Over dinner one night, I listened to a Fortune 1000 marketing manager discuss some of the challenges she faced with her team of managers. They were smart, creative and knew the business, but many had moved into leadership roles without formal training, or were overwhelmed with managing teams.“Getting from individual contributor level to director level is a difficult transition,” I said. “What kind of mentoring do they get? »She began to list the expensive training buy email list offered by the company: attendance at industry events, meetings with the best creative minds to stay on the cutting edge of techniques, access to publications, meetings and creative training.
“What about individual coaching? Information on soft skills, management and areas they struggle with? »The marketing director then admitted that while she tried to meet every month with every direct report, those meetings were often postponed due to buy email list heavy workloads or relegated to a phone call due to client travel. Very little support or guidance was provided to help these directors develop as managers - what were new roles for them and where they struggled. As an external consultant, I found myself asking my tough questions here.
Was this CMO abnormally busy? Was his team tougher than the norm? Was she just a visionary who didn't like overseeing the development of a team? Upon buy email list digging deeper, it quickly became apparent that none of these things were true. His team was made up of smart, committed and capable people who just needed mentorship. She was very busy, but also did her best to communicate regularly with her team. However, she lacked a real understanding of mentorship. A quick look at the data shows that this is an incredibly common situation.Marketing Week recently identified a gap in marketing mentorship.