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| Sunday, 25 January 2004 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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A man whom everybody liked
The purpose of this note is to pen what I learnt from Reggie and the wisdom he symbolized, so that this could be spread over a wider audience. Reggie lived a very long and a very full life. Every moment was to be savoured to the fullest. One day I asked him: "Reggie tell me your secret for living such a long life". As we all know, everyone has their own quirks; some say they never drank; others never smoked; others never ate meat etc. Reggie said: "Sorab, I never let anything bother me; I never worry about what is not in my power to change." This is so true especially in our business. We spend endless hours worrying about our clients, our colleagues, our bosses, and our friends. Reggie stood up for what was right. In the advertising business it is so easy to run our own people down to ingratiate ourselves to the client. If a client complains we instantly come back to the Agency and transfer the blame to our people, because we are frightened to death that our client will fire us. Reggie was not afraid to tell a client that they were being unfair to his people and that required a lot of courage because he directly stood to lose as he owned the Agency. I have a copy of a letter he wrote to a client defending his people and advising the client that he had decided not to work with them, as they were being unfair. In this business some people like your style, some may not. However popular you might be there will always be at least a few people who will not like you. I have never ever met even one person who did not like Reggie, not one. That requires tremendous qualities. Reggie had style; Reggie was likeable; Reggie was approachable - people came to him stressed with their problems - they went away with relieved with insightful solutions. Reggie had a human touch - when I attended the funeral, I had the opportunity to talk to so many people from all walks of society: rich, poor; intellectuals, simpletons. Reggie had touched each of their lives - they shared their stories with me; probably in an effort to ease their grief. To have not even one person not like you is tremendous, if not impossible achievement; but then Reggie was a giant among men. In all my meetings with him, Reggie never spoke ill of anyone; never. As tempting as it would be, even in the toughest of situations, Reggie would always try to see the good side of the person. If you have nothing good to say about the person, don't say it. This symbolized for me the saying: Great minds discuss ideas, Average minds discuss events, Small minds discuss people. Reggie served his community. At Reggie's farewell there were as many people from social service groups as there were advertising and marketing people, Reggie seemed to have this inner desire to give back to a community that gave him so much. In the Advertising business we get so pre-occupied by our own self-inflicted importance that disallows us from a sense of obligation as to how the other half lives. As I end this note, I reflect how could all these wonderful qualities be embodied in one person, and it is now that I realize that Reggie was no ordinary mortal. Reggie was a concept - Reggie was an idea in our hearts and minds. - Sorab Mistry, Area Director, South Asia & South East Asia, McCann Erickson worldwide. |
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Reggie's passing away has deeply touched all our lives more than we
imagined. We all knew that one-day it would happen, but when it actually
did, we were stunned into numbness. Personally for me the loss has been so
great and since I was exposed to him from a distance, it makes me shudder
to think how it must have effected each of you.
