My Biggest Lesson: Alejandro Canciobello
Alejandro is a 6 foot Peruvian, whose journey into advertising in Asia, has not been a straightforward one. A self confessed “terrible student” (even failing PE once), he interestingly chose to study law. After 5 long years at law school, he decided to “course correct” and pursue his passion for advertising. Despite a failed start in the industry in Argentina, where he was only able to land a job behind a bar, he returned to Peru and secured a job at Y&R, the best local agency at the time, and quickly learned he had found his vocation.
Since then, Alejandro has worked at major agencies including Lima, Grey, Leo Burnett, McCann Worldgroup and now DDB, across South America and Asia.
He has received global recognition for his work including a Gold Lion in mobile and a Silver Lion in creative data. His work has also been awarded at The One Show, D&AD, CLIO, NYF, LIA, The Webby, ANDY, El Ojo de Iberoamérica, El Sol de Bilbao, among others.
It is difficult to think of just one moment being such a major lesson. Something I love about what we do, is that we really are constantly learning. Every job, every agency, leaves you with a lesson that helps to shape you as an individual. With so much interaction with others, you are constantly learning how to be, but also how not to be….
Whilst I can’t think of one moment that stands out as my biggest lesson, I can think of a particular person…. I had been in the industry for several years working at Y&R in quite a unique environment. I was with a bunch of people there who were truly crazy about advertising and extremely talented at the same time (several have become true legends of our industry). Our team all sat on the 3rd floor and congregated daily in this one room which became known as “the asylum”. We did some great work together and I felt very at home there with that bunch of “crazies”, so it was a big decision to make my next move to Grey. But Grey was where I really found my platform and began to shape my “how”.
I worked at Grey under the leadership of chief creative officer, Charlie Tolmos, who taught me so much, but ultimately, he taught me that the person I want to be boils down being and doing three main things: to be grateful, to be humble, and to love.
Being grateful is about appreciating every opportunity – every brief, every client presentation. Ultimately this is people giving you their time, which is really anyone’s most valuable possession. I think people might see some irony in someone from an agency saying how grateful they are, as the complaints about this industry are many and varied – but this is a very human business and once you really see it for that, you will naturally be more grateful every step of the way.
Perhaps there is also something ironic in the idea of a creative being humble – it’s not necessarily what people in this profession are famous for, but Charlie taught me that it is entirely possible, and a much better way to be. He was great at reminding us that we are not in the business of saving lives, so what reason do we have to be cocky? Of course, we can be proud, but when you lose humbleness, things can get very clouded, and you lose perspective. At every level in this game, there is always something to learn, even if you are also able to teach. Being humble also ensures you remain open to learning which is crucial for all of us.
Love is perhaps the simplest, and though it comes naturally, being conscious of it is important. Make the effort to love the people you work with, love the work, love the challenges, the opportunities….. Loving it all will make a difference in the person you are and what you can achieve. It will also make you naturally more pleasant to be around.
The teaching of these things wasn’t a single lecture from “The Whale”, but pieces of this puzzle were almost drip-fed to me over time, mostly through my observation of his behaviour. Charlie is a people-driven person and really had LOVE for his team. I really noticed the power that came from connecting well with people. I looked up to him and I knew he believed in me. He was so well-balanced and although he was so very kind to us all, he could also be tough…. I remember I f*cked up once and he got really upset with me but even then, he took the opportunity to teach me a great lesson. He helped me to understand that nobody will care more about your idea than you do, so it is you who needs to look after it, nurture it, be on top of things. I think about this with every project I work on. My idea is my responsibility.
The time eventually came when I was given an opportunity to run my own team, and this was really the opportunity to put all these important lessons to practice. I built a team around me of all these creatives who I felt were of a similar rhythm to me. Another group of “crazies”, although this time we considered ourselves “freaks”. We wanted to push the work so hard. We obsessed over it. We often slept in the agency and sacrificed a lot in our endeavour to do great work and win big. But we all had “the love”, so it didn’t feel like a sacrifice, and we just connected so well as a group. We were also all humble and relished every opportunity. I still have a Whatsapp group with these people today. Yoshi Ishikawa, Ernesto Riofrio, Rodrigo Mitma, Carlos Aranibar, Julio Ramirez, Andrea Blachetau, Rocio Gracia-Godos, and Javier “Fresón”. We will be friends for life. This period in my life was real confirmation to me that the 3 lessons were the ingredients to success and happiness, both at work and outside of work.
These lessons I gained in the business of advertising have definitely shaped who I am outside of work too. Likewise, there are people outside of the industry that have taught and inspired me along the way, such as: Mauricio Stucchi, Hernan Gutierrez, Roberto Accinelli, Juan Manuel Pazos, Francisco Garcia-Yrigoyen, and Stepehen Rosholt, among others, and of course my family, especially my wife, Olga Bakanova.
I believe the idea of needing to have a professional “persona”, different to who you are outside of work, is BS. The thought that it’s unprofessional to share personal stories just does nothing to help your connections with others. I am very open, and while you absolutely don’t have to share things with me, I want to encourage people to always be open in return. We spend most of our waking hours with colleagues, so these people become family. If we only look at it as work (not love), then why would anyone want to turn up?
My advice to others is to find that one person you can learn from and who will nurture you. But also learn from those who you don’t admire – a lot can be learned from bad examples. I do consciously try to be this “good example” – as just I learnt, I think it’s best to lead by your actions rather than your words. I’ve just started with a new team, but I’d like to think they already know I am open to any conversation with them. I am just at the beginning of my “love affair” at DDB, and while my approach isn’t to try to push or force relationships, rather let them bloom organically, early on, I’ve got a pretty good feeling about this place and these people….
