Have you ever wanted to get inside the mind of the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO)? Are you curious about how their personalities differ from those of the rest of the C-suite? If you’re in sales, the answer to those questions is probably a resounding ‘yes.’ Would you welcome some insight into what makes the CMO in your prospects’ companies tick? Thanks to a recent study, we can give you some answers.
Executive search firm Russell Reynolds recently released a study comparing the results of psychometric testing of 36 CMOs. A small study, to be sure, but from that data, we can glean how this powerful group of thought leaders typically approach challenges and how they put plans into action based on their personality profiles. And that information might prove helpful to you.
The research found that CMOs are uber imaginative, innovative, and pioneering—not shocking, really, considering how much the role has evolved in the increasingly digital marketplace. The data also reflected strong personality differences between CMOs and other C-level execs—differences that can sometimes lead to tension.
This brings up some very important questions: How does the psychological make-up of different top-level roles manifest themselves and affect the dynamics of the executive suite? With the position of the traditional CMO beginning to splinter into more specialized roles like Chief Digital Officer and Chief Innovation Officer, etc., what does that mean for CMOs who have higher career aspirations? By breaking down the study results and adding a hefty dose of insight from our real experiences within our own leadership team and those of our clients, our sister property Converge gets to the heart of this topic.
These insights could ultimately help CMOs (or aspiring ones) learn which attributes are most valuable to help drive success, and which ones may need to be reigned in a bit to allow for collaboration and the diversity of ideas. And if you’re selling to the CMO, this information could also help you better understand how a CMO personality type is wired, and help you be more successful when it comes to compelling them to action.
So what will the future CMO look like? Is the role headed for fragmentation? What about CMOs as CEOs? It’s time to put some science behind the alphabet soup. Shelly Kramer breaks down this study over on our sister site, Converge, where our focus is on the intersection of business and technology and how digital transformation is driving business. Shelly’s thoughts on the study may ultimately make you rethink the future of the CMO role as we know it.
Read it here: The CMO Personality vs. The C-Suite Personality [Study]
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