them to fail. My hope though is that they succeed as I firmly believe that raising the bar for marketing agency quality is important to all companies seeing value in marketing. My business stands alone at the top of the tree in the field we specialise in. That didn't come by accident. When people disappoint you, try kindness. Don't give them your time or have conversations with them. They are desperate to feel good about themselves and by you talking to them, they rationalise their bad behaviour and that will not teach them anything. But definitely do move on and do not let it occupy the space in your head.
- People want to pull you down. You live in a nice house, you drive a nice car, you holiday in places they dream of, and money never seems to be a problem. Why can't they too have your life? They can, but it takes hard work and many people are not prepared to put in the extra yards. Jealousy is a wasted emotion. It won't get you places. It will only bring you down and will stop you from getting what you really want. If someone is jealous of you and says nasty things about you, know that they are coming from a place of unhappiness. It isn't about you. Just like when someone tells you something not nice about someone else. Never judge the person they are talking about. What is coming out of someone's mouth is their own insecurities and lack of power.
- Challenges pile up and they don't just come in three's. They come repeatedly one after another testing your resilience. Never, ever give up.
- Love makes you do really stupid things and emotions can make you see things in a way that it really isn't ringing true. You can try and control your emotions, but by doing that you become cold, frozen in this coma that is so afraid of feeling. What do you do? That's something I can't answer yet.
- Romance in the workplace isn't something I have ever done, but from watching The Good Wife I can see how much it interferes with performance and logic.
- Celebrate your wins. Ethan from our Melbourne office said to me the other day that I should spend more time celebrating my wins. He is right. I don't know why I don't. Perhaps it appears to be showing off, and if you come from my family, there is no room for that.
- When you are in a position of power, everyone is trying to bring you down. You have to watch what you do, how you do it, and who you do it with. There are so many more factors to consider.
It's amazing how television can teach you things without you even realising it. Now is Josh Charles single?
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comments ( 3 )
Mac
08 Oct 2018Retaining current customers is a big challenge to all businesses. We might not able to prevent her from stealing our property, but there're still some tactics to protect our customers from our competitors.
ReplyJames
04 Oct 2018Television has always been interesting to me. They have to find the right balance of exaggeration and realism in order to both be believable and entertaining. I would even go as far to say that is extremely common in most good and great tv shows provoke relatable feelings and stories in the viewer. I think this is usually established within the human element and dynamic; are the characters reacting to their circumstances realistically? Are the characters displaying the right emotion? Etc. I think this is especially true in long series with hundreds of episodes.
ReplyIn the end, it’s good to be reflective; no matter the stimuli that caused it. Particularly on bad memories as they are often the best indicators to see how far you’ve come in life.
Annika
28 Sep 2018First off, I want to mention that this article made me genuinely laugh out loud at the beginning. At first, I was a bit skeptical how the connection between a TV show and important business life lessons, but I was definitely surprised with how well it worked out. I think part of that is television works hard to get so many different types of people to connect with the characters and the situations that almost anyone can pull out relevant lessons. However, especially in this blog it is clear that the lessons in The Good Wife can connect to Mellissah's life and then go on to connect to the reader. The personal anecdotes strengthen the TV lessons showing how conflicts commonly seep into offices. I also love the candid nature of the article, where Mellissah admits that there are things she doesn't fully understand or things she should try doing more of like celebrating her successes.
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