by Lorraine Stewart Lockhart
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Excellent Communicator
Strong Interpersonal and Relationship Building Skills - Marketing Leaders who can communicate the vision in a way that others can easily understand, internalize, and own have a competitive advantage. The extraordinary leaders have the ability to model desired behavior, teach and inspire others.
Consumer Focused Orientation
Yes, the extraordinary value their customers, informed by a broad and external perspective. They talk and act with the customer in mind, envisioning how they can create a relationship with the customer for life.
Strategic and Decisive Thinker
The strategist sees the “Big Picture” and the end result long before anyone else. They establish a clear vision for the business and inspire confidence. They analyze, act, learn and improve.
Team Builder
Top leaders surround themselves with high performing teams built of people, plans and practices aligned around a shared purpose, operating within a defined culture.
Bottom Line / Results Oriented
Enough said. Stay focused and productive despite obstacles or opposition. Leaders continually move marketing performance to the next level.
Passionate, Creative, and Innovative
Marketing leaders are passionate about generating new, breakthrough ideas that have the potential to strategically impact the business. They cultivate these traits in others.
Change Ready
Flexibility and resilience are key for today’s marketing leaders. Marketers willing and able to adjust to multiple demands, priorities and ambiguity in times of rapid change are the winners.
Technologically Literate
A thorough understanding of old and new marketing disciplines from branding, advertising and sales to the latest forms of internet and relationship marketing are essential. Keep yourself and your team current with technological advances that can help achieve your company goals.
Data-driven decision making
Leaders understand the implications of key data, trends and financial indicators that aid in decision making and business planning. Take this a step further and establish a formal marketing scorecard that keeps your department on track and in the limelight.
Problem-conflict resolution skills
Wisdom, experience, and the judgment to grasp information quickly and to find innovative and insightful solutions to challenges is another trait of top CMO’s.
Over the past twenty years RCG has worked with hundreds of marketing leaders across diverse industries and categories and have studied the traits that make them successful. We encourage marketers from the CMO suite down to continually look for and develop these traits within their marketing teams. We are available to assist your team with our proprietary or customized solutions to enhance the performance of your team.
