“Everybody is a marketer,” chimed a CMO from a $95mil SaaS company, “no matter their background or expertise.” This generated a chorus of “amens” and a thoughtful discussion on leading through this challenge.

This huddle of CMOs was way past lamentation. Even though it would be inconceivable for the CRO to offer financial advice to the CFO or the HR leader to drop security tips on the CISO, no such boundaries exist around Marketing.

Marketing is Fair Game and Everyone Wants to Play

Rather than fight this truth, many B2B CMOs are finding strength in acceptance and turning what could be a negative into an opportunity. Think of this as leadership jujitsu. It’s using an opponent's momentum to your advantage. Not that your fellow C-Suite members are opponents, it just seems that way sometimes.

As one CMO shared, “Since they were going to weigh in anyway, I now involve my peers in all key marketing decisions.” “The remarkable part is that we now share responsibility in the outcomes, we all have skin in the game and it's not just on me,” this CMO added.

Sorting Through CEO Suggestions

The most problematic source of marketing ideas is your CEO. First-time CEOs often suffer from rapid-idea syndrome. Everything they read, every event they attend, every conversation they have results in “fresh” input for their CMO (and the rest of the leadership team). And, first-time CMOs rarely have the confidence or experience to handle these barrages. Chaos ensues.

Veteran CMOs deploy a variety of approaches. One 3x CMO noted, “My rule is 50% of what they suggest I can ignore (bad idea and they forget it anyway), 40% are good ideas but not relevant at present so I park for later, 10% are smart ideas or passion projects that need to be acted on immediately.” “Amazingly, I have seen this ratio apply to my last 3 CEOs,” the CMO added.

Training a Meddlesome CEO

In an ideal world, every CEO would be great at their job. They would know how to be a leader. They would understand their three fundamental roles:

• Set a clear vision
• Hire a team that can fulfill the vision
  
• Allocate resources to turn the vision into a reality

Because it’s not an ideal world, many CEOs are micromanagers. Their insecurities drive them into the weeds and drive their direct reports crazy. These CEOs can’t help themselves. But CMOs can – by learning how to coach and lead their CEOs by example. So, yes, I’m adding coaching expertise to the long list of must-have skills for CMOs.

While I can’t possibly cover coaching in this post, here are three suggestions from executive coach Susan Gurnik:

• Build trust by listening deeply to the CEO. You need to understand how they communicate. If they see the big picture or are more likely to focus on tasks and duties
• Help the CEO to listen deeply to you. Learn to ask questions in a non-threatening manner. Be vulnerable. By asking them how you can listen better to them, you are coaching the CEO on how to work with you
  
• Create a common language that fosters trust and understanding. You need to reach an agreement on vision, priorities, marketing’s role, metrics, and how you’ll collaborate

Written by Drew Neisser