It took me a worryingly long time before I realised that great work doesn’t just get bought simply because it’s great. In any commercial creative sector, great work goes hand in hand with an equal partner. A partner that is often disregarded as being the mucky bit. That partner is of course ‘the sell’. To which I don’t just mean selling the idea, I mean the Machiavellian ability to manipulate people and situations in order to get what you believe to be right and best.

This skill is wrongly seen as the domain of the account person. Truth is, it’s all of our jobs. And it’s fundamental to our business and one of the things that makes work, teams and agencies great. It’s a shame that as behaviour manipulators by trade we only notably recognise and glorify one side of it.

And this is exactly why I love the Paramount+ show about the making of The Godfather: The Offer. It’s a story about getting it done no matter what. And it reminded me of the industry I love when we are at our absolute best.