The generational divide in the workplace is more pronounced today than ever before. This is especially apparent as people begin to question traditional structures. Rachel Gigli Carrieri, SVP of Global Client Experience at Mindgruve, lives at the epicenter of this shift every day. In this episode of the Speak In Flow podcast with Melinda Lee, Rachel pulls back the curtain on why focusing on "why it happened" shuts people down, and why the real test of seniority isn't just doing the work.
In This Episode, You Will Learn:
The "Toothpaste Principle" of Communication
Why your words are like toothpaste squeezed from a tube, and how intentional communication (practiced in downtime) prevents you from saying something you can never take back, especially when tensions run high across age gaps.
Radical Candor in Real Time
"What we need to do at the moment is focus on the work and the improvements we need to see in the work."
How Kim Scott's framework helped Rachel shift from unhelpful "why did this happen?" questions to problem-focused feedback that keeps defenses down and solutions moving forward, regardless of whether you're managing a Boomer or a Gen Z.
Why Junior Talent Wants Promotions Faster (And What They're Missing)
"Doing something once or twice or over 3 months is not the same as doing it for 2 years."
The hidden gap between "I did the work" and "I am ready to single-handedly own a client relationship," plus why managers do a disservice when they promote before true readiness, and how to have that honest conversation without crushing ambition.
The Real New Digital Divide
“We still need team members to interface directly with clients to help them solve what their marketing challenges are.”
Why AI isn't replacing junior team members yet, and why the true career differentiator across generations remains the ability to interface directly with clients, solve marketing challenges, and prove your worth in revenue dollars.
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No company wants to lose its young talent. However, when an employee’s personal expectations don’t align with the company's, irreconcilable differences can arise. Younger generations want to climb the career ladder quickly. When they deliver the expected results, how do we know when it’s time for the next step?
Learn more in our latest blog post. "Promote or Not? A Practical Framework for Testing Seniority."
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About the Guest:
Rachel Gigli Carrieri is Senior Vice President of Global Client Experience at Mindgruve, where she leads the agency's account strategy and project management team. With over 20 years of integrated marketing and strategy experience, Rachel's expertise focuses on the seamless integration and execution of paid, owned, and earned channels for both consumer and B2B brands. Prior to Mindgruve, Rachel worked on both the client-side and agency-side for some of the world's top marketing agencies and global brands like BMW, CBRE, Kraft Foods, and Petco. A mentor, leader, and advocate for intentional communication across generations, Rachel brings both compassion and candor to every client relationship and team interaction.
Melinda Lee is a Presentation Skills Expert, Speaking Coach, and nationally renowned Motivational Speaker. She holds an M.A. in Organizational Psychology, is an Insights Practitioner, and is a Certified Professional in Talent Development as well as Certified in Conflict Resolution. For over a decade, Melinda has researched and studied the state of “flow” and used it as a proven technique to help corporate leaders and business owners amplify their voices, access flow, and present their mission in a more powerful way to achieve results.
She has been the TEDx Berkeley Speaker Coach and has worked with hundreds of executives and teams from Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Caltrans, Bay Area Rapid Transit System, and more. Currently, she lives in San Francisco, California, and is breaking the ancestral lineage of silence.
Website: https://speakinflow.com/
Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/speakinflow
Instagram: https://instagram.com/speakinflow
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mpowerall
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Transcripts
Melinda Lee:
Welcome, dear listeners, to the Speak and Flow podcast, where we just slow things down a bit to help you communicate with more clarity and confidence.
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Melinda Lee: Each episode is only 20 minutes long, and we're going to give you practical tips to help you respond to current events of today, what is happening in your work and at your world. We are focused on generational
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Melinda Lee: conflict, generational disconnect. In our workplace today, you probably are finding four
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Melinda Lee: five, three different generations, and so how are we communicating? How does this impact our work? And joining me today, we have the Senior VP of Global Client Experience at Mindgroove. Her name is Rachel Giggly Courier.
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Melinda Lee: Hi, Rachel!
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: Hello, Melinda, how are you doing?
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Melinda Lee: I'm so glad you're here, thanks for joining.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: Thank you for having me!
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Melinda Lee: I'm looking forward to our conversation today, and so I'm just gonna kick this off to ask you, what would you hope that when someone finishes this episode, that could change in their lives?
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: That they are able to think more compassionately and speak more intentionally with team members in their workplace, regardless of the discipline they work in or their generation that they were born into.
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Melinda Lee: I love it. Because so often, we're just speaking from where we're coming from and what our beliefs are, what our values are, which may be so different from the different… from the multi-generations that are in the company, so you're saying to have the forethought and intention to slow down and really think about how they receive it.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: Absolutely. In fact, my, my dear colleague Christy, who is our VP
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: resources at Mindgroove. She talks about, intentional, communication with her children, and talks about it in the analogy of toothpaste.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: And once you've squeezed the toothpaste out of the tube, you really can't put it back in, you know, and your words are like that, and so being careful, or at least thinking.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: in moments when you, have some downtime, have some learning time, to think about how you use your words will help you then when you're live. Because I'll tell you one thing I know for sure, it's very difficult when you are in a fast-paced industry, like advertising, where I work.
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Melinda Lee: To, in the moment, be coaching yourself live.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: to be speaking in flow. You're going to be live in the minute, and you've got to be then dealing with your boss, your coworker, your peer, your teammate, your junior, your support, your admin, your executive assistant, whoever you may have the luxury of communicating with. And those team members are all going to come from different perspectives.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: Yes. And what we're going to try and speak about is how we land our communication.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: In a way that they can receive it as it was intended.
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Melinda Lee: I love that, and that's what we're gonna do today. So what… before we get into the meat of the episode, can you share with us what are you passionate about? Tell us more about what you do at Mindgroove.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: Yes, so, at Mindgroove, an agency, a full-service marketing agency, we, focus in on different modern media channels.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: And the role of data and, deep, deep analytics can really pull together sophisticated marketing,
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: Campaigns, strategies, and momentum for our clients that will deliver their performance and growth story.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: So, all those words were a lot, and that represents, I think, the complexities of today's modern agency environment, where we are really trying to help clients of all different types of industries and verticals
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: To solve their, their business challenges by using, the power of performance marketing or the power of e-commerce
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: And the connective tissue between all of those pieces, with rich business insights driven by data platforms, and gosh, that is so much for a team member to have to deal with. And so, I work with different cross-functional teams within that environment, media.
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Melinda Lee: edit.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: commerce, creative, analytics, and strategy, and I personally lead the team that interfaces most and primarily with the client.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: Then brings that information back to.
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Melinda Lee: Oh my god.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: different team members to try and solve for our clients' problems.
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Melinda Lee: Right. That is a lot of different people that you're working with, a lot of different angles of perspectives that you have to consider, and… and you're working with global brands. I saw eBay, Sony, correct. Yeah, so you're working with a lot of.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: Yep.
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Melinda Lee: Yeah.
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Melinda Lee: So you mentioned, and the marketplace is definitely… your clients, their demands, what is happening has evolved, I'm sure, over time, and a lot more data, a lot more analytics, but a lot more rich content. So you're dealing with that, but then you're also dealing with the multi-generations of
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Melinda Lee: people within your firm, how has that… changed… or evolved
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Melinda Lee: In the way that you work.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: Well, I think, first and foremost, I find, of course, as I mature, and.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: I'm more senior myself, of course, I have become one of the older team members in the group.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: And right now, one of the new media, channels that I personally, am learning and adapting to is the complexities of, and opportunities of Amazon ads, and how deep
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: a commerce platform such as Amazon can reach our audience, how connected we can think about insights, and how richly we can message to our consumers, and so…
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: I'm learning that new channel.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: And so… but in 2006, I was also learning Facebook as it launched.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: And how we would use that for marketing. And so, I can kind of think about the role of not only in multi-generational experience, and the way in which it's important for us to always have embraced new channels throughout our career.
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Melinda Lee: And so when you're working in marketing.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: The experience that you gain through, embracing new media, new channels, new ways in which people consume, content, the… the generational, element
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: is also something that links to, a deeper understanding of channels, marketing tactics, initiatives, and experience. And so.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: With all of that comes a need to… to train and pass that on.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: Right?
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: And there are certain elements of our industry that are… are very much transferable, and there are certain elements that,
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: that are not, and some things that are linked to, perhaps, communication, or grit, graph.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: That link to our ability to be concise, our ability to be able to, understand a client need or ask, and distill it in a way that is simplified and easy for the next team member to pick up.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: That is also evolving and changing.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: So yeah, I'll pause there and… And we can think more.
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Melinda Lee: Yeah… I can see that. So you, yourself, with your role.
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Melinda Lee: Have to consider a lot with regard to the different channels that are available, the different channels that are
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Melinda Lee: Work and do not work for your clients? But then also, how do you pass down all this information to your team so that they continue to evolve it, continue to refine it for your clients?
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: Yay!
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Melinda Lee: some information you can change, some information you can pass down, and some information you don't. So how does that impact your team as you involve them?
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Melinda Lee: And you're… we're working across multi-faceted, multi…
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Melinda Lee: department, or multi-rooles, right? How does that… how do you do that? How do you do that effectively?
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: Try and, we try and do some good documentation.
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Melinda Lee: So, first and foremost, try and make sure that, any new elements that we need to teach are distilled into a one-pager.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: Or some kind of really easy guide. Yeah.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: And then there are other things that are softer skills, Client Communication 101, the art of,
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: the art of…
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Melinda Lee: Pausing, or listening.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: The art of negotiation, you know.
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Melinda Lee: Oh, yeah.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: Discussing, when you're discussing timeline or missed feedback, the role of, of receiving complaint.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: You know, there is… there are all different nuances in the… in the job, and some of which are built on experience, and others of which you can bottle up and put on paper and try and teach.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: And I guess right now, where I am in my role, and as our agency grows, I'm navigating which are the ones that I can teach by putting it on paper and sharing it along, and which are the ones that just have to be worked through as experience.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: Yeah, yeah.
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Melinda Lee: I could see that. And do you also consider how the person receives the information, how they prefer to be trained?
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: Yes, I mean…
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Melinda Lee: Yeah.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: The other role of that, as working with newer teams, younger teams, junior teams, is the role of feedback.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: As they are navigating, perhaps, a new discipline, a new media, a new opportunity, for example, a team member may have never worked with influencers before, and they have an opportunity to work with influencers on a new client.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: how do we get that team member comfortable enough to confidently navigate that work through the system? Those are elements that are easy for us to help, to kind of connect the dots and stay close with that team in order to make sure that they have that leadership.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: But then, what if that team member says something on a call that maybe was a little tone-deaf, or lacking.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: a little piece of feedback, and they haven't quite threaded it through. There, you want to give feedback in a way that the team member is able to hear it without getting too downheartened, so that they can go, got it, and on to the next.
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Melinda Lee: How have you been able to do that? Yeah.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: How have you been able to…
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Melinda Lee: Find that balance.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: Giving feedback in a way that keeps
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: A focus on the results at the.
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Melinda Lee: Oh yeah, let's.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: Well, I do definitely recommend a book called Radical Candor by Kim Scott, which, is definitely one I live by, or try to, which helped me see a blind spot in my own
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: practice, which was that when somebody does, you know, a team member, perhaps, misspeaks in a call.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: Or perhaps we get to the call and we weren't prepared. Perhaps the client deliverable has not had quite enough, review internally before it's been shared with a client. Perhaps we've missed the mark. There are all kinds of ways in which, as we progress, the work needs improvement.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: And as a manager, there are all kinds of feelings you might have as you see work that is in need of improvement. Why did we not get that right? What… how come we missed the deadline? Why did we not capture that feedback?
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: And I think in my younger years of management, my emphasis on the why did this happen.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: was unhelpful.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: Because the real emphasis needs to be, what do we need to do to ensure we've got it now? What else do we need to clarify with client to make sure that we don't miss this again? How can I help you take this to the next step? Because right now, we've clearly got a disconnect in the information.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: And so, that was part of the…
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: the training, the experience that I had to build, and that I try and use today in my daily work with the team, is in
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: Not focusing so much on the myths, as in focusing… because in doing so, people's defenses get up.
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Melinda Lee: Yeah.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: Instead, what we need to do in the moment is focus on the work and the improvements we need to see in the work.
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Melinda Lee: Right.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: the improvement we need to see in the client relationship, or the reassurance we need to give to the client. And we can worry about, why did we get here?
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: Right now, we gotta put all of our energy into helping to solve the problem so that we get it better.
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Melinda Lee: Right, right. So they're not afraid of making the mistake in the future, because, yeah.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: So in Canada.
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Melinda Lee: Yeah, I am curious, though, in this generation, do you find that a lot of them, are putting in the work, and then wondering, when am I going to get a pay raise, when am I going to move up? Are they… are they wanting to move up faster?
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Melinda Lee: And then also, do they truly… because I could put myself back in when I was, just starting out into the workplace.
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Melinda Lee: not truly understanding the… you have the impact, you have the gravity, you have the pressure of meeting client deadlines. As an employee.
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Melinda Lee: I get my paycheck, I feel like if I do the work, I should be…
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Melinda Lee: elevated, promoted. It's like, you know, a step-by-step, but it's like, we… I don't… I didn't have the pressure, and I wish I kind of knew the impact that I have to move the company forward, to help the company grow. I don't think that clicked enough. It was more about just doing the work and getting a promotion, but not necessarily really understanding the gravity and the pressures
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Melinda Lee: That the company has of meeting client satisfaction, meeting client expectations, and how does this all impact
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Melinda Lee: the client, versus just doing the work. Does that make sense? Yeah, completely. What do you think?
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: Well, I think… There are so many little nuances to it. So, for example… Yeah.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: Let's go to, first off, like, why a team member who is working their butt off wants.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: Right?
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Melinda Lee: They want a promotion.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: They do. They want a promotion.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: Happens every day. They're all knocking on the door, right? They're all knocking on the door. They all walk. They're like, I did this, I did this, look at what I did! They all go… well, let's say they all deserve one, right? Let's say, for example, they all deserve one.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: Well, in that moment, maybe they all do their one, but do they consistently demonstrate
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: That they have what it takes for me to say to the company, we should take
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: 20 or 30 grand and put it into this addition… this team member, versus taking that times 3 or 4 and getting us an additional support team member, you know, like, the.
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Melinda Lee: It's like,
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: Have around budgets around promotion.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: At the same time, I can imagine that a team member who's an account manager, and they're, you know, still on their early rungs of the career ladder, are easily frustrated around more money and a better title. I can
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: I can really still feel that in my own bones.
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Melinda Lee: I agree.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: Can you? Yeah. I feel it. I remember it.
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Melinda Lee: I do!
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: And so… And I love the team, and I want them to succeed, and I want them to stay.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: So, part of me wants to give out promotions to everyone, left, right.
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Melinda Lee: Right.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: You know, it's the Oprah Winfrey meme. You get a promotion, you get a promotion, you get a promotion, right?
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: At the same time, does it do… I remember when I left a company to get a senior AM,
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: from an AM, and I left a company for it.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: And I remember the CEO saying, you gotta be careful that you don't try and run before you can walk.
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Melinda Lee: It stayed with me this whole… this whole time.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: And I… and I reflect upon it. I reflect upon…
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: My own hiring challenges of needing a team member who is mature enough to.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: single-handedly handle a client, or a team member whose maturity isn't there, and I could not leave to single-handedly handle a client, and the difference between that. And when I make a choice about promotion or not, if they are… that's just one example of one level. If they are not ready, then I'm doing a disservice to me.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: the team members around them who are also looking, and will start asking more if I… if I give that team member…
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: an easy promotion, let's say. Now, they would say, this isn't easy, I'm getting paid peanuts, and I'm working my bottle. So then you go to the other elements, which is around,
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: trying to…
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: Manage expectations around growth, and try and encourage consistent practice of their discipline, consistency around their support level, their…
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: they're always on, they're hunger, and of course, you know, I… I'm a demanding boss, and I want it all, and when, you know, our client expectations are higher, faster, more visible, they're…
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Melinda Lee: Yeah.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: For so much, too.
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Melinda Lee: Yeah.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: there's something in the DNA of the team member that I will… I'm getting much better at hiring.
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Melinda Lee: Oh, good.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: if they have that DNA or not. And that does get into multi-generational, because it gets into things like grit.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: The cognitive load of advertising today is very different to even 10 years ago, and your ability to be resilient while managing the complexities, plus maybe a tricky personality of client, plus…
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: The demands of all of the different energy within an agency in a fast-paced environment just makes it so much harder on a team.
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Melinda Lee: Yeah.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: And if you're doing that while feeling underpaid.
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Melinda Lee: Yeah.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: Or undervalued. Woo!
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Melinda Lee: that's a recipe for disaster. However, if they're doing it, and they're doing it even if they're underpaid, but they're doing it because of the love of just growing and developing their skills, and… and… what do you think? What is that? Is that a value? Is that something… do you see them…
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Melinda Lee: Or them doing that, or is there less of them that do that? Because they just want… they're looking at the pay versus the value of the experience.
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Melinda Lee: And are they really underpaid? They're probably at market.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: Yeah! They have marty.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: No, I mean…
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Melinda Lee: Okay.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: Well, this goes to the generational thing.
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Melinda Lee: Yes!
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: Demands are significantly higher.
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Melinda Lee: Yeah.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: So, no, I would say there isn't a single team member who is underpaid, or undervalued, or at the wrong title.
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Melinda Lee: Yes.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: At the same time, the expectation of the team and the companies that they join is that they.
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Melinda Lee: They can move.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: that is going to honor their… their spark, and help them to get to the next level.
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Melinda Lee: Yeah.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: that next level to be, they honestly expect that next level to be, within a year.
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Melinda Lee: Yeah.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: And that is… is difficult, too, and that's all…
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Melinda Lee: That is difficult.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: handle, you know?
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Melinda Lee: That is very difficult.
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Melinda Lee: Would it help if they understood the big vision of the company, and they did it because of the mission of the company, they love the company, the values of the company? That's where I used to sit, and I used to stay at companies for a lot longer just because I love the people, I love the mission of the company, and I was able to grow my experience.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: Right. And, and develop them. And…
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Melinda Lee: So, is that lost?
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: No, I don't think so, but I think that they bemoan the, the difficulties of the job.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: I think that more and more is asked of team members.
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Melinda Lee: Adam.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: And I think that…
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: we all have an expectation, for example, that AI is going to take out our junior team members. I don't… Yeah. I personally don't see it happening, right now where I see it, I think…
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Melinda Lee: Right.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: We still have a real need for, facilitation through the… the work of
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: creative and production. We still need team members to interface directly with clients to help them solve what their marketing challenges are, and we still need somebody to… to kind of be in hand-in-hand partnership to do that, and so…
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: When we asked that of our team,
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: I wish that they could, and I need to myself better, communicate the value of tenure and experience, and that doing something once or twice or over 3 months is not the same as doing it for 2 years and really being.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: Nay, an expert within the space and the field. And then being able to, therefore, transfer that expertise to a different type of client with a different type of product or service, that is where you are able to then.
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Melinda Lee: That's right.
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Melinda Lee: Exactly, and that is where the company's gonna see your value, because now you're taking on these roles that actually directly impact the revenue generation.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: Right.
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Melinda Lee: of the company.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: Yes, and that's where, you know, for team members who are demanding of.
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Melinda Lee: Yeah.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: Of growth, who are ambitious to… to really succeed and push themselves into that, growth trajectory.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: If they do show that they can, drive revenue growth within a client, if they can bring in money on that client, or if they can really help that client to drive huge success for their business, which.
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Melinda Lee: Right.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: leads to success for our business, then that's where… that is where real professional growth comes from, you know? That is where demonstration, meets, true execution and the rubber meets the road, because they are proving their worth by turning
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: their hard graft into revenue dollars for the agency, and that is the ultimate role of more and more senior talent, you know?
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Melinda Lee: Yeah, yeah, versus, hey, I'm gonna do XYZ, I get my paycheck.
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Melinda Lee: And then, give me a promotion.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: Yes, yes, but much more unheard of.
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Melinda Lee: Right.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: And so.
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Melinda Lee: That's great.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: So going back to how we communicate on that.
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Melinda Lee: Yeah.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: So, one of the…
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Melinda Lee: The things, and going back to radical candor, or how to communicate in a way that.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: that basically somebody is able to understand your feedback. Maybe that
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: their professional growth. Maybe they're also… it's just about how they were in that last meeting you were in together.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: Or maybe it's about providing feedback to a creative on the work that they did for a client. There's something about the way in which we deliver our feedback so that people are able to hear it, receive it, and then act upon it in the way you hope that they would, you know, whether that.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: Spark into some redos of creative, or whether that is to really knuckle down and get a timeline redone, or whether that is to just make sure that they're always on time for their client meetings next.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: You know, we're hope…
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Melinda Lee: Yeah.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: What's important for me is that I get the team to be better, stronger, more experienced by retaining them and working out with them some of their improvements that they need to naturally make as they grow in their career.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: And so, as I see anything within the team, finding a way to… to get them better, to get them working a little bit.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: at a better clip, or with a little bit less error, or a little bit more seamlessly, takes feedback, and that feedback can either be landed well, with compassion in a way they can receive.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: or it can land in a way that makes them want to dust off their resume and get it spursed up onto LinkedIn and start applying for jobs, and that has been my experience, that
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: You've got to take care in how you then guide those improvements or growth areas in order to make it something that can be
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: tackled versus the defensive war going up.
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Melinda Lee: Right, right.
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Melinda Lee: Well, they're very lucky to have you, your team, the organization, for you to take a moment to really consider how they're receiving that feedback.
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Melinda Lee: And some managers won't even give feedback. So you're giving feedback, and also you're doing it in a way that hopefully they can receive it.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: Yeah, absolutely, you know.
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Melinda Lee: Yeah.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: And making sure that it's not only in a way that they can receive it, I guess, but also in a way that continues to build your relationship with them, because that.
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Melinda Lee: Yeah.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: Base of it.
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Melinda Lee: Right.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: You know.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: you've got to… if you want to keep your team members growing and staying within the company, and that is something that's of importance to me, you then have to make sure that, you're building a good relationship with them, you know, an honest working relationship. I believe that you should bring
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: You know, your full self to work, and really have an ability to be yourself at work.
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Melinda Lee: Yeah.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: sense, of course. And hopefully have a dialogue with your boss and bosses, where you can talk about your career, you can talk about your clients, you can talk about your work, you can talk about your fears, even, in a safe environment at the right junctures. And that would be my dream, because that's what I think would keep team members retained.
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Melinda Lee: I agree. That is the sweet spot, absolute sweet spot, of when people feel most comfortable, when people are most creative, is when you can provide that safe space.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: Yeah, yeah.
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Melinda Lee: to solve problems, and you're building that relationship, and they're willing to take action without feeling, fear, too much fear of retribution, or fear of failure, and so they have that safe space. Starts from there. So, cool! Thank you so much, Rachel. And so what is that one takeaway that you hope that people could remember?
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: Mmm…
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: I think it's really important to try and speak clearly, speak directly with empathy for all team members. You know, at work, when people are putting their heart and soul into it, bring care to… to communication.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: But also, find a way to, to build rapport and be direct.
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Melinda Lee: Right.
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Melinda Lee: Love it. Drop the mic.
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Melinda Lee: Drop them, I'm gonna pick up that book.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: Yeah, you should do, it's really good.
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Melinda Lee: Yeah. Oh, thank you so much, Rachel, for your time, for a wonderful conversation. I really learned a lot about the different cultures and generations in our workplace, and how we can communicate and work better together, and be more aware of and intentional with our communication.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: Yeah, thank you! Thank you so much. It was really fun, and thank you, audience, for joining. I trust that you got your takeaway implemented in your day, and remember, anytime you have a chance to communicate, you're not just communicating, but you're also connecting and making a positive difference in our lives. Thank you so much. Until next time.
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Melinda Lee: Bye-bye.
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Melinda Lee: Hi, Rachel.
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Rachel Gigli Carrieri | SVP, Global Client Experience: Bye, thank you so much!
