Personally, I sweat like it’s my favorite, full time past-time. That wasn’t so until I moved to the tropics, whereupon every day has been a sweaty day.

But I’m talking professionally now. In a business sense, as in, sales and profits.

In that context, what really worries you? What makes your heart beat just a bit faster with the thought of it? What causes your lips to tense, your brow to furrow, your eyes to close from the scenarios IT conjures in your brain? Or maybe it’s not IT at all, but THEM. The many causes of worry, of doubt, of concern, marketing-wise, that is.

No worries? “What, me worry?” you say?

Oh dear. If that is the case I feel very sorry for you. A man without worries is like a patient on the operating table. Oblivious to the scalpel slicing away at his brain vortex, the patient, in a state of anesthetised bliss, never worries that his surgeon, more concerned about making tee-off time, is about to end his cognitive abilities forever.

The fact is, you should embrace whatever makes you sweat. It’s a really, really good idea. I’ll give you a couple of examples.

Getting Results

As a “Direct Marketing Specialist”, it is my responsibility to deliver results. Quantifiable, accountable numbers, whether good or bad. I sweat about the possibility of “bad”. “Bad”, in my lexicon of meanings, would be getting less in sales than it costs to try to obtain them. But even “OK” is bad, when OK means a return equivalent to the investment.

So what’s good about bad, in this case? Because I sweat about it, I make sure every single possible cause for a bad result is obliterated. I make sure we are talking to the right people, at the right time, with the right message. I agonise over every written thought and how the chosen visuals help to reinforce them. I teleport myself into the minds of the receivers of this message and ask myself, “Does this argument make sense? Does it move logically, and naturally, from one point to the next? Is every possible objection to my plea dealt with and overcome? Am I talking like a friend, or at least like someone who might someday be considered a friend?”

Without these sweat-provoked questions, and the accompanying, proficiently applied answers, I would be doomed to both cognitive and professional failure. And I’m not.

Being a Star

Let’s face it. Whether you are writing copy, or art directing or working with clients or managing a brand, your aim is stardom. Being a star, of course, means even more than stepping into a spotlight to receive an award. It means money, lah. It means a bigger bonus, a better increment, a promotion, an upgrade to a regional responsibility, more perks, improved access to the powers that be, and yes, a step above your peers.

What? You don’t want stardom? Posh on you. You’re fired.

Ambition is another really, really good idea. But like anything energetic, one push in the wrong direction and the laws of physics apply. For every WRONG reaction, there will be an equal and opposite WRONG reaction.

Again, that’s were sweat comes in. But in this case, you must sweat about the right things, so all your energy will be rightfully applied.

So how? What should you rightfully sweat about? Is it whatever impressions you make with your clients, your bosses? Should you sweat about saying the right things, at the right times? Is cautiousness something that will cool your anxieties on your way to the top? Would you sweat less if the creative was safer, less expected?

Here’s what I sweat about. Frankly, I can be a brutally honest person. Especially when it comes to anything I’m passionate about, and believe to be the “right thing”. But I don’t sweat about that. I worry, a lot, about how my passion is perceived. Because, believe it or not, whatever opinions I share, professionally, have nothing at all to do with my own stardom.

I’ve always believed stardom is born of honesty, compassion, experience and the commitment to deliver … results. Not results for your own personal gain, but for your client. It is my firm belief that if you sweat about what others might think of you, at the expense of giving your best, most sincere advice, then everyone loses.

So if you want to be a star, think less about what YOU want and more about what you must deliver. Forget about maneuvers, political tricks, inter-colleague war games. Think about results, and your ability to deliver them. Then concentrate about being seen as a nice person.

I’m still sweating about that.

By Kurt Crocker, Creative Director
Drayton Bird, Crocker & Mano Sdn Bhd (DBC&M)