In this issue: Answers to last week’s Self-reflection. Why it’s so vital that we all pursue a single goal, not multiple goals, and what simple steps we marketers can take to Move Up Faster – starting by removing our comfortable hiding places.

Recap of last week’s post:

In my last post I talked about the need to focus on a single strategic priority at any one time. I also confessed that I haven’t always found it so easy to focus on one goal, and how I used to think that ‘more is more’.

However, Steph Curry didn’t get to be the GoAT at shooting three pointers by practicing his dribbling half of the time. And I’ve seen with my own eyes and in my own office how trying to pursue multiple goals and priorities so easily pile up to form what I call a mountain of distractions. (Like the Rockies that I can see when I look out of my office window.)

A single strategic priority means there are no distractions. There are no hiding places either. You just have to get on with it. That’s why I give every single member of my team one strategic goal to work on at a time. And why I also share those goals across teams, so everyone is working towards the same endpoint.

That leads to greater teamwork around achieving the shared goal. And creates team spirit when the goal is reached. So it’s a win/win situation. The firm wins, because we’ve got to where we wanted to be. The team wins, because it’s proven how strong it is. And the individuals within the team win, because they’ve achieved their personal goals and added Value. So they can Move Up Faster in their careers, as can their team leaders.

What framework am I using to structure my ‘personal 5 cents’, when considering last week’s questions?

Please note: I repeat this framework again and again, in every other episode of this newsletter. The idea of using Return on Marketing Career (RoMC) as a framework for career development is explained in great detail in the first newsletter in this series.

Why? Because this has served me well over the 25 years of my career, and because I find that we are all so distracted today (myself included) that unless we see something multiple times, we forget about it.

If you’re already familiar with this way of thinking, please skip this section and go straight to the next one.

My fundamental belief is that marketers who want to Move Up Faster should treat their marketing career just as we would a marketing campaign. Instead of Return on Advertising Spend (RoAS) we can measure our success by Return on Marketing Career (RoMC).

There are four steps to this RoMC process: 

Step 1. Get out of your Comfort Zone as much as possible, even if that scares you because it’s new.

Step 2. Doing new things will increase your professional skill-set. That’s the only way to learn.

Step 3. A broader or deeper skill-set will increase your Value to your colleagues, your team, your firm and your clients.

Step 4. The higher Value you deliver in your role – now that you have a bigger skill-set – the faster you should move up in your career.

Now that we’ve reminded ourselves about the RoMC framework – here are my ‘personal 5 cents’ on last week’s post.

LEADER (managing Managers)

Step 1, Get out of your Comfort Zone: What if you defined just one strategic priority that you personally are going to be accountable for in the next quarter? What if you committed to focusing on that one strategic initiative until you get it done, with excellence and to the best of your ability – while treating all other important initiatives as ‘aspirational’?

Step 2, Develop a New Skill: Learn how to say ’NO’, while always explaining the rationale behind the ‘NO’. I know, I think I get it, you are under pressure to do more things, faster. AdTech and MarTech are changing fast. Cookie deprecation is causing havoc on RoAS measurement, even now when Google decided to delay once again. A key team member just submitted their resignation. Your CEO and her Board have fluctuating (I’m being nice here) and unreasonable expectations. You’re being pulled in every direction. And yet you need to stand your ground. You are paid lots of money to be opinionated. You have only so much time and resources to create Value.

Step 3, Create More New Value in your Role: Create Value for yourself, each one of your team members – and your department and the firm – by giving them the permission to do one thing really well. Maybe it’s a goal that every single member on your team will share (aka ‘one team goal’). Or, maybe it’s one strategic objective, per team-mate, at a time. Create more Value by concentrating your and your team’s time and resources on one area that is critical for the organization.

Step 4, Set Yourself Up for a Bigger Future Role or a Promotion: Leaders who move up faster are willing to make tough decisions. ‘Yes women’ and ‘Yes men’ don’t get promoted. They are followers, not leaders. Leaders aren’t just willing to make tough decisions about what to obsessively say ‘yes’ to. Actually, and more importantly, high impact leaders are clear about what distractions or possible initiatives they need to argue for the organization or their department to say ‘no’ to. That’s the way to maximize enterprise Value for the shareholders from the ‘yes’ initiatives.

MANAGER (managing Talent on the Rise)

Step 1, Get out of your Comfort Zone: What if every quarter, you asked every person that reports to you “what is one area that you are going to get better at, this quarter?” That person can get better at more than one area – that’s their choice. But what if you held them accountable to just one area where they need to develop their skills, and didn’t let them off the hook until they mastered that one area stopping them from growing?

Step 2, Develop a New Skill: Learn how to minimize confusion for your people. Every person that reports to you, when asked “what’s most important for you to get better this quarter?”, should be able to respond without hesitation. If they are hesitating or don’t remember what is their ‘one most important area’ for growth, they are confused. That’s down to you. Because you aren’t enabling them to have clarity.

Step 3, Create More New Value in your Role: Create Value through extreme accountability for each member of your team. When each person on your team is clear about the one skill-set or one area of improvement where they need to apply their focus right now, they get better faster, and your team gets stronger together, creating more Value for everyone.

Step 4, Set Yourself Up for a Bigger Future Role or a Promotion: Managers who move up faster are unafraid to share frank feedback with each member of their team, about that one weakness or gap in their skill-set that is holding that team-member from further growth.

TALENT ON THE RISE

Step 1, Get out of your Comfort Zone: What if you asked your manager “what is just one thing that I need to work on, right now, that’s necessary for me to succeed here?”. And, what if you didn’t stop always getting better at that one skill, until you were exceeding your manager’s expectations in that one area?

Step 2, Develop a New Skill: Learn how to have the courage to ask for clear feedback. There are probably many areas of growth that you have. That’s normal. When you get clarity around one area or skill-set that you need to get better at, your obsession will translate into faster growth in that area.

Step 3, Create More New Value in your Role: Create Value by getting better, one step at a time. Do not get distracted or overwhelmed by everything you could be doing. Get focused on the one step you can take.

Step 4, Set Yourself Up for a Bigger Future Role or a Promotion: Talent that moves up faster illustrates progressive and consistent improvement. It’s simply easier to actually get better, and be seen as getting better, when during every conversation with your manager, for weeks at a time, you speak to and explore one area that you are obsessively trying to get better at.

If you’d like to discuss your career journey with me one-to-one, please feel free to email me at Greg@moveupfaster.me or message me on LinkedIn.

Thank you for reading.

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