Call me a Collabratist. I truly believe in the fact that we don’t do it alone. The best work that I have ever done was created in collaboration with a team. And there is one thing that I’ve learned – as the market has dramatically shifted before our very eyes, it’s my job in many ways as CMO, to conceive of bringing elements and people together in new, unique ways so that we can always try to stay ahead of this curve. If you bring the right ingredients and individuals together, and you trust them to do their jobs… magic happens.

When we understand the why in what we are setting out to do, we start to feel we are on the same page with our teammates. We know what we want to achieve. We understand the consequences of going in this direction or that. And this feeling allows us to sign off on stuff in a big sort of general way, enabling us to sidestep the minutia and make breakthroughs together.

We have extraordinary people across St. Joseph. Multi-disciplinary teams that make working on any communications, media or print project a dream. Yes, we have generalists, but we also have subject matter experts and people who have meticulously honed their craft (Malcolm Gladwell’s ‘10,000 hour of rule of mastery’ is way in the rearview mirror for these folks). I see it in the passion that our associates bring to the table, their love of creative, of process, and their zealous approach to making a client’s work sing and their brand stand out. They seek out engagement, thrive at building audiences, crave measurement, bask in introspection, and relish feedback – positive or negative – simply because friction builds better outcomes. Some days, it’s a straightforward two-step, while others more of a convoluted ballet… but the dance is always carried out with aplomb. Sure, the odd step is missed here or there, but the effort makes up for it ten-fold, and we carry it forward. When you mix, match and marry all of that with our diverse clients – alchemy impels it to the next level. Challenge brings out the superlative in our people, as blue-sky thinking, divergent and convergent problem solving and strategic conversation is where true collaboration takes flight.

We don’t live isolated lives. We work in a human-to-human world – no matter what technology bears fruit tomorrow. Collaboration is one crucial way that we develop ourselves, pursue reciprocal interests and extend mutual advantage. We’re all synchronously connected in an elaborate exchange of value, and together we bring an eclectic variety of knowledge to each and every venture. We humans bring out the best (and sometimes worst) in each other when striving to reach shared goals – but when we journey in concert – astounding things ensue.

So call me a collabratist – one who knows that the rich tapestry of St. Joseph’s collective efforts and ingenuity is what makes our work truly sing, and our clients deeply gratified.

Michael

Michael Chase, CMO
St. Joseph Communications

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES – KEVIN SPACEY’S ‘FRANK UNDERWOOD MONOLOGUE’ ON NETFLIX’S HOUSE OF CARDS