James Peereboom's Fuckup

"Early in my career, through envious eyes I would look across the floor at my colleagues who produced sky-high billboards and 30” TVC’s. My day job in 1:1 marketing - while critically important - lacked the glitz and glamour I craved. Then my moment arrived. I had the opportunity to turn ambition into reality with my very own ATL campaign. It was exciting and sexy. All the pieces fell into place: Creative agencies, directors, cameras, edit suites, fancy catering. This was advertising and I was finally a player!  

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I remember getting ready to watch ‘my’ TVC. I settled into the couch with my parents to watch an episode of The Voice, waiting for it to air for the first time. I knew it would be glorious.  

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Then it was there, on the screen. And as I watched, enthralled, my astute mother highlighted a spelling error in CTA. Um, how did I f8ck this up so badly? I went from elation to a ‘tightening’ in my chest. Total panic set in as I called my boss, running through a half-baked justification in my head. I knew "The dog ate my homework" would not cut it.  

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Through the rushing in my ears and concerned glances from my parents, I heard four words down the phone: “we all make mistakes….”.  That moment of understanding and support instantly grounded me. Wow. It gave me a drive to fix my mistake, not because I was told to but because it was what I needed to do! Those kind words transported me from a place of paralysis to action.  

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My lesson: As a leader, moments matter. Words matter. Pause and ‘mind the gap’, and you will be rewarded with teams that want to do better, and not just because you told them to.   (Oh… and triple check all copy before going live...twice)."

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