1. Biggest mistake of your career & how you fixed it?

Being seduced by the greener grass.

As a young, up-and-coming media professional, the moment someone dangles the first overblown job title and subsequent chunky salary in front of you, common sense flies out of the window. I was headhunted from a large publisher to work at a much smaller, ‘boutique’ organisation to help define and develop their commercial strategy – with a wonderful title and salary to match.

The day before I joined, the chap who had head-hunted me left; I turned up on my first day to a sea of bemused faces as to my reason for being there. I had no desk, no phone – that’s when I got the fear. However, I saw it as a challenge, and as I was guaranteed a significant bonus each month, I convinced myself it would be fine.

It wasn’t. The company was misleading customers and producing substandard products. My involvement was, in my opinion, damaging my credibility as a media professional. After weighing up the odds of financial reward vs. career longevity, my working life won. A few weeks after joining, I took a pay cut to move to a leading media company so I could advance my career properly, without trying to take shortcuts to the top.

2. A lightbulb moment

When I realised how fundamentally dull I was. In terms of my presentations, anyway.

I’ve always been a pretty personable chap who doesn’t struggle to engage in conversation or develop relationships, yet for some reason, in a presentation environment, I became a completely boring bastard. The day I realised that media agencies and clients alike do not want to see slide after slide of bullet points resplendent in wanky bollocks and jargon, everything changed. A presentation with personality amidst deck after deck of Calibri 14-point will be remembered.

3. Tip for tomorrow

Ask yourself, “So what?” and ask it a lot. When you’re writing a business plan, sales pitch, or training guide, keep asking yourself, “So what?” There’s always a temptation to fill professional documents with a plethora of information that YOU think is interesting. Particularly as a salesperson, you’ll be inclined to tell your client that you’ve got the biggest/fastest/most technically accomplished thing, but do they really care? Does it help them in any way? If not, then leave it out. Vanity doesn’t win business.