Back to the Basics: Why it Pays to Be a Student of the Game

Before the three SuperBowl rings, $6.5 million salary and supermodel girlfriend, Tom Brady was a college athlete who struggled with doubt. As did Michael Phelps and Desmond Howard. All three met with University of Michigan sports counselor Greg Harden who flipped the young men’s perspectives upside down and revitalized them while on the verge of a breakdown with one simple mantra: “Control the controllables.”

Harden’s advice to Brady was to be able to make every throw and to learn the playbook better than his competition Drew Henson. He told Howard to be the best blocker on the team so that he could see the field.

It’s a Wednesday evening and I’m shooting the breeze with my boss Rodger Roeser, owner and president of The Eisen Agency, a public relations firm in Cincinnati, Ohio. Among other things, Rodger is giving me the lowdown on what he believes is key to our brand as a firm.

“Across town we all do the same thing,” Roeser said. “We all write press releases, we all do pitches, we all create media kits. You know what sets us apart? We are the hardest working crew you’ll ever find. In the end, what is creativity? Everyone can be creative and isn’t it all rather subjective? Our promise is to deliver the best. Far and away the number one reason a client leaves a firm is lack of attention.”

Control the controllables. Whether it’s your personal faith, your marriage or your professional success, it all comes back to the basics. Rodger often equates running The Eisen Agency to running a pro-football team. Along with controlling the controllables and giving it all we’ve got, our firm’s success will rest on how well we perform the basics.

Perhaps one of the best facilitator of media relations at our firm is Kelly Gadd. Other than sheer tenacity and strong pitching skills one thing I think plays to Kelly’s advantage is that she is a student of the game. She knows what’s going on in the media. She’s in tune to what the Cincinnati outlets cover. She knows what deserves coverage and, as we eat lunch together in the break room, she criticizes what doesn’t.

Even the most philosophical, complex and academic ideas can be broken down into simple components. Hence the title of my blog. Follow along as we go back to the basics.