Passion Comes Alive

In the heat of creating marketing results, it can be useful to take pause and ask how we as marketing leaders can take our leadership to the next level.

By Wayne Marks

One definition of leadership might be "to find a parade and get out in front of it." One can question, of course, the viability of that strategy. A preferable definition might be that of John Kotter, the distinguished professor of leadership at Harvard Business School who focused thinking about leadership on dealing with and advancing change.

Any one of us, at some point, must have pondered whether one is a manager or a leader. Managers get things done, but leaders move things in new directions. And therein is the characteristic that makes all the difference. Should everyone in every marketing job be a leader? Well, that depends, doesn't it? What is needed in the organization, and what is the organizational appetite?

Assume for the sake of this article that leadership is what is desired and needed. What makes for successful marketing leadership? One might tread lightly around that question because of all the factors that are situation-specific. Let me share a few keys to success nonetheless.

Seven Keys to Great Leadership

Based on what I have seen in working with numerous executives in marketing and other functions, the following list might serve as a beginning yardstick for marketing leadership.

Passion. This is about a deeply rooted, gut-level, and heartfelt drive to do, create, invent, accomplish, change, help, or serve. All forces within organizations, in fact the world, push things and people down if we let them. But passion carries the day. If one would like to see passion in action, then one should watch the recent movie, Amazing Grace. There is no way that William Wilberforce and those around him would have succeeded in their fight against the slave trade without this unswerving passion. The ridicule and antagonism of the British Parliament, then economically and socially tied to the continuation of that abhorrent practice, would have been too overwhelming–the personal cost and effort too great.

Courage of conviction. One can debate whether passion can exist without courage of conviction. Regardless, the latter is about the relentless pursuit against all odds (fueled by passion), which stands up to the downward forces and looks personal risk in the eye without blinking. An entire organization will clearly see these qualities of passion and courage of conviction in a true leader. Indeed, the organization will also see when they aren't there. And given marketing's expanding cross-functional and organization wide role, and the need to rally others in the organization to the marketing and customer strategy, this quality becomes paramount. So much of moving from the current order to the new day is about smashing organizational barriers. That task is not accomplished without this courage. It is sometimes helpful to remind oneself that people at all levels watch leaders; most importantly, they watch what leaders do. It never hurts to stop and reflect on (1) whether one's actions are truly building a leadership credibility based on courage of conviction and, if not, (2) what can be done to remedy the situation.

All forces within organizations, in fact the world, push things and people down if we let them.

Clear and compelling vision. This is not about creating something to hang on the corporate wall, as was done in the '90s. This is about where things could go, how they could be different, and how they could be better. It is an expression of one's passion in the business and how that expression can command and rally the energy of the employees to pursue it with their proactive best. As Yogi Berra said, "If you don't know where you are going, you will wind up somewhere else."

Thinking and innovating. This means gathering data and evidence to shape and inform decisions. It also means reading between the lines (e.g., what customers are not saying), looking for what is there as well as what is not there. In one of my first classes in business school, a professor said to me: "You have to 'complexify' before you simplify." How true. Stir up the data, turn them inside out, and go beyond them. I was once working with a marketing leader and an idea surfaced that didn't seem to have any grounding in anything we were looking at.

I said, "Where'd that come from?"
He said, "I thunk it up."

Strongly related to this issue of thinking and data is the need to constantly innovate. Thinking and innovation need to be a constant process, and they need to be purposeful. As a leader, one needs to ask oneself not only whether one is thinking and innovating, but also whether the rest of the team is.

A relentless focus on the customer. One should not take this characteristic lightly. All those forces around the organization's needs for product promotion, margin protection, and budget control will at times bump up against what is needed over the long term to create customer acquisition and loyalty. To be clear, focusing on the customer does not mean giving away the business and doing everything the customer says. But it does mean asking whether one is uniquely delivering value to target customers that will (1) create loyalty and profitable relationships and (2) grow the business and yield needed shareholder return. It is simply a question of external (customer) focus or internal focus. There is a balance, but beware when the balance tips inward. One can see this in executive team conversations. What is on the agenda? What is discussed first? As Ted Levitt said, "The purpose of a business is to create and keep a customer." Indeed.

Relationship management. This is not about customer relationships in this context. Instead, it is about organizational and interpersonal relationships. Marketing might not have authority over operations, the factories, the call center, or the stores. But marketing's success and the marketing leader's success will be determined by whether those other functions are onboard and delivering an experience for the customer that satisfies the marketing promise. Indeed, marketing depends on all those who touch customers—and who support those who touch customers—to live the brand, deliver the promise, and provide feedback on how customers are responding to the message, the positioning, and the customer strategy.

A genuine regard for people. A friend of mine once said, "You can care about other people or you can care what they think." The successful leader will opt to care about others. As with customers, caring about colleagues and associates doesn't necessarily mean doing everything they want. But it does mean recognizing that no one is perfect and everybody has certain strengths. The marketing leader will (1) sort out the right people for the right job and play to their strengths and (2) help people correct deficiencies that get in their way but not try to make weaknesses into strengths. Matching the strength to circumstance is key. If the team needs an analyst of databases, then it requires someone who has the honed skills and desire to really drill down into the data bramble bush. Asking that person to create the customer strategy and present it to the executive team might not be the best match.

This ability to work with others, create cross–functional buy in, and build enthusiasm among numerous and diverse people within the organization will ultimately determine success or failure—notwithstanding any of the other marketing leadership factors. At the end of the day, the true marketing leader will not stand up and say to the world, "Here, look what I did." Instead, the true marketing leader will follow more the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu, who wrote:

"Fail to honor people,
They will fail to honor you;
But of a good leader, who talks little
When his work is done,
His aim fulfilled,
They will all say, 'We did this ourselves.'"

About the Author

Wayne Marks is SVP of business development for Synovate Loyalty and is based in Walnut Creek, Calif. He may be reached at wayne.marks@synovate.com.