Marketing leadership relies on learning

The bookstore aisles are crammed with treatises and “how-to” guides aimed at deciphering the secrets of effective leadership for budding captains of industry. However, rarely do we read about what it takes to be an effective marketing head. It’s almost as if marketing must occupy the supporting role within the organization: always the servant, never the leader. What follows is one man’s list of the fundamental traits that make for marketing’s best.

Crave learning: Live to learn. Soak up experience. And consider both part of a constant life-long journey. When the learning ceases, your marketing days are numbered. It’s one of the reasons I write this column and give speeches. It forces me to remain in a learning mode despite encroaching age and laziness.

Learn to listen: It’s an acquired skill and one that most Americans have failed to master. Successful consultants understand that in the listening lies the answer. Ditto for marketing. Consumers will gladly provide the answers if accorded the basic privilege of being asked and heard.

Seek the wisdom of the initiated: Marketing may be a young person’s game, but its elder statesmen still know more about strategy and tactical success than the under-30 kids with spiked hair. There will never be a substitute for experience in marketing, as in life itself. Seek the wisdom of the experienced. They’re more than willing to share. They just don’t get asked.

Get the best: Surround yourself with the best people, difficult and disruptive as that may sometimes be. It’s more than a cliché. Be ruthless in acquiring the best minds and the most inquiring mindsets. Trawl for the renegades and the mavericks. Great marketing can’t survive on anything less.

Speak well, write well: Most great leaders are effective communicators. How do they do it? Through the power of the written or spoken word. Ironically, most great marketing ideas end up in either the trash can or the filing cabinet. Why? Inability to articulate the vision and/or sell the promise and grandeur of the idea.

Conquer time management: Let’s face it; there will always be too much to do in too little time, with reaction speeds measured by the nanosecond. How do you survive? Grow comfortable with multitasking (keeping many balls in the air without dropping any). Prioritize and focus. Do fewer things well.

Always get an early start to the day and the assignment. And use down time effectively. Ever wonder where those prolific business writers get time to write all those books? On airplanes, while the rest of us are watching movies and playing computer Solitaire.

Embrace change: Marketing thrives on it. It should be welcomed for the opportunity it provides and accepted as an operating norm. The best marketing minds are always questioning, rethinking, retooling, refining, trying to find a better, faster, more effective way of moving the product from the loading dock into the customer’s hands.

Think globally: There is no escaping the fact that the marketing leader will be forced to play in the global arena. The homogenization of communities, the media they watch and the products they buy, demands an understanding that the marketplace is now as much the globe as the local strip shopping center.

Learn a language: Sure, English is the big Kahuna, but how do we handle the billion plus Chinese entering the marketplace? Or the growing influx of buyers and residents from Latin America? By speaking to them in their own language and being sensitive to the nuances of their culture. Beware the arrogance of the English-speaking mindset. It’s something we Americans are so good at – arrogance, that is.

Take risks: Better still, make risk a habit. Force yourself into situations where considered risk (not the stupid kind) becomes an inevitable part of the job. The great marketing success stories have generally been driven by a very risky strategy or rationale. Remember, nothing should ever be done to excess – including moderation.

Honesty please: Don’t forget that your word and handshake are your bond. Operate with dignity and always practice courtesy in your dealings with others, particularly business others. For example, return phone calls promptly; send thank-you notes; keep promises and always follow up. By the way, honesty is more than church on Sunday. It’s applying the Sunday principles to the rest of the week. Don’t see a lot of that nowadays.

Alf Nucifora is an Atlanta-based marketing consultant.