The lessons

I’ve learned a lot from a wonderful array of people, here are some of the things I come back to often.

Message delivered; message received: These are not always the same. If someone’s not ‘getting it’ - it’s not their fault, it means you have to try a new way of communicating it. Dara Nasr, the Twitter UK MD, gave me this lesson early into my time as a new manager.
“From mess comes what’s next” This is from Mark Pollard’s “Strategy is Your Words,” a fantastic book about strategic planning. I think it applies to every aspect of our lives, including that point in a project that feels impossible.
Feedback is a gift; unsolicited feedback is a crime: I learned the hard way that giving unprompted feedback - despite all the best intentions - is not a recipe for success. Avoid unless it’s glowing.
Assume your colleagues have the best intentions: This was a Dick Costolo masterpiece, when he ran Twitter. If we start from this place, every challenge is an opportunity to learn from each other
We’re never as good or bad as they say: Another Dick C gem specifically about how our stories and businesses are reflected on in the public arena.
Things that matter x things you can control: That’s where we focus. Alex Josephson, VP of Twitter Next and Agency and my fantastic manager for over 5 years shared this often. It helped us stay grounded and calm in times of change, of which there were many. I don’t know the original creator to credit this to.

The impact