I recently spoke to two groups of Marketing and Growth leads, many CMOs and VPs of Growth, and both groups were based on my Marketing coaching and the lessons I have given over the last three years of coaching.
I offered 15 lessons to learn from:
- Learn (& then know) the business – manage the budget like it’s your own money.
- Don’t like playing the game, it plays on without you‼️
AKA PQ – political intelligence is something almost every CMO and CGO needs to get better at - Add value (to the business, to the bottom line, to C-suite conversations) and communicate the value often
- Learn the tools and how they actually work and will add value
Many do not learn the tools and it hinders them as they force fit other behaviours (email-like behaviour on chat apps or reply all) - Internally market as well as your external marketing activities
If those in the business do not know what, why and how they can’t and won’t get behind it - Be the partner others look forward to working alongside
- For all the battles you have, your own is the hardest to win
Very often you will battle yourself or have internal department battles and they will be hardest to manage and get over - Get rid quickly
If you have a toxic team member(s) they rarely change and cause more harm than they do good - Never lose headcount & never give headcount to others (it doesn’t come back)
- HR is an important partner until the big boss comes calling with HR…
HR is a business partner but they are there to protect the business - Get full clarity on what your role is, what success is and failures are. Hint get this every review cycle otherwise you will be unhappy
Roles change regularly and where there is business change there is an expected change of your role either said or formally changed. As for any change to be communicated to you - Don’t get confused or blinded by your senior title
Your title is just a title to others and often when you behave differently or not in ways others expect you will be treated accordingly - Growth is everyone’s job – you are likely responsible for it when it’s going badly
Marketing is often responsible for Growth particularly when performance drops - When you’re in a role with a dotted line it is the most confusing role for the team member, you and the other “lead”
– Hint: Be clear on who to go to for what - Learn from those below, around and above you
Look at creating skip meetings, lunch and learns and creating feedback loops that increase sharing across your department
If you are a Head of, Director, VP or CMO or CGO and looking for a coach, get in touch coach @ dannydenhard.com.
Another resource that will help is