It’s hard for me to believe I presented at the InHOWse Designer Conference over a month ago! Truth be told, I got home and moved right into birthday mode, celebrating the last few days of summer, getting kids settled into school and then I’m off to yet another conference (AIGA Make/Think if you must know). Good things though because it gave me a chance to reflect on the conference experience as a whole, many of the specifics and most importantly, the great folks I connected with. Let me give you the rundown.

First of all, what a great conference focusing in on a very specific group of people. This group of in-house designers can be seen as a subset of the bigger group of creative professionals providing visual communications to businesses and consumers. I see designers as those people that interpret our world and simultaneously shape our perceptions. That’s a lot of power! What is it Uncle Ben said to Peter Parker? “With great power comes great responsibility” – well, that’s another blog all together.

Ever seen a movie clip where everything around a focal character slows down so not a single detail is missed? That’s how I function when I’m put in a position, whether self-imposed or hired to do so, to take-in information about my surroundings and things that are being said. I slow it all down noticing things most would skip over then form them into complete and simply stated observations and action items.

So, here is something I noticed at the conference that stood out to me like a giant ahh-ha! The in-house world seems to have several superstar creative directors that everyone admires and companies drop big bucks to hire. We had such awesomeness at the conference with Michael Lejuene (LA Metro), Andy Epstein (Designer Greeting), Stanley Hainsworth (Tether, formerly at Starbucks), and riCardo crespo (Mattel). As I attended each of their sessions and listened to what they said about their journeys within the corporate labyrinth, I was struck by the looks of admiration, the nodding of heads, and the audible affirmation. I looked up at the speakers on the stage, all of whom are friends of mine and thought, I really like these guys but they’re not creative gods, so what makes them different? Are they more talented, luckier, and pushier? Then I began to contrive an undeniable formula for success:

• They never apologized
• They never acted the victim
• They always over delivered
• They always took chances

Seriously, how perfectly simple is that! I can’t begin to tell you how often I hear things like, “I’ve tried that already, it didn’t work” (defeatist); “I’m not respected” (poor pitiful); “I couldn’t possibly get permission to do that” (pessimistic); and “That’s not my job” (idiotic).

It’s time too stop idolizing the successes of others and take note as to what it is they are doing that we admire. George Bernard Shaw said it best, “The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can’t find them, make them.”

The end result for these creative superstars? They created opportunities for their department and themselves to showcase their talent and their capabilities. No apologies, no excuses, no laziness, and no fear!