The Person

Topics for my TED talk

Fresh, interesting, yet mindful perspectives. On sunny days, a different take on the blockbuster hit of the week and cool work from other agencies. On rainy days, a listening ear, and some recommendations where needed.
A good mix of warm empathy and cool decisiveness. When you have mixed with CEOs and fishmongers, lawyers and pole dancers, pastors and Pink Dot organisers, you tend to be pretty open-minded and unfazeable. Especially if you have healed from a few broken bones, and saved young men bleeding out from stab wounds.
Resourcefulness. If they need something specific within short notice, I usually either have it, know where to get it, or have a contact who can make it happen.

Polite candour, tempered with tact, facts, and stats. No need to point out a client's problems in a direct manner, but it is usually good to offer options that help circumvent their pain points, or enable them with numbers to sell new ideas.
Never whine/gripe about the clients. Especially not excessively, publicly, and/or unconstructively. They enable creatives to make a good living doing what they love. So, unless there are excellent reasons to fire the client, please let's focus on doing the good work.
If it literally takes 5 minutes to complete a client's request (which is basically $10 in manhours, tops), the occasional pro grata work should be acceptable. Especially if they are the nice sort who pay in a timely manner, or give interesting opportunities. A relatively small drop in the ocean to invest in the relationship is plenty worth it.

That said, there is a small French saying I empathise with. Roughly translated, it means "Help your friends when they're in trouble and they'll remember you when they are in it again." So let's not overdo it either.