100 Days of Leo Burnett, the Midwestern Master of Mascots DAY 64

Here’s today’s Leo:

In learning to work and live with people, the most important thing I am coming to understand is the simple truth that ‘no one makes mistakes on purpose.’ Knowing this should allow us to concentrate on correcting the mistake rather than making life miserable for the mistake maker. If he is the right sort, nothing you can say or do to him will make him feel any worse about the mistake than he does already.” — Leo Burnett

Leo was a helluva an optimist, and I believe it was this fundamental belief in the goodness of people which enabled him to build both a great organization and create great advertising. There are few examples of negative people-haters creating great art or great organizations, yet it never surprises me to see how many people inexplicably choose that path.

I had the pleasure of seeing Sara Blakely — founder of Spanx — speak at the Microsoft Business Forward event today in NYC. She has an amazing story — she turned a $5K investment in undergarments into what is today a $1B empire … and today she is still a 100% owner of Spanx, Inc.

Here’s a long-form version of her story — it’s worth the time investment as a demonstration of optimism and grit:


#madmen #advertising @LeoBurnett #LeoBurnett

Continue to Day 65