Gartner Identifies Seven Steps for Successfully Leading an Agile Marketing Organization
New Skills Are Required to Lead an Agile Marketing Organization Today
Marketing leaders must adopt new skills, rooted in more modern collaborative leadership styles, in order to successfully lead an
agile team today, according to Gartner, Inc. To help overcome this challenge, Gartner has identified seven practices for CMOs and
other marketing leaders to adopt and evolve their agile leadership skills.
“The
agile approach is still new for even the most seasoned CMOs,” said
Elizabeth Shaw, research director at Gartner. “Traditional leadership practices are not going to drive the change needed to
survive today. To shift to agile methods, the modern CMO must have the ability to awaken, harness and develop trust and commitment
from their organization. This means having the right balance of hard skills and soft skills.”
According to Gartner, CMOs must lead by example by embracing, exercising and communicating the following seven practices:
1. Develop Trust: Trust goes a long way in promoting a collaborative environment for
agile teams to thrive. It’s an ongoing effort that, if nurtured and maintained, will help to break down barriers and encourage
collaborative problem solving. CMOs must be responsible for fostering the development of trust between team members, themselves and
peers.
2. Create and Share Vision: CMOs must craft an authentic and clear vision to sell into the organization to drive change.
Equally important, employees’ roles and goals should be clearly defined to support that vision. The best vision work is done
collaboratively with peers, executives and partners to identify all opportunities and threats. It should be viewed as a living
organ, vital to the body of the organization — one that is constantly nurtured and updated to keep the organization moving
forward.
3. Hone Soft Skills: Lead with empathy, creativity and compassion. In today’s ever-evolving environment, these skills are
critical for being an effective CMO. The ability to explain a person’s point of view and motivation is key to eliminating biases,
making better decisions and motivating team members. This requires sincerity and authenticity.
4. Be a Student Leader and Share Authority: The best leaders are also students — constantly open, eager and without
preconceptions when exploring something new. CMOs must learn to share leadership authority with modern oversight.
5. Constantly Calibrate: Running an agile marketing organization means the CMO must be engaged and aware at all times.
This means constantly evaluating the big picture and the details. Agile marketing requires disciplined and defined work styles and
realistic goal orientation and capability-based contribution. CMOs going agile need to optimize and calibrate projects and
resources with available data and analytics, while also investing in
digital infrastructure that supports agile and collaborative teams.
6. Build a Culture of Collaboration: Constant and open communication is the blood flow that keeps this living organ
alive. CMOs must stimulate and coach each person individually and the team collectively — ensuring all voices are heard and
considered. Collaboration is more than just “working together.” It means sourcing ideas, evaluating approaches and discussing among
team members how they will share work.
7. Reward Individual and Team Outcomes: CMOs must reward team members, individually, and the team collectively for the
work done toward the achievement of business outcomes. This is one of the most delicate endeavors for leaders, as each person has
different reward and recognition expectations. Great leaders make sure they customize the type of recognition they provide to each
member of their team.
Additional details on leading an agile marketing organization are available to Gartner for Marketers clients in the upcoming
webinar,
"Agile Marketing in 4 Steps," on October 17, 2018 – and in the report
“CMO Perspective: 7 Key Practices to Successfully Lead Today’s Agile Marketing Organization.”
About Gartner for Marketers
Gartner for Marketers provides the objective, expert advice and proven tools CMOs and other marketing leaders need to seize the
right opportunities with clarity and confidence, and stay ahead of the trends that matter. With in-depth research and analysis,
Gartner for Marketers helps you focus on the opportunities with the greatest potential to deliver results. More information on
Gartner for Marketers is available online at
www.Gartner.com/marketing/.
About Gartner
Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT), is the world’s leading research and advisory company and a member of the S&P 500. We equip
business leaders with indispensable insights, advice and tools to achieve their mission-critical priorities today and build the
successful organizations of tomorrow.
Our unmatched combination of expert-led, practitioner-sourced and data-driven research steers clients toward the right decisions
on the issues that matter most. We are a trusted advisor and objective resource for more than 15,000 organizations in more than 100
countries — across all major functions, in every industry and enterprise size.
To learn more about how we help decision makers fuel the future of business, visit
gartner.com.
Gartner, Inc.
Kelly Blum, 571-303-5745
kelly.blum@gartner.com
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181016005136/en/