and especially
competition.
when
it
comes
to
The third level focuses on behaviors. These
are critical behaviors that drive leadership
in the field of marketing and include being
innovative, inspiring, being financially
literate, responsible, collaborative, and
having the power to influence without
authority among other behaviors.
Once a marketer is aware of the
competencies required, he can work
towards building the skills he has
identified as important for him to move to
the next level. A good place to start would
be to do an evaluation of the current
situation.
Let us take the example of Mary who is a
brand manager with an FMCG company.
Mary has been with them for five years
having begun her career as an intern in
the same organization. Mary is very
ambitious and wants to move to the next
level. She has read about the marketing
competencies and has realized that when
it comes to monitoring effectiveness of
campaigns, there is a big gap between
what she should be doing and what she
is currently doing. So Mary decides to
address the gap by coming up with an
action plan to bridge this gap.
Many marketers believe that for them to
move to the next level, they must pursue
a master’s degree. The obligatory MBA.
After all, the very definition of mar-
keting states that “it is a management
process that is responsible for identify-
ing, anticipating and satisfying custom-
er needs profitably.”(CIM) What other
degree screams profit management as
loud as a Masters in Business Adminis-
tration. But is it really a degree that will
help you move to the next level or is it
competencies that you have embraced
or mastered.
She first identifies someone in her
organization who seems to have this
skill. Her colleague Sarah always seems
to be evaluating the effectiveness of all
her marketing activities. She decides to
watch Sarah very carefully to see what
she can learn. She notices that every time
Sarah mentions her brands, she includes
basic numbers that show progress of her
campaigns. Sales figures both value and
volume, number of new customers and
even numbers on advertising spend. Next,
Mary wants to understand exactly what
these metrics are all about. She spends
time researching the metrics so that she
has a basic understanding before sitting
down with her colleague Sarah to ask her
a few questions on how to go about this.
Once Mary is armed with this information,
she starts practicing active use of the
metrics. At first since all this is new to
her, she opts to keep the information
to herself but as she gains confidence,
she starts mentioning the metrics in her
weekly reports. Her line manager notices a
difference and commends her for making
that change and starts to give her more
assignments that help her build her skills
in this area. Mary is well on her way to
making those small changes that will get
her to the next level of marketing.
James on the other hand has been in
marketing for the last 15 years. He is the
head of marketing for a company that sells
mobile phones and accessories. He feels
he knows quite a lot about the profession
except that he hasn’t understood or
embraced digital marketing. It is all very
intimidating for him given that he hardly
uses social media except for WhatsApp
and an occasional post on Facebook.
He cannot understand how it is possible
to reach customers on these platforms and
believes that traditional advertising is the
way to go. Yet his portfolio of products
target the youth, most of whom live on
social media especially platforms like
YouTube and Instagram.
James comes across these competencies
and feels that he is quite fine the way
he is. After all, as a senior marketer, his
many years of experience should count for
something. He does not see the need to
embrace digital marketing, dismissing it
as not appropriate.
His brand managers on the other hand are
very frustrated having tried to get him to
see that digital marketing is the way of the
future. James remains adamant and slowly
but surely the organization starts losing
market share.
What do you suppose is the real reason
that James chooses not to change? James
is probably afraid of change. He may be
worried that there are concepts he does
not seem to understand yet the younger
managers are comfortable with these
things. He is unable to relate to the
competencies required for him in today’s
world and he runs the risk of being seen
as archaic and a drag to the organization’s
attempt to provide the best customer
experience that will lead to increase in
uptake and drive customer loyalty. James
can only be helped if he is willing or
30 MAL29/19 ISSUE
Think back to the time you completed
your first degree or diploma. You stepped
into the world and armed with what you
thought was a high level of knowledge,
ventured into the world of employment
to a rude shock. No one told you about
office politics. No one even explained
that marketing is about numbers and
data, the very things that made you stay
away from the finance and accounting
units. In fact, you were probably in for
a rude shock when you can quite clearly
see what the problem is for the organiza-
tion and cannot do a thing to change it.
open to seeing the gaps that exist in his
competency levels.
Both James and Mary can benefit from
working with a coach. A coach can help
Mary with her action plan, act as a guide
and as an accountability partner. An
action plan is of no good unless it is put
into practice so Mary needs to build her
self-commitment muscle to implement
her plan. A Coach can also help James
to see what may happen if he does not
embrace the change and to work with him
to overcome his fears of the change.
Ultimately what remains with us after
formal education has to do with the skills
and knowledge that we carry with us. It is
said that we only remember 10% of what
we read but we remember 70% of what
we discuss with others. Adult learning
is hard enough without having to recall
every single concept and therefore having
a coach walk with you on the journey can
make all the difference to your personal
and professional life.
Many people tend to misunderstand the
role or benefit of working with a coach
because it sounds like having a tutor or
someone telling you what to do. The
profession of coaching is about helping
you unleash your potential to allow you to
be the very best version of yourself.
Sir John Whitmore who is considered a
pioneer of the profession of coaching said
that ‘coaching is about helping you learn
rather than teaching you.’
The competency based approach to
learning just might be what we need to
raise the profession of marketing to even
greater heights.
Interested in experiencing the power of
coaching? Drop me an e mail and tell me
2 things that you would like to change in
your career as a marketer. There are a few
chances to win yourself a complementary
30 minutes virtual coaching session. You
won’t know what it is like unless you try.
Benjamin Franklin once said, Tell me and
I forget, Teach me and I remember, Involve
me and I learn. My fellow marketers -
What will you learn today?
Thrity Engineer- Mbuthia is a
seasoned marketing professional
who has a passion for helping others
succeed through the transformative
power of coaching. She is the first
woman in Kenya to receive the
Fellow of Chartered Institute of
Marketing credential and is also a
certified coach. You can reach her
on mail at: Info@thrityengineer.
org.