The Art Of The Suit

By Dawn Klatzko

This book is an innovative, modern toolkit to help you grow and succeed. It provides entrepreneurs, executives and business leaders with invaluable insight, advice and techniques to negotiate the rocky terrain of the business world.

Drawing on the author’s experience you will enjoy her experiential insights on brand building. Applying this to your own personal brand will increase your value as you pursue your goals.

The Art of the Suit is an authentic, no-nonsense and most entertaining read.

“This book is an overdue gem for those of us not fluent in the know-how of business but with potential that waited to meet Dawn Klatzko’s lucid, practical, guidance! Buy it!”
Eusebius McKaiser (author, broadcaster, lecturer)

About the author
Dawn Klatzko is based in Johannesburg, South Africa where she is recognised as a highly successful advertising executive. Her grounding as a “suit” was gained with several large agency groups such as FCB, McCann and Ogilvy. Her skill as a business owner and entrepreneur began when she started her own advertising agency that she ran for twenty years. During this time she also successfully partnered in a film production company and Experiential Marketing agency. In 2012 Dawn made the decision to reinvent her career direction in order to share her knowledge and experience through Executive and Business coaching and as a professional speaker. The Art of the Suit is her first foray into publishing and has been motivated by her passion to help others succeed.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dawn Klatzko
• Release date: Feb 2, 2017
• ISBN: 9780620744126

Dawn Klatzko

Hi, Thank you for being curious about my background. I was born in Johannesburg, South Africa and entered the working world immediately after completing high-school. I attended night-school to secure a Higher Diploma in Marketing Management (a long time ago!).I am admittedly a lifelong learner and have obtained several qualifications along the way including a Private Pilots License and Indoor Spin Instructor (which is now my hobby job). I make a point of trying to learn something completely new every year. My most recent acquisition, Certificate of Competency in the Foundations of Executive Coaching, was obtained through the University of Cape Town.My second job ever was with a small advertising agency in Johannesburg - the start of a 30 year ad career. Starting out as a Junior Account Executive, I was fortunate to form my grounding with numerous international agency groups such as FCB, McCann and Ogilvy where, even though I come from a very creative family, I was attracted to Account Management. My journey included working my way up to Executive Management reaching the position of Deputy Managing Director of a highly creative agency within the Ogilvy group.My ambition and vision led me to break out of the security of the big agency groups to start my own ad agency in 1990, just as the announcement of Nelson Mandela’s planned release was announced. Klatzko & Waldron flourished over the next twenty years and grew to incorporate partnerships in a film production company as well as an Experiential Marketing agency. The diversity expanded my skill-set as a marketer, strategist and entrepreneur. I sold my agency when I was approached to lead a dynamic young advertising agency. Here I spearheaded their expansion into Africa where and was responsible for opening a full service agency in Uganda.Other than a few career deviations, such as a three-year break to work as stewardess to see the world, during which time I obtained my private pilots license, and a stint in pure marketing, my focus had been single-mindedly on advertising. In early 2012 I chose to step back and review my future plans. Following a 6 month sabbatical, at my second home on the Amalfi coast of Italy, I returned to begin a process of self-reinvention.My newfound aim is to focus on my passion – to share my knowledge and insights on the business of business, to smooth the path of those in pursuit of a career or building a business. I began this new voyage as a Business Development Consultant assisting primarily SMEs in the identification and implementation of development strategies. This naturally expanded into the area of personal development as an Executive and Business Coach which I have now been practicing for the past three years. As part of my desire to share my knowledge and skills, I also run motivational workshops and talks related to “The Art of the Suit”, a skills development concept I have developed and which you can now enjoy for yourself in the form of my new book of the same title. Enjoy the read! I look forward to your feedback.

Book preview

The Art Of The Suit

The Art Of The Suit

Dawn Klatzko

Copyright © 2017 Dawn Klatzko

Published by Dawn Klatzko Publishing at Smashwords

First edition 2017

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system without permission from the copyright holder.

The Author has made every effort to trace and acknowledge sources/resources/individuals. In the event that any images/information have been incorrectly attributed or credited, the Author will be pleased to rectify these omissions at the earliest opportunity.

Published by Author using Reach Publishers’ services,

P O Box 1384, Wandsbeck, South Africa, 3631

Website: www.reachpublishers.co.za

Website: www.theartofthesuit.com

Email: [e-mail]

Table of Contents

Preface

1. Is Passion Your Killer or Driver?

2. A Marriage of Inconvenience

3. Strut Your Stuff

4. Friends, Family and Favours - The New F Words

5. Weapons of Self-Preservation

6. Respect: Earn it or Learn it, You Need it

7. A Matter of Record

8. The Numbers Game: Playing for Keeps

9. Get Dirty to Shine

10. Find Your Fountains of Knowledge, Drink Regularly

11. Keeping the Love Alive

12. Eat Your Vegetables and Say Thank You

Preface

This may seem like a strange introduction to a business book, but I recall with such fondness how my friends and I used to play a game of make-believe in my neighbour Melanie’s rockery. Our play-gang was an interesting collection of half a dozen scrawny girls and boys, aged around seven. We all went to the same school and, after returning home, we would gobble down our lunch and head straight out again to gather on the street. It was a far simpler time and a great way to grow up. In the absence of television, mobile devices and electronic games, our entertainment relied on our ability to create some event or another that took place either on the street or in someone’s garden; usually Melanie’s because the collection of rocks provided an excellent setting for our games, and also served to keep her over-sexed Jack Russell, Chipsie, at bay. Needless to say he only caused problems when we were crouched down on the ground, hiding from imaginary dragons and ogres. Other than Chipsie, the only thing that could potentially put a stop to our escapades was one of the summer thunderstorms of the Johannesburg Highveld. For the rest, all we needed were our imaginations, a willing bunch of friends and no homework.

The process of setting up the imagination game was simple. Each of us would stake our claim to a section of rocks and paint a verbal picture of what these represented to the rest of the gang, gathered like expectant rock rabbits. My personal favourite depiction amounted to the perceived reality of a castle of unsurpassed grandeur, surrounded by a moat, with vicious dragons protecting my many assets and, of course, suitors lining up at the castle doors!

Ah, if only the realisation of a business dream was as simple as the power of description to gain the co-operation of your target market. The reality of my cluster house with an over-friendly Scottie dog and small plunge pool falls far short of my rocky aspiration. Whilst I am more than happy with my modern day castle, I have, however, observed many parallels between child’s play and business that we can use to great advantage. Needless to say the world of advertising, where I have spent most of my working life, is fertile ground for life lessons.

When I reflect back on my exciting, stimulating and challenging career I recall that there have been many, many occasions when I’ve had as much fun in business as I had as a child on the playground. Well, that is if my memory serves me correctly rather than it being the by-product of a romantic view of childhood. There are so many emotions that these memories draw out: sheer joy, excitement, fear, heroism, disappointment, wonderment, awe and so many more. I have also been fortunate enough to realise the fulfilment of a number of dreams and, best of all, I’ve gathered some truly close, enduring friendships in both my personal and business lives. And so it is that, for me, there are many parallels between my childhood and my adult working life.

Much as I wish that business could always be as easy as child’s play, the ‘business’ of business can so easily make us lose sight of the fundamentals of engagement, and prevent us from enjoying the journey.

If you consider the skills applied in the game of make-believe and overlay this on to the qualities that a strong leader should reputedly possess, you will see for yourself how the ability to bring a vision to life and secure a believing following are very similar. Another personal observation is the level of energy and enthusiasm that a person starting out, on a career or a business, generates. Undoubtedly equal to that of a child and a valuable way to set out. You will certainly need high energy levels and it is essential to make a lot of noise, to ensure that your first steps are immediately noticed. Sadly, unlike the experience of childhood, the admiration and support soon wear off in the business world, and the reality of embarking on a growing-up process begins. This reality check happens sooner for some than others. Typically the initial growth spurt creates momentum for the first three to five years of business. But then the momentum fizzles out and you need to find a way to create the early energy and enthusiasm which is needed more than ever to sustain the dream, ambition or, fundamentally, economic survival.

My career infancy began in the advertising industry. If ever there is a business environment that operates under extreme pressure, this is it. An ad agency’s reputation is judged on its ability to deliver fresh, innovative, leading edge, consumer-influencing thinking, every single day. You are only as good as your last campaign and if you expect loyalty you will certainly have to default to your dog. At the heart of the agency sits the creative talent: uniquely talented men and women who begin each day facing a blank screen, with the pressure to create afresh. The stress is extreme, almost palpable and the rate of burn-out, a common occurrence. With this as the backdrop I can only imagine that one of the main reasons I fell in love with this challenging environment was that the energy levels, enthusiasm, fun, youthfulness and the role of imagination were an immediate throw-back to my childhood. Little did I suspect how tough this playground would be.

Needless to say my own experience of reality and having to grow up came about very early on.

I’m not sharing this in the hope of drumming up sympathy. It is a privilege to work in an industry where every day holds the promise of new and exciting ideas, at the leading edge of consumerism. The average day could have you starting out working on promoting how the absence of nappy rash amounts to mother’s Nirvana. By contrast the day could close trying to identify the trigger that would convince people to pay out a fortune, today, to secure a trip to space, in 20 years’ time. If that is not dynamic and a privilege then I don’t know what is!

I wasn’t on the creative side of the business. I was what was typically referred to as a ’suit’, which points to the title of this book. In a business where the creative product is the end product, the suits are often viewed with low regard. Sometimes at a level slightly lower than the proverbial shark waste. And so it was that I, along with most other suits, was often made to feel pretty inferior, sometimes inadequate and often treated as an irritation. Not because of my sex, age, colour or personality but because part of a suit’s role is to manage the gap between the creative brilliance, which at times was not that brilliant, and the client. I often felt overwhelmed and insecure and questioned whether I should leave the business that I had entered as enthusiastically as a child.

Rather than throw a tantrum (which I must confess I did on occasion), I put into practice the approach that I unpack in the following chapter, on ‘Passion’. I set aside my intense attraction to this industry, coldly analysed the opportunities against my goals and re-evaluated whether I was prepared to make the sacrifices required to succeed or not. Fortunately for me I have a natural asset, which is one of the essential survival tools that you too need to develop, if it doesn’t come naturally to you. I am resilient, enthusiastic and determined. So I refused to give in and continued with my brilliant career. Not only that but it led to starting my own ad agency that I successfully ran for 20 years alongside a film production company and an experiential marketing company. Like a gift that keeps on giving, all of this experience has now led me into the realm of executive and business coaching, as well as motivational speaking.

If you ask what drove me to keep on going, it was the realisation that I was capable of having a material role to play in the success of the agencies I work for. Founded upon the reality that regardless of the brilliance of the idea, the uniqueness or the creativity, in order to survive, to be sustainable and to be profitable, you have to have the ability to surround and support this central genius with the perfect environment.

To do that, dear reader, is an art. My commitment to learning how to create such an environment is how I came to succeed in this industry and as an entrepreneur. Added to this my competitive and ambitious nature then drove me to start up and run my own companies, and my readiness to share the learning is how I came to write the Art of the Suit.

Regardless of whether you are a ’creative’, a ’suit’, a ‘start-up’ or a well–entrenched business exec, I hope you will enjoy the read. Perhaps you will learn something new or be reminded of a fundamental value or process that will increase your success and work satisfaction.

Writing a book was new to me and quite daunting. An even bigger challenge was to find a way to choose what to share first. As with so many other areas of my life I use visualisation to assist me in creating strategies. For this book I have used a mental image of yet another childhood favourite, the seesaw, to provide a balanced mix of what it takes to create the ideal business environment.

To succeed in business you need to draw equally on intellectual as well as emotional skills, in a balanced manner. So imagine IQ seated at one end of this brightly-painted seesaw and EQ at the other. In my mind I place the picture of myself as a two-year-old, learning to wink, at the apex. After all it’s up to the individual to maintain balance and to keep a reality check on what is truly important to you in life so that you don’t lose sight of what makes you happy. Humour is a good starting point. Learn to wink.

The intellectual seat of my seesaw embraces intrinsic know-how, unique differentiating ideas, networking connections, insights, accumulated knowledge and any other asset I can possibly squeeze into the potential petabyte storage capacity of my brain. More on this ‘storage capacity’ in the chapter on ‘Eat your vegetables and say thank you’. The Emotion seat hosts the ability to engage, understand, create friends and allies, motivate and inspire partners, clients and consumers and every other aspect of engagement that requires intuition and heart.

The result is a selection of insights and experiences that I believe would be most commonly relevant and useful to executives, entrepreneurs or business owners. What you gain may contribute towards your own seesaw, enhancing your IQ, EQ and balance. I would like to think that the practical nature of the book will help you fill up some of the potholes, in advance, to smooth the way on your road to success.

Whilst there is enormous value in studying the Science of Business, regardless of how much formal studying I have done, I have often been left feeling a bit up in the air, with the question in my mind of ‘is this truly relevant to my business and if so how do I implement this now?’ The Art of the Suit is about the reality of business engagement and how to practically address the challenges you may face, immediately. It is not overly theoretical,