Last month 30 hotshot agency execs and client side marketers were chosen for The Marketing Academy program. We kick off a series of articles from those future Australian leaders, starting with Telstra's Sean Hall, who shares words of wisdom around the responsibility and contribution of marketing leaders.
Do you really know what you are capable of?
Recently two things have reshaped my view about the contribution that marketers can make. One was hearing Bono proclaim at Cannes last year, that he was the CMO of U2 and that he believed it was marketers who were most equipped to help his mission to end HIV/AIDS in Africa.
The second was spending five incredible days with the other 29 scholars of The Marketing Academy. It's a very rare thing to spend such a focused amount of time with people who have such a strong shared sense of purpose, who are genuinely great people at the top of their game, aren’t afraid to challenge each other and that are humble and eager to grow.
One of the tenets of The Marketing Academy, led by the larger than life Sherilyn Shackell, is that anything we learn we pay it forward. It was a commitment that we signed up to without hesitation and this article is the start of that commitment.
Over the next 9 months as we are privileged to go through this program of world class mentoring, coaching, networking and personalised learning, we’ll continue to share our most valuable insights and hope that you see value in them too.
Below each of the scholars have shared an aspect of the boot camp experience that most resonated with them but when you put them all together, these can be distilled into two key leadership themes.
Responsibility. The team from The Living Leader instilled in us that having a profound understanding of responsibility is the key to leadership. Ed Smith from Foxtel shared two great insights into this.
One that leadership is “like having a megaphone”, so we need to be aware of the impact of even the smallest comments or behaviours. How often do we see a huge amount of wasted energy in organisations due to a throw away comment from a senior leader?
The second was that “as leaders we have the responsibility to give people back better than how they came to us.” When your people leave each day have you made them feel truly valued? How common is it for us to focus on the weaknesses in our people (and ourselves) vs. the strengths and their potential?
Contribution. The second theme was a new sense of the contribution. As marketers we ‘know’ we are the only people who have the end to end view of the customer, we are natural problem solvers, we create magic that engages people, and even Bono thinks we can make a difference on a global scale. But, do we ‘believe’ in ourselves?
Until we do, we will not consistently be recognised as strategic enablers of the businesses we are in, and we will not have the same opportunities to lead organisations.
So on behalf of The Marketing Academy and the other scholars I encourage you take responsibility, firstly for yourself, and then for the impact you make. And importantly to believe in yourself and the contribution you make.
Below you’ll find many more words of wisdom which we’ll explore more deeply over the next nine months. Feel free to ask questions and build on what we share as we go. We hope you enjoy the ride.
Sean Hall, general manager of employee experience at Telstra is one of the 30 attendees of The Marketing Academy.
Here's some words of wisdom each of the scholars got from the Marketing Academy Bootcamp.
David Halter, Head of Digital, Clemenger BBDO
“Change your thinking. Change your life.” I now appreciate how much mindset and the way you perceive events can have such an impact on wellbeing and leadership style.
Adam Ross, Head of Co-Creation, Mindshare
“We must celebrate the buyers of good ideas...without them the idea wouldn’t exist” Just a simple truth that really hit home and there is a danger that we take it for granted. If being a great leader is about humility, authenticity and inspiring others, then this is a simple way of ensuring you deliver on that by appreciating those who ensure the magic actually happens.
Jo McAlister, Head of Group Marketing, SBS
“Consider feedback a gift, not a threat.” People often try to avoid receiving feedback for fear on how it will reflect on them. If you are not getting feedback, that’s feedback! Invite it, then learn and grow. Be an active listener to really hear what people are saying.
William Papesch, Marketing Manager, DBG Australia
“A great leader will make the complex simple and the simple compelling.” It sounds simple but in reality is anything but. It’s a style which I believe combines one’s ability to achieve buy in to a vision through strong communication and creativity, tempered with strategic nous.
Damon Robbins, Head of Digital Marketing, Tabcorp
“Life is about juggling balls. Most of those in your life are made of glass and if dropped break. While your work is rubber ball and bounces back”. This quote reminded me that your life is most important and needs so much attention. Your career will always be there and you need to focus on getting the balance right.
Duncan Parfitt, Head of Performance and Analytics, Match Media
“Give people back better than you found them.” A very simple yet thought provoking message. If you go through life with a single minded goal of improving those around you not only will you have a profound impact professionally but make the world a better place.
Justin Robinson, Director of Marketing Operations & Media, Foxtel
“If you knew you could create an environment that would help your team, friends and family to think at their very best, how would you behave differently.” One of my key take outs from ‘The Living Leader’ course was that communication style and being aware of our impact as leaders is critical when it comes to developing others and helping them realise their potential. Rackman’s model of communicating behaviours is a simple yet effective way to stay self aware of your style and impact.
Alex Light, Head of Content. Vice Australia
“Content people don’t make world champions”. This was John Eales talking about agitation. This was compelling on two fronts. Firstly, on a personal level in always striving to be better, to change things, to deliver with perfection. But also in understanding what other peoples’ agitation is: helping harness this and unlocking their potential.
Pia Coyle, Head of Trading & Amplification, Ikon Communications
“One Team - diversity of thought, not diversity of direction.” A really simple and powerful reminder that a shared vision is what makes a team. Too often we operate in silos and wonder why we are not getting anywhere. It is also a nice reminder that we should be celebrating having really different people within the organisation - and we should be recruiting for this, and fostering our people’s differences.
Michael McKeown, Marketing Manager, Carlton & United Breweries
“Between stimulus and response is a gap, this gap is your moment of choice.” This quote resonated for me because it is relevant every hour of everyday. We are asked to respond to so many different questions, comments and challenges. On each occasion we have the ability to choose how we respond and we can choose if that response is effective.
Ian Edwards, Group Business Director, MEC Global
“Helping is not always helpful.” Helping by giving advice comes from the right place, but is a short term solution. You may be solving the problem on the spot, but you are also removing responsibility. By listening and asking the right questions, the responsibility stays with the individual and they solve it on their own unique way.
Sharon Lewis, Executive Producer, M&C Saatchi
“Your thinking creates your reality.” For me, this tied a lot of what we learnt together. Our values, how we come to our decisions and solve solutions, the way we communicate, the way we lead, and our personal and professional visions. If we focus on where we want to go, we’ll naturally be aware and look for/find the opportunities to make it reality.
Nicole Bardsley, Director of Brand and Communications, Virgin Mobile Australia
“A great leader develops and inspires other leaders to be the best they can be.” Too often we mistake leadership with being a great manager. The thing that sets great leaders apart is the ability to listen, encourage, inspire and demonstrate appreciation. Ed Smith also said this well when he said “beyond paying people, how can you give people back better than you found them.”
Claire Whish-Wilson, Brand Manager, AAMI Insurance
“Is what’s coming out of your mouth supporting who you are and what your values are?” One of the many things that I got out of the program was a deep and clear understanding of my values, and that everything I say and do should be a reflection of this.
Tim Kirby, Head of Account Management, Naked Communications Sydney
“It’s not your job to make people motivated, but it is your job to provide an environment that helps them motivate themselves.” This was a lovely reminder that being a leader isn’t about forcing a result, but instead about generating a culture and an environment where people can flourish, and in doing so achieve any result they want.
Lucy Plunkett, General Manager, Play Communications
“The brain that has the problem, has the solution.” We are often so eager to find solutions, to help our teams, to give them guidance and to make things better that we operate as great managers. To be great leaders we choose to instead empower, listen, and collaborate with people to give them the right tools to solve problems and become leaders themselves.
Heilan Bolton, Marketing Manager, 20th Century Fox
“Leadership is about listening, storytelling and getting people to think for themselves.” Leadership can be complicated but simplicity is key. Never lose the art of communication and understanding your team. Identify your purpose and create a safe environment where the people around you are trusting, collaborative and are empowered to make their own decisions and progress to be the best they can be.
Hamish Strahorn, Group Business Director, Starcom MediaVest Group (Aust)
“Leave it in a better way than you found it.” It’s about building on what you’ve inherited or developed. Ensuring you invest in those around you, leaving a person / piece of business or company in a better space.
Vanessa Sanford, Executive Manager Digital and Social Channels, CBA
”Be careful what you say as you have great power of influence. Imagine you are speaking through a megaphone.” This was a light bulb moment for me. It has given me a sense of higher awareness. It makes me think about what I say and the way I say it as it can influence behaviour, attitudes and perception. I have greater respect for the power I have when I speak.
Mim Orlando, Marketing Manager, Carlton & United Breweries
“In any team you lead, you should always have diversity of views, but you can never have diversity of direction.” A beautifully simple thought. It captures how you truly develop marketing initiatives that change organisations. Embrace different, inquisitive minds to get breadth of thinking and challenge the norm. Then unite the team behind an idea and go at it with incredible energy and unwavering focus.
Kim Hamilton, Head of Performance, OMD Australia
“Give everybody back better than you found them.” To me this speaks to the heart of our Academy – it’s less about you and more about developing and inspiring those around you.
Paul Connell, Homecare Business Team Leader, Unilever ANZ
“Outstanding leadership is not just how good a leader you are but how many leaders you develop.” As the people closest to real people and experts in behaviour change, if I can inspire others to step up into leadership positions and leverage their expertise and talent to do well by doing good then that would be an amazing legacy to leave.
Justin Taylor, Category Marketing Manager, Mondelez International
“Managers help people do things better, leaders take others to places they haven’t been before.” For me this really summarises the difference between a great manager and a leader. A manager simply focuses on the task to get the best outcome whereas a leader focuses on improving others to get the best outcome over and over again.
Amy Lee-Hopkins, Brand and Reputation Manager, Barnardos
“Great leaders appreciate and listen more.” The simplicity of listening and appreciating your team and those around you more can have powerful and long lasting effects.
Victoria Cooper, Marketing Director, Goodman Fielder
“Outstanding leaders are judged on how many leaders they develop.” Ultimately it is about developing the skills and leadership qualities to help others and really appreciate and listen.
Nick Turner, Senior Marketing Manager, NewsCorp Australia
“If you don’t stand for something, you stand for nothing.” This was a guiding principle shared by many of the leaders who spoke to us. It forces you to think not only about what sort of leader you wish to be but more importantly what sort of person you strive to be.
Rachel Taylor, Marketing Manager, PepsiCo
"As a leader your volume knob is turned up. Think before you speak." In a leadership role things will fly or fail based on the feedback you give your team - make sure you really mean what you say and give clear direction.
Jane Merrick, Head of Marketing Communications, IAG
“Leadership is about how many great leaders you can develop.” To me this was a bit of a light bulb moment about shifting the focus away from me, and onto my team. Ed Smith also quoted Gail Kelly who said “its now more about the team where you just want to make everyone a little better”. This is now my focus.
Ernesto Soriano, Head of Marketing Google Play, Google
“Marketing is the only business function with an end to end view of the user.” If we start with the user, all else will follow. Google’s focus on the user comes from top down, however I’ve been reminded that it’s marketing role within the industry to champion the user and ensure that we do right by them.
Sean Hall, General Manager, Employee Experience, Telstra
“Change your thoughts. Change your life.” This for me summarises so many great aspects of leadership that ultimately come down to life being a series of choices and taking responsibility for the impact we each make. The potential that opens up when you make the choice to lead vs manage is enormous.
See www.themarketingacademy.org.au for more info on The Marketing Academy.