“I’m done being an operator,” shared a 3x CMO with an extraordinary track record of driving double-digit growth year after year. Fresh out of a tech company that grew from $100 to $300 million in 4 years, he lamented, “The job just stopped being fun.” I nodded empathetically and pondered, Why does this keep happening to highly competent CMOs, and what, if anything, can be done about it?

The Great CMO Burnout is real.

And it's not just about long hours or demanding CEOs. It's about brilliant marketers getting buried under operational quicksand—drowning in budget reconciliations, vendor negotiations, and endless attribution debates while the strategic thinking that got them hired gets pushed to nights and weekends.

Too Much Ops, Too Little Strategy

Most CMOs spend 70% of their time on tasks that don't require a CMO.

Let me say that again. Most CMOs spend 70% of their time on tasks that don't require a CMO. They're debugging marketing automation, reviewing keyword buys with junior reps from the PE-firm, and sitting through vendor demos for tools that promise to solve problems they didn't know they had. Meanwhile, the board wonders why marketing isn't driving more strategic value.

The promotion trap is killing marketing leadership.

Here's the cruel irony: the better you get at marketing, the more operational responsibilities get dumped on your plate. You start as a strategic thinker who can craft compelling narratives and identify untapped growth opportunities. But success means bigger budgets, which means more vendors, which means more meetings about meetings. Before you know it, you're a glorified project manager with a marketing title.

Delegation as a Lifeline

The solution isn't more hours—it's radical delegation.

Smart CMOs are building mini-COOs within their marketing organizations. Call them Marketing Operations Directors, Revenue Operations Managers, or Chief of Staff—whatever works. The point is creating a buffer between strategic thinking and operational execution.

One recovering CMO told me, "I hired someone whose job was literally to go to meetings I didn't need to be in. Best investment I ever made."

Protecting Strategic Time

Reclaim your Mondays (and your sanity).

Block every Monday morning for strategic thinking. No meetings, no Slack, no email. Just you, a whiteboard, and the big questions: Where are we winning? Where are we losing? What bets should we make next quarter?

The operational stuff will still be there on Monday afternoon. But your ability to think strategically? That disappears the moment you let urgency crowd out importance.

Bottom Line

If you're not having fun, take a break. Then rejigger your schedule so you're just focused on the big stuff.

The most successful CMOs I know protect their strategic thinking time as if it were their most valuable asset. Because it is. Your team can execute campaigns, optimize funnels, and manage vendors. But they can't replace your ability to see around corners and connect dots that others miss.

Written by Drew Neisser