What makes a a good Account person GREAT

The past couple of months weren't easy I must admit. Leaving my home, my job, my friends and my family, risking it all for the opportunity to work in the amazing advertising world of New York City has proven
to be one of my toughest challenges to date. The hardest part was not getting accustomed to the chilly weather, to "real New Yorker" attitudes or even to the coffee (Which I personally love). I am also happy to say that getting some interviews had been a relatively simple task. It is the final step before actually getting hired that seems to be the most challenging since I must prove undoubtedly that I am a skilled Account Person.

Going from interview to interview, talking about my past experience, about the projects I've supervised, the campaigns I've overseen and about the teams I have managed got me thinking about the qualities needed to succeed in the Account Management discipline. In order to do this I believe I should examine more carefully the role of the Account Director. Moreover, because I am looking into a role of a person with some experience in advertising, who has already proven himself worthy by being promoted from Account Executive to Account Manager and Supervisor, I think it best I try to answer the following question: What makes a good Account Director- GREAT?

When I was a junior Account Manager my supervisor once compared the role of an Account Supervisor to that of an orchestras conductor, having to make sure that all the musical instruments (in are world these "instruments" are known as: Creative, Studio, Media, Strategy and Production) all play in perfect harmony so a wonderful symphony can be enjoyed by everyone. In the agency world, it simulates
the ability to get everybody in the room focused on one sole objective, to get them motivated over one idea that they may not have liked in the first place. I think that a great Account Director, like a conductor, knows exactly how to relate to each member of the team and speak to him in a different and personalized way and get him on board the team, focusing on the one big idea, even if he wasn't the one to initiate it or even if doesn't think it is the best one.

The second quality is the entrepreneurial like character. Someone who is driven by the motivation of doing something that has never been done before and always rises up to the challenge when someone says "That can't be done", contributing a creative way of thinking and management to prove them wrong. Especially in todays fast pace market, where new media, new devices and new ways of doing business are constantly developing the Director must have a keen sense for technology, able to understand and assimilate quickly these new technologies. This is a most important quality as I believe it is the key to enabling him to be the one who doesn't limit the creative, media or strategy team and even challenges them to think without borders in order to come up with the best idea for the client. 

The third quality concerns the Account Management team. As any Account Director knows he must rely on his Account team to fulfill their responsibilities to the maximum and to be active in the daily work. In order for this to happen the truly great Director is concerned with the growth of his team. He is not only obligated to their wellbeing but he must attend to educating them, he must be committed to developing them by sharing his knowledge and experience. There are many ways of doing so but one of the first ones and maybe most important of all is trusting them and being able to depend on them, letting them make mistakes but ensuring they learn from them and always being a stronghold whom they can get advice from and can simply lean on at time of need.

Finally, the most important ability of an Account Director is the one to make a Decision. I think that being able to make a good assessment of any given situation, complex as it may be, in a pressure full environment, listening to several thought of what needs to be done and making the best possible decision is vital. As I compared earlier, just like a good orchestra conductor minimizes his gestures as the orchestra plays, intervening only  to ensure perfect harmony, so does the great Director. He is an amazing listener who knows when everyone is in sync, he can focus his attention to each member if he sees it right to intervene and lets everyone play together to achieve the best outcome. But when a decision need be made he is the one who know exactly when to do it and is decisive about it as resilient to see it through. 

These attributes and qualities I have written about aren't a "Check-List" for becoming a great Account Director. It is highly likely that there are many amazing directors out there who lack one or more of the qualities but poses other ones that compensate. However, these qualities are, in my opinion, the most important ones for the advertising managers of the next generation. As the paradigm shifts in this new age of engagement advertising I believe that one with these qualities will be able to better lead his team and be part of development of new, contemporary advertising and marketing.