What's My Line?

One of the big agency owners (agency chief as Campaign often called him) that I used to work for, once asked me to define my role.
It wasn't one of those 'defend your job' conversations.
He genuinely wanted to know how I saw my responsibility.
My simple answer was "to help our clients sell more of their products".
He saw things differently.
"Your role is to sell more of our products" he told me.
Call me naive.
Or idealistic.
But I disagreed with him then, and still do today.
Don't get me wrong - I live to sell the work of whichever agency I'm part
of.
But that's my end goal.
Not my responsibility.
If we focus on meeting our clients' needs, we'll achieve our own objectives
along the way.
And in this new hyper-connected world of ours, my viewpoint has never been
more resonant.
We're there to add value.
Our clients know what we're trying to sell.
They understand what we do.
Otherwise, we wouldn't be invited in.
But what they're looking for is a hunger to help them do more.
Achieve more.
Sell more.
How do you do that, glad you asked, I'll tell you: "It's to add value to our clients'
brand, their company and their role, that doesn't depend solely on my brand,
my company, or my role."
Now, your turn - what's your role?