The Forgotten Value?

While perusing the advertising column in a Communication Arts Illustration Annual, penned by Luke Sullivan, I was struck - with particular force - by the final sentence. It read, “Being great on paper is never as important as actually being a good person.” His comment was in reference to some famous ad people he knew who were insufferable, arrogant egotists. Luke happens to be one of the most honored ad writers in the world. His refreshing opinion comes with some degree of clout.

One of the more memorable advertising experiences I've had was the opportunity to enjoy a meal with Tom McElligott (co-founder of Fallon McElligott), one of my heroes in the business. It wasn’t so much what he said that was impressive, it was the fact that he brought along his teenaged son and obviously enjoyed being with him. He was quite deferential to the teen while also being very polite and cordial with those of us who surrounded him. Pretty decent, I thought, for someone who was king of the hill.

Luke Sullivan wrote about an art director with whom he worked named Bob Barrie. Bob may be the most decorated A.D. of all time. He had every reason to be a high-falutin’ jerk, but instead, Luke says, he would quietly keep cranking out great ideas even though the client was killing them all. And, according to Sullivan, he never whined. Ever. Instead, he combined unlimited resiliency with class (and a whole lot of talent).

I worked for Bob Love (co-founder of Harris & Love) once upon a time. He had that same kind of decency and class. He was kind and gentle even when he was red-lining my ad copy to smithereens. Maybe that’s one reason why his agency survived and prospered so long. Even when he played the role of "chief judge,” he was a pleasure to work with.

There’s a moral in all of this somewhere. I assume you can figure it out. Whatever it is, it’s probably reminiscent of a beloved corporate value that Richter7, the ad agency at which I'm employed, espouses. It states simply:
--WE VALUE GRACIOUSNESS.

I'm not sure I can think of a corporate, or personal, value that deserves to be ranked higher than that.