The Greatest Resignation

"The key to this business is personal relationships."

Jerry Maguire (1996)

With the convergence of the Superbowl, the Great Resignation (Realization, Reimagining, etc.), and the SMPS Pacific Regional Conference, I came to the stark realization that Marketing in Motion is now five years old! It’s been an interesting journey and I love finding new material and motivation. Because of this overlap in well-timed events, I found it the perfect opportunity to review a film that has been on my wish list for a long time now. At my previous firm, one of my coworkers and I commiserated on the shared experience of having to beg, plead, stalk, and barter for proposal content. It reminded me of the infamous movie line “Help me help you!”, which is when I realized I had to write about Jerry Maguire.

Years later, the country, and many parts of the civilized world, are in the midst of this “Great Resignation” (for the purpose of this content, I prefer realization). The only people shocked by this mass event, to be honest, are the employers. I used to think there was a growing issue with moving firms every year or two, and it made me feel like a failure more than once. Now I realize that, to exemplify the quote from the film “The past few years a lot of the little things were going wrong. Lately, it’s gotten worse.”

The Review

Jerry Maguire predicted, or rather revealed, that there is more to life than the job. In the 90s, perhaps business was about “Show me the money!” Office culture was still riding on the high of the materialistic 80s. Now, after years of war, recession, joblessness, housing market crash, and the pandemic, I think many working professionals that don’t have retirement as an option are following Jerry’s example of resigning and finding other ways to fulfill their lives and careers. As Rod Tidwell puts it, it’s not about the coin, it’s about “the Quan”. Rod Tidwell explains his word to Jerry, explaining:

“Yeah, man, it means love, respect, community... and the dollars too. The package. The QUAN.”

In terms of marketing in the AEC world, Jerry Maguire is a near parallel to the professionals in the marketing and business development world. “I’m the guy you don’t usually see. I’m the one behind the scenes. I’m the sports agent.” You can pretty much replace “sports agent” with “marketing coordinator”. Accurate to the point that when rewatching the scene where he does have a breakdown/breakthrough, I had an emotional reaction, more like a memory, based on a couple of similar scenes in my own life. Especially in the wake of the pandemic, after a death in the family I had a long think about what I am doing with my life. I am still acting on that realization from two years ago. In one argument between Jerry and Rod, Jerry accuses him of being a “paycheck player” who is all about how much money he can get for his talent (talent but not the right attitude). In a world of survival, there’s nothing wrong with being a paycheck player, and for marketing coordinators, proposals bring paychecks. But playing with your heart and not your head, if your heart wants more, the pull between the two causes the same kind of emotional and mental breakdown that Jerry had. That we’ve all had. This re-evaluation is causing workers in the AEC industry to examine how they navigate, as Jerry puts it, “a cynical world, in a business of tough competitors”. 

Businesses now are showing signs of stress caused, in some cases, by their own success. Or at least what they considered success. What is successful for the company is not always successful for the employee. Aligned values aren’t just needed, they were sorely needed yesterday, to ensure retention and longevity. A therapist once told me “how can you walk different paths and still hold hands?” Of course, she was talking about my personal relationship with my boyfriend at the time, but the same principle applies. In an industry of professional services, as AEC marketing is, engagement and personal attention should be cornerstones of your marketing and business development plan. If you are just now realizing this, you’re behind the game. “Play with your heart and not for the paycheck” applies to your clients as well as your employees. 

I am out here for you. You don't know what it's like to be ME out here for YOU. It is an up-at-dawn, pride-swallowing siege that I will never fully tell you about, ok?

Your marketing staff is thinking this on most days and they are likely not telling you. Because they can’t - they know you already have enough burdens to bear. As a project manager, pursuit lead, or department head, you have multiple projects, several staff that report to you, a family to look after, and a 15-hour day. And we get it. We are working on multiple pursuits to keep your staff employed, we are working on that next client presentation to keep your project funded. We are printing that proposal on the weekend or late at night so your bonus can help fund your kid’s college fund or pay for braces. But we need your help, we need you to “help me help you”. Your marketing staff, like a sports agent, wants you to succeed and do well and they want to help you. This works much better when you respect their schedule, answer their questions, clarify project expectations, and listen to their needs. Marketing staff knows you are the star player, the MVP, they write and create about it all day. I think that’s why some of my favorite scenes in the film are the honest talks between Rod and Jerry, the talks we wish we had, and occasionally get. Have talks like that more often with your marketing team, and make it a two-way talk, your proposals and projects will run a lot smoother.

I realized that the perspective I was really needing for this article would come from someone who has actually done it. Someone in the marketing world who has walked away from a firm to start their own consulting firm marketing professional services. So I invited my good friend and colleague, Cameron Hagans, CPSM, to give his perspective on the film through a brief Q&A. He started his own consulting service a couple of years ago and has learned the cycle and the balance of being your own company. He was kind enough to share the honesty and the bravery of what it takes below.

Is there a scene in the movie that resonates with your situation of starting your own consulting firm?

Trust your instincts. The “Mission” statement resonated with Jerry, because at his core he knew the path he was on had to change. Chances are, it’s not your first rodeo and you know if your intentions are good – and true. Once you acknowledge this truth, take action. So many of us worry about what-ifs. We are constantly afraid: afraid to make less money, afraid to fail, afraid to seek out our true selves. If you want an amazing life, stop living like everyone else. Yes, there are worries; but at least they are your own. If you have the skills to pay the bills, go for it. You can always get another job and make more money. So, dare to dream, then act. Like the man said in the copy mat, “That’s how you become great, man. Hang your balls out there.”

How are managing AEC firms and managing sports stars similar? Or Different?

What they have in common is incredibly talented and high-performing individuals in a career that mandates a lot of responsibility and has little tolerance for failure. There are not a lot of “redo” opportunities in the AEC world. The project success and the workers’ and general public’s safety is all on the AEC technical staff. It’s high pressure and they are used to being self-reliant to be successful. AEC marketing is a career in service. Our clients are internal. The opportunity for us as marketers is to help them understand we want to make them successful. Make marketing the best part of their day. The client they want, you can help. The project they want, you can help. Demonstrate your willingness to help them achieve their goals. In most of my experience with AEC technical staff, when they win, you win.

Is there a line in the film that you would use with your clients, which one and why?

“If [the heart] is empty, [the head] doesn't matter." You must always keep in mind there is a person – with friends, family, dreams, aspirations, all of it – that you are trying to work with. Their name is front and center on that project. They have a lot at risk if the project fails. You must be concerned with their needs and help assuage their fears. If your focus is only on why you are great or why your services are better, you missed the point. Success is not teaming. Success is not partnering. You have to care about the person behind that project. This is how you build it together.

What does "the Quan" mean to you?

For me, “the Quan” is helping people – including myself – reach their next level of potential. Nothing gives me more satisfaction than helping a small business get to that next level or beat out the “big boys” in the final ranking. But AEC marketing services go beyond the submittal. For example, one client told me the only reason he could take his wife out for her birthday this year was because he knew I was pushing the proposal forward. He was free to keep his personal time personal. When you improve someone’s quality of life while helping to drive their business by landing projects they want to work on with clients they like, there is not much else you can ask for in a day.

Do you have an ambassador of "Quan"? How do they bring the "Quan?"

It’s not so much one person, but a period of time. Over the last 3 years, my dad, my uncle, and my grandfather all passed away. Unfortunately, it took all of this to realize what life is and what it has to offer. If you cannot appreciate the day for the good it provided, find the joy in little, everyday things, and stop at some point and say “thanks”, this life will pass you by. And not every day is amazing. As Jerry’s mentor, Dicky Fox, stated, “…[r]oll with the punches. Tomorrow is another day." In my life, there have been valleys lasting years. Wake up and ask yourself, “What will I learn today?” and then get after it. Be relentless. No one will fight for you harder than you will fight for yourself. The Declaration of Independence does not guarantee happiness, but an inalienable right for the pursuit of happiness. It’s your right! Are you in pursuit? Appreciate the opportunities you have around you, foster them, and stop letting fear dictate your life. Once you awaken to this, you can never go back.

Any time I worry about money, providing for my boys, or if going out on my own was a good decision, I read this excerpt from “Citizenship in a Republic”, by Theodore Roosevelt (April 23, 1910).

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows, in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."

And after reading it, I have reassured myself this one truth: I have known both, triumphant victory and devastating defeat, and I’m still very much alive.

Find Cameron Hagans, CPSM on LinkedIn and learn more about how he can bring value and pursuit results to your AEC business.