My Biggest Lesson: Jeff Nowak

Jeff Nowak brings 20+ years of marketing, branding and agency leadership experience to Yes&. Before joining Yes&, Jeff spent 13 years at Hill Holliday in Boston as executive vice president of account management, leading the Bank of America, Optum, Fireball and American Lung Association relationships.

During this time, he oversaw all brand, CSR/ESG and sponsorship work in some of the most complex, highly regulated industries in the world. Before Hill Holliday, Jeff spent several years at Arnold Worldwide in Boston, running the Gillette/Oral Care business, Vonage (telecommunications), and The Hartford (insurance/financial services).

I’ve learned so many lessons in the 30 years I’ve been in this business. But there’s one that sticks in my mind so vividly, I can remember it like it happened yesterday…and I share it with anyone who works in account management that asks me for advice. 

Throughout my career, I’ve been very lucky to work at some incredible agencies…Hill Holliday, Arnold, Earle Palmer Brown…before I came to Yes&. And I’ve had the good fortune to work for some extraordinary managers at these agencies as I became laser-focused on building my career in account management.

Like any good account person, I had a plan…I knew exactly what I wanted to do, where I wanted to work, and how I expected myself to move up the ladder to a senior level position. I worked hard, I worked on some great clients and I did a good job…and for years, it went exactly like I planned.

Each year, I would have a great performance review, and I rose up the ranks…assistant account executive for a couple of years, then promoted to account executive, then switched agencies and became an account supervisor at the best agency in Boston. It was going exactly how I envisioned it.

Then it was time for next performance review.

I convinced myself that I had been doing such a great job that I was absolutely 100% getting promoted to the next level…management supervisor…in this review. There was not a doubt in my mind that it was going to happen.

Then it came time to sit down with my manager. And once again, it was a strong review. My manager told me that I was organised, well-liked, trusted, and I knew how to get the work done and execute things flawlessly.

Good job. Full stop.

I waited for the words “And because of this, we’re promoting you to…”…but they didn’t come. My manager could tell I was waiting for something, and she asked me “Any thoughts on what I’ve shared here?” and I said “Honestly, I was expecting to get promoted to management supervisor.” And she looked at me and she said

“Here’s the thing, Jeff…you’re a really good account supervisor. But you need to understand that the things that you’re really good at have gotten you to THIS point in your career. But to get to the NEXT point in your career, you need to get really good at new things. Different things than what we already know you can do.”

It was so simple, and as soon as she said it, I knew it was true.

That was 20 years ago, and I still remember walking out of that review being really disappointed. It took me a few weeks to wrap my head around what she said and decide how I wanted to respond. But I realised that she was absolutely right…I needed to push myself in new ways, take chances, speak my mind, get comfortable being front and centre, lead the team and our clients in broader and braver ways and open myself up to new things, new experiences, new challenges.

It wasn’t easy. But slowly, and surely, I did…and over the years, that allowed me to grow in my career, have some of the most amazing experiences and meet some incredibly talented people along the way. I believe it’s the best advice I’ve been given in my career, and I’m always happy to share it with anyone who will listen.

Growth doesn’t come from being good at the same things. It comes from getting good at new things.