Origin Story

Kraftisms #1 - Tales from a Listening Tour

“Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it” —Ferris Bueller

Kraftism of the Week:
Origin Story

Back in late 2002, over the span of just three months: I lost my job. I lost my house. My wife left me. I had no place to take my kids, so I felt like I lost them, too. And because of all that, I lost my faith (in everything). And while a lot of people in this world have far less than I was blessed with, from my perspective at the time… I felt like I had lost everything. That I had nothing.

And so I sat there in a bathtub. With a razor blade. Contemplating ending it all.

I was at a standstill. I had no idea what to do next. I was ready to give up.

I had spent my entire life on a path - every move I made was putting one step in front of the other. I didn’t make decisions based on what I wanted or didn’t want. I took whatever was the “next step” on the path set before me. I had blinders on. All I saw was the path.

But because I had “nothing,” I had come to a complete stop. And because I wasn’t moving, it was far easier to take a moment to look around…

That’s when it hit me.

I realized I was not actually on - nor had I really ever been on - a path. I was in a clearing. I could look in any direction. I could step in any direction. I had only seen it as a path, as if I had blinders on, because of how quickly I had been running along it.

The idea of taking responsibility for my next step in any direction I could choose was inspiring. The accountability that comes with that full responsibility - that because I was not on the path, I was accountable for anything that happened - was terrifying.

But I thought back to something I had once heard: In every single moment, you have a context (inner monologue/reason for your action). Either you pick it, or it picks you.

I put down the razor blade and committed, in that moment, to be the person who picks my context. To be the person in the clearing - not the one on the path with blinders - and make every choice thoughtfully and purposefully. To commemorate that transformative moment, I changed how I referred to myself from that point onwards. Everyone who knew up until then had called me Andy. And so, to make the change in me clear - even if only to myself - I let Andy “die” - and let a new me be born. “Andrew.”

Ever since then, I’ve spent my life focusing on looking around, getting as much perspective as I can… and then purposefully choosing where to place my next step in that amazing clearing of opportunity.

Never on a “path,” yet always moving towards a destination. To travel my own way. Thoughtfully. Using all I’ve learned. Taking full responsibility and accountability for my choices, leading to a core truth of my life: instead of reacting to a world “happening” to me, I choose to “happen” to the world, instead. To make a difference.

Applying the Kraftism:
Tales from a Listening Tour

So why do I tell this origin story?

Before I get to that, I want to say one very important thing: mental health matters. By sharing who I am and why - and my own low points along the way - hopefully others can see that they don’t need to stay on a preset path. It is my deepest hope that everyone finds their own moment of realization… ideally without having to go all the way to the place I did.

Now… My ongoing search for perspective is what has triggered the launch of my Listening Tour. When my previous company and I parted ways in December, I kicked off a Listening Tour of the industry, with the goal of meeting with over 100 great minds in and around the industry.

Since then, I’ve been spending time each week with some of the smartest and most innovative people in advertising and technology. Publishers. Agency execs. Adtech leaders. Top brands. I kicked it off with Rishad Tobaccowala (former Chief Growth Officer at Publicis and author of The Future Does Not Fit into the Containers of the Past), who was also the final meeting on my last Listening Tour five years ago. There is nothing like starting a journey with insight from a leader who has continually inspired me and so many others.

My Listening Tour is now well over halfway through (I do note: I likely won’t stop at 100 - I didn’t last time, either), and I’m learning a ton. To me, the Tour is about getting the perspective of so many others to help piece together a 360 degree view of the industry and the challenges we face. When at a job, it’s so easy to lock in to a single point of view. To only see things from my own perspective. I continually seek to learn from as many as possible each day, but the work that I do often limits the perspective I have… or the learnings I am open to at the time. But during these periods between long-term roles - with no horse in the game and with nothing to sell and no ability to buy what others are selling - I find that the conversations become more real. More clear.

Coming full circle, it’s hard to decide what next step to take without having either the guardrails of a set path… or the knowledge and perspective to let you move off that path - creating a new one - in order to make an even bigger difference.

As I decide what my personal vocational next step will be, and as I continue my Tour (advising and doing projects for many fascinating companies in the ad tech space along the way), I am seeking as much perspective as I can get - and learning a ton worth sharing with others.

To Wrap It All Up:
Come Back Weekly

Echoing Ferris Bueller… sometimes you have to look around or life will pass you by.

I created this newsletter to start sharing back the insights I’m gathering from my Tour… adding value back as thanks to all those who are sharing their thoughts and perspectives with me.

Each week’s issue will be on a topic I’ve picked up from the Tour. It’ll start each with something personal, a metaphor, or one of the many business parables (what my teams have called “Kraftisms” - thus the title of this newsletter) that helped make me who I am and helped make me the leader I’ve been taught to be by some incredible mentors and guides - and I’ll then tie into what I’m learning… and what I’m seeing from new points of view.

I look forward to sharing all this with you - and encourage you to share this with others.

Andrew

(Note: The graphic above was made utilizing GPT Plus - One of the things I’m learning in this Tour is the value of when to use AI, when not to use AI, and the importance of calling out when I do.)