Navigating change: The ability to adapt and pivot
CBS Interactive Midwest Entertainment, News, and Sports Digital Ad Sales Team, 2016
To survive in today’s Advertising landscape, you have to be able to adapt to change. When I started my career in Digital Advertising nearly 15 years ago, I never imagined a world where traditional T.V. as we knew it back then could eventually die. It was all that I knew, and I loved watching T.V.— so much that it was one of my dreams to work for a T.V. Network—(which I successfully achieved by the way). But times are changing, and in order to survive change you have to be able to embrace change and adapt.
Over the course of my career, I have survived many company restructures, and have adapted to change after change. Rather it was how the company I was a part of sold a product or service, or a change directly to my job and responsibilities— I have always continually adapted to change in my career. Below are some lessons that I have learned from navigating and surviving change after change:
Have vision, and look beyond what is right in front of you. I wouldn’t be an expert in Digital Advertising and Account Management if it wasn’t for my ability to look ahead and beyond what was directly in front of me. When I started on the Microsoft account in 2011 as a Digital Media Associate at Starcom Mediavest Group in Chicago, I always joke that I was on the “B” team. At the time, TV and Print were the focus and the cash cows for advertisers, and digital budgets were small and an afterthought. Our budgets for the entire year were about as much as some brands spend with on single partner in today’s world. I didn’t know what Digital Advertising would look like in the future, but I knew that it WAS the future. I decided that every job that I would take going forward would have a digital component or focus. I also decided that I wanted to become an expert in Digital Advertising, and my strategy was to learn as many parts of Digital Advertising as possible and the easiest way to do this was by having multiple Digital roles. So after my first Digital Media Associate role, I took on a Digital Campaign Specialist role where I learned to traffick ads. Then I became a Digital Account Planner, where I learned how to pull inventory, build media plans. By the time that I had become a Digital Account Manager, I had worked on the agency side building RFPs, and helped place Digital ad buys. I had trafficked the ads and managed delivery, reporting, and optimizations, and I had put together sales plans, helped with pitch decks, and worked on a sales team—which ultimately gave me all the experience I needed to perform my Digital Account Manager role. Being able to look beyond what is right in front of me and taking small steps to build onto my expertise has made the the Digital Advertising Expert that I am today.
Evaluate your skill set, and take note of what is transferable in the new world. Just because the world around you is continually changing does not mean that you no longer have value to add to the world. Regardless of where you are in your career, you have value to add. So take note of what value you add to the world, your industry, and the people around you. And then make sure that you are able to clearly articulate what your value is to the world around you.
Embrace change, and remember that change brings new opportunities. I am someone who has had to embrace change in order to have a better life. Leaving home at the age of 16 and and transferring to a high school with 4,000 students from a high school that didn’t have more than 500 total in grades 8-12 forced me to adapt. Changes in life are hard, but how you navigate the change is what makes or breaks you. I have always navigated change by finding the positive, and leaning into that. Any time that I had a new manager, I viewed it as an opportunity to prove my value and potentially gain a new advocate. Whenever my role changed, I embraced the new skills that I was forced to learn and leaned into the fact that this change made me more marketable, and more valuable. I used chaos as an opportunity to organize and build order. Yes- change can sometimes be hard, but it can also offer a whole new world of opportunity.
Build a tribe that can help you navigate change. I wouldn’t be where I am in my career today without my support system, which includes— my family, friends, other professionals that I have met along the way, mentors, mentees, managers, my therapist, and God. I am incredibly blessed to have such an incredible support system that has always helped me navigate both my personal and professional changes. Having a tribe allows for you to gain the knowledge and support that you need because one person can’t possibly be everything for you.
Always stay ready for what is next, and be open to pivoting. Sometimes, the world around you gives you signals that you need to pivot, or create change for yourself. This can be caused by no longer feeling fulfilled in your job or career, working hard to maintain excellence but hitting a glass ceiling, having a manager that you don’t jive with, or the job that you have done for years is being outsourced or eliminated. By always being prepared for what is next even while you are thriving, you will never feel stuck. So always be prepared to talk about your career success, and have a portfolio or brag sheet of highlights and things that you have accomplished. Make sure that your resume is always updated, and never stop building your network. Stay on top of industry trends, and build skills that will be applicable to what is emerging. And never be afraid to pivot.
In today’s world, there is so much competition for attention, and social media sites, music streaming, and podcasts are dominating. There is undoubtedly a shift in the way that content is being produced and distributed, and there is a rise in content creators. That means that as entertainment providers and marketing professionals, we need to be able to adapt and pivot. As our world continues to innovate and evolve, there will always be change, so learn how to successfully navigate it and be open to pivoting.
