\u201cI heard that you quit your job,\u201d the words echoed in my ears. It was a call from Micha\u0142.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
How on earth did he already know?, I thought. It must have been our Lebanese friend who told him. He was the only person who knew.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
\u201cYes, that\u2019s true. The message was being distributed very fast. \u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
\u201cWell… I\u2019ve been thinking about us working together for a long time. Would you like to join us for some time until you find a new job? \u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
\u201cI think we can try. But I want to think things through, so I can only work part-time.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
\u201cOkay.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
It was February 2016 and the person calling me was Micha\u0142.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
We were dear friends for about 7 years and had worked together in 2 other businesses. And the 3rd was apparently on its way. He had started a company with his fianc\u00e9e. Their business baby \u2013 ExplainVisually \u2013 was the first whiteboard animation studio in Poland.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Their first-ever client was Carlsberg which was really impressive. And I became their first full-time employee. My job was to do all the things they didn\u2019t have time to. Which meant mostly marketing and talking with the new clients.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
They had been doing such a great job before that they didn\u2019t need to do any marketing. The clients were just coming after them having seen their work.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
But now they wanted to take it to the next level. And so it started.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
In March, I made an analysis of their marketing strategy and proposed one of mine. We started the execution. The major obstacle for the business was the lack of time. Micha\u0142 and Klaudia had to focus on operations.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Very soon we found out that we needed more people.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
In June, we made an out-of-the-box recruitment campaign. Thanks to Klaudia\u2019s incredible creativity and charm it ended up being a staggering success. Later on, our Case Study from this campaign was cited by numerous HR portals and websites.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Everything looked pretty good. And then came that one day in August.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
It was a nice sunny day when Micha\u0142 told me we needed to make changes. Summer was always very hard for the business but this time we also had to cover the office costs and my salary. The company\u2019s account balance meant we desperately needed more clients.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
We went out with Klaudia for a picnic near our building. Sitting on a blanket on the green grass with dogs playing around, the hard topic of our discussion didn\u2019t seem that hard. We went through our main problems and possible solutions.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
It turned out that business looked good on some metrics but we didn\u2019t get enough sales. Micha\u0142 convinced me that we needed to focus on other things. Even if they\u2019re much harder to do and don\u2019t give the pleasant fast reward.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
I worked hard on content marketing and better customer care. Micha\u0142, Klaudia, and our new team members gave their heart and soul to deliver top-quality projects. It was a tough year. But at the end of the year we managed to double our revenue.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
I understood then that in business you need to focus on things which give you results and ignore flashy metrics that look attractive but don\u2019t work well.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n ***<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n During this time, Micha\u0142 often only responded to my e-mails after a couple of hours or even days. He was taking care of video editing, talking with clients, and managing the projects. When the sun was shining and the weather was good he also took his flying lessons.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n I told him we needed to work this out since we needed to expand our marketing. And I needed his decisions to move further. He told me that it can wait. I was angry. My job was to acquire as many good clients as I could. And he was limiting my efforts.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n It took me a while to realize that people had been coming to our company because of our great product. Not marketing. <\/strong>And if we fail on delivery of the product the marketing is bound to fail as well.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n At the end of that year we had a very challenging project. It was the biggest project in the history of our company. We had to conduct market research, do conceptual work with numerous experts, and of course deliver before the deadline.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n During the first days of e-mail exchange with a client, I got really furious.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n I was sitting near my desk whining about how bad this client was and how they change their mind all the time. Micha\u0142 listened and agreed on some things but didn\u2019t comment on others. The next day, Micha\u0142 was going to a meeting with them. He asked if I wanted to join him. I refused. But he insisted. \u201cGo. Please. It will help\u201d \u2013 he said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n I joined him. A couple of minutes into the meeting it became clear that our clients were actually really nice and competent people and all the tension went away. Suddenly I understood what Micha\u0142 had meant to do. He wanted me to see the humans behind the e-mails.<\/strong> The whole relationship changed so dramatically that later he let me manage that project.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n ***<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Thanks to Klaudia and Micha\u0142, the business meetings were really nice.\u00a0We were often seeing corporate managers, directors, sometimes even members of the board. But all of the ice melted once we started because we cared enough to see the people behind the titles.<\/strong>\u00a0And I learned that if you\u2019re competent enough, you can joke and have a lot of fun during the meetings.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Over the past 1,5 years, we\u2019ve had a lot of internal meetings as well. I came up with many ideas and Micha\u0142 was often shutting them down with a smile. I had to admit that he had a point.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n It taught me that if you go to a meeting don\u2019t just throw ideas. You need to think them through.\u00a0If you do this you don\u2019t go to a meeting with ideas. You go to a meeting with good ideas.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n It was very helpful. Every time I had an idea I prepared the pitch. When it went through Micha\u0142\u2019s crossfire questions and he accepted it, I knew it was going to work out.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n He was really open though. When I told him that I wanted to work 6 hours a day since I prefer to be ultra-productive for a shorter period of time he said: \u201cOkay, let\u2019s try\u201d.\u00a0We have tried together countless little creative experiments to push our company forward.\u00a0<\/strong>Most of them didn\u2019t work out. But the other few really paid off.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n ***<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Sometime later, we had a little conflict with a client.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n They were trying to accuse us of things we hadn\u2019t done. Just typical e-mail politics, when someone wants to shift responsibility for problems while their boss is on cc. I was na\u00efve back then.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n I said:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u201cMicha\u0142, we are client-centric. We should do whatever we can to have this client. Let\u2019s say it was our fault and then we won\u2019t have any more problems.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u201cNo. I feel bad about the fact that they accuse me of something I haven\u2019t done.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n He wrote a diplomatic yet quite straightforward email which pointed out the facts.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n I was scared that it might be too harsh. But after some time, I understood. We can afford to lose a client but we cannot afford to lose our dignity. There are situations when you simply can\u2019t say yes.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n I also remember my first huge mistake.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n I was responsible for finding a digital marketing agency. I prepared thoroughly and screened them in the best manner I could. But it turned out that I had chosen really badly. The only thing that worked in their company was sending big invoices every month. We lost a lot of money due to my mistake. Since the company and our marketing budgets were small it was incredibly painful.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u201cI feel really bad at this decision,\u201d I said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u201cWell\u2026 I\u2019m glad you feel,\u201d he responded.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n After that he never mentioned it again. He knew I felt responsible for it so he didn\u2019t need to push further. We only joked about it a couple of times.\u00a0He realized that you need to adjust the toughness of your communication to your interlocutor\u2019s ability to catch the point.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n ***<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Which reminds me of the story that helped me to change my attitude towards the communication.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n We were very tight deadline. I was nervous since I didn\u2019t get the response from Micha\u0142 fast enough. I called him saying \u201cWhat the fuck Micha\u0142? I need this right now!\u201d. I heard silence in response. After a few long seconds, he said: \u201cI know you need it and I\u2019m going to take care of it but I don\u2019t think we should talk like this\u201d.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n I was shocked. When emotions went out I got the point. Only when we have enough respect for each other can we work efficiently when the hard times come.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n And Micha\u0142 understood it. He was always a little bit introverted. Some might say even phlegmatic. It turned out to be his advantage though. When clients were calling and we felt pressure, he didn\u2019t panic. Even when he got nervous he always tried to think rationally.\u00a0I learned that the harder the situation the less you should panic.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n During this whole time, we were able to create a beautiful atmosphere in a company where we mixed artistic looseness with extreme professionalism. And it\u2019s something we\u2019re going to carry on.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Every quarter Micha\u0142 and Klaudia made at least one video for NGO at the discounted price. I tried to wrap it up on our website\u2019s “About Us” section with a clumsy line:\u00a0We believe in doing good things.<\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Lately one of the NGOs e-mailed us. They wanted us to resend the videos as they couldn\u2019t find them since their moving to Iraq.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n When I told them that Micha\u0142 died on 30.08.2017 as his glider crashed in a tragic accident near Warsaw\u2019s airport they responded:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n DCA worked with Micha\u0142 on a project to protect innocent Syrian civilians, especially children, from explosive remnants of war.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n The animation he produced was really excellent and the safety messages were very clear.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n We hope to be able to save many lives in Syria through the dissemination of the animation and the sharing of its safety messages.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n And that\u2019s the moment when I really understood why doing good things matter.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Our team really liked you. We even made a Visual Goodbye for your funeral trying to catch the memories.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n We haven\u2019t been a Fortune 500 company but many of their managers could learn some lessons from you. I hope this text will inspire some people just like you inspired me.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Rest in peace, my friend.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n -I heard that you quit your job \u2014 the words echoed in my ears. It was a call from Michael.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u201cHow on earth did he already know?\u201d \u2014 I thought. \u201cIt must have been our Lebanese friend who told him. He was the only person who knew.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n – Yes, that\u2019s true. The message was being distributed very fast.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n – Well\u2026 I\u2019ve been thinking about us working together for a long time. Would you like to join us for some time until you find a new job?<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n – I think we can try. But I want to think things through, so I can only work part-time.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n – Okay.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n It was February 2016 and the person calling me was Michael.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n We were dear friends for about 7 years and had worked together in 2 other businesses. And the 3rd was apparently on its way. He had started a company with his fianc\u00e9e. Their business baby \u2014 ExplainVisually \u2014 was the first whiteboard animation studio in Poland.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Their first-ever client was Carlsberg which was really impressive. And I became their first full-time employee. My job was to do all the things they didn\u2019t have time to. Which meant mostly marketing and talking with the new clients.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n They had been doing such a great job before that they didn\u2019t need to do any marketing. The clients were just coming after them having seen their work.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n But now they wanted to take it to the next level. And so it started.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n In March, I made an analysis of their marketing strategy and proposed one of mine. We started the execution. The major obstacle for the business was the lack of time. Michael and Klaudia had to focus on operations.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Very soon we found out that we needed more people.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n In June, we made an out-of-the-box recruitment campaign. Thanks to Klaudia\u2019s incredible creativity and charm it ended up being a staggering success. Later on, our Case Study from this campaign was cited by numerous HR portals and websites.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Everything looked pretty good. And then came that one day in August.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n It was a nice sunny day when Michael told me we needed to make changes. Summer was always very hard for the business but this time we also had to cover the office costs and my salary. The company\u2019s account balance meant we desperately needed more clients.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n We went out with Klaudia for a picnic near our building. Sitting on a blanket on the green grass with dogs playing around, the hard topic of our discussion didn\u2019t seem that hard. We went through our main problems and possible solutions.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n It turned out that business looked good on some metrics but we didn\u2019t get enough sales. Michael convinced me that we needed to focus on other things. Even if they\u2019re much harder to do and don\u2019t give the pleasant fast reward.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n I worked hard on content marketing and better customer care. Michael, Klaudia, and our new team members gave their heart and soul to deliver top-quality projects. It was a tough year. But at the end of the year we managed to double our revenue.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n I understood then that in business you need to focus on things which give you results and ignore flashy metrics that look attractive but don\u2019t work well.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n ***<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n During this time, Michael often only responded to my e-mails after a couple of hours or even days. He was taking care of video editing, talking with clients, and managing the projects. When the sun was shining and the weather was good he also took his flying lessons.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n I told him we needed to work this out since we needed to expand our marketing. And I needed his decisions to move further. He told me that it can wait. I was angry. My job was to acquire as many good clients as I could. And he was limiting my efforts.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n It took me a while to realize that\u00a0people had been coming to our company because of our great product. Not marketing.\u00a0<\/strong>And if we fail on delivery of the product the marketing is bound to fail as well.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n At the end of that year we had a very challenging project. It was the biggest project in the history of our company. We had to conduct market research, do conceptual work with numerous experts, and of course deliver before the deadline.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n During the first days of e-mail exchange with a client, I got really furious.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n I was sitting near my desk whining about how bad this client was and how they change their mind all the time. Michael listened and agreed on some things but didn\u2019t comment on others. The next day, Michael was going to a meeting with them. He asked if I wanted to join him. I refused. But he insisted. \u201cGo. Please. It will help\u201d \u2014 he said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n I joined him. A couple of minutes into the meeting it became clear that our clients were actually really nice and competent people and all the tension went away. Suddenly I understood what Michael had meant to do.\u00a0He wanted me to see the humans behind the e-mails.<\/strong>\u00a0The whole relationship changed so dramatically that later he let me manage that project.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n ***<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Thanks to Klaudia and Michael, the business meetings were really nice. We were often seeing corporate managers, directors, sometimes even members of the board. But all of the ice melted once we started\u00a0because we cared enough to see the people behind the titles.<\/strong>\u00a0And I learned that if you\u2019re competent enough, you can joke and have a lot of fun during the meetings.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Over the past 1,5 years, we\u2019ve had a lot of internal meetings as well. I came up with many ideas and Michael was often shutting them down with a smile. I had to admit that he had a point.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n It taught me that if you go to a meeting don\u2019t just throw ideas. You need to think them through.\u00a0If you do this you don\u2019t go to a meeting with ideas. You go to a meeting with good ideas.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n It was very helpful. Every time I had an idea I prepared the pitch. When it went through Michael\u2019s crossfire questions and he accepted it, I knew it was going to work out.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n He was really open though. When I told him that I wanted to work 6 hours a day since I prefer to be ultra-productive for a shorter period of time he said: \u201cOkay, let\u2019s try\u201d.\u00a0We have tried together countless little creative experiments to push our company forward.\u00a0<\/strong>Most of them didn\u2019t work out. But the other few really paid off.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n ***<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Sometime later, we had a little conflict with a client.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n They were trying to accuse us of things we hadn\u2019t done. Just typical e-mail politics, when someone wants to shift responsibility for problems while their boss is on cc. I was na\u00efve back then.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n I said:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n – Michael, we are client-centric. We should do whatever we can to have this client. Let\u2019s say it was our fault and then we won\u2019t have any more problems.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n – No. I feel bad about the fact that they accuse me of something I haven\u2019t done.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n He wrote a diplomatic yet quite straightforward email which pointed out the facts.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n I was scared that it might be too harsh. But after some time, I understood.\u00a0We can afford to lose a client but we cannot afford to lose our dignity. There are situations when you simply can\u2019t say yes.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n I also remember my first huge mistake.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n I was responsible for finding a digital marketing agency. I prepared thoroughly and screened them in the best manner I could. But it turned out that I had chosen really badly. The only thing that worked in their company was sending big invoices every month. We lost a lot of money due to my mistake. Since the company and our marketing budgets were small it was incredibly painful.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n – I feel really bad at this decision \u2014 I said\/<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n – Well\u2026 I\u2019m glad you feel \u2014 he responded.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n After that he never mentioned it again. He knew I felt responsible for it so he didn\u2019t need to push further. We only joked about it a couple of times.\u00a0He realized that you need to adjust the toughness of your communication to your interlocutor\u2019s ability to catch the point.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n ***<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Which reminds me of the story that helped me to change my attitude towards the communication.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n We were very tight deadline. I was nervous since I didn\u2019t get the response from Michael fast enough. I called him saying \u201cWhat the fuck Michael? I need this right now!\u201d. I heard silence in response. After a few long seconds, he said: \u201cI know you need it and I\u2019m going to take care of it but I don\u2019t think we should talk like this\u201d.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n I was shocked. When emotions went out I got the point.\u00a0Only when we have enough respect for each other can we work efficiently when the hard times come.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n And Michael understood it. He was always a little bit introverted. Some might say even phlegmatic. It turned out to be his advantage though. When clients were calling and we felt pressure, he didn\u2019t panic. Even when he got nervous he always tried to think rationally.\u00a0I learned that the harder the situation the less you should panic.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n During this whole time, we were able to create a beautiful atmosphere in a company where we mixed artistic looseness with extreme professionalism. And it\u2019s something we\u2019re going to carry on.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Every quarter Michael and Klaudia made at least one video for NGO at the discounted price. I tried to wrap it up on our website\u2019s \u201cAbout Us\u201d section with a clumsy line:\u00a0We believe in doing good things.<\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Lately one of the NGOs e-mailed us. They wanted us to resend the videos as they couldn\u2019t find them since their moving to Iraq.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n When I told them that Michael died on 30.08.2017 as his glider crashed in a tragic accident near Warsaw\u2019s airport they responded:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n DCA worked with Michael on a project to protect innocent Syrian civilians, especially children, from explosive remnants of war.<\/p>\r\n The animation he produced was really excellent and the safety messages were very clear.<\/p>\r\n We hope to be able to save many lives in Syria through the dissemination of the animation and the sharing of its safety messages.<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n And that\u2019s the moment when I really understood why doing good things matter.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n We we haven\u2019t been a Fortune 500 company but many of their managers could learn some lessons from you. I hope this text will inspire some people just like you inspired me.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Rest in Peace my friend.<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cI heard that you quit your job,\u201d the words echoed in my ears. It was a call from Micha\u0142. How on earth did he already know?, I thought. It must have been our Lebanese friend who told him. He was the only person who knew. \u201cYes, that\u2019s true. The message was being distributed very fast. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3248","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\n\r\n