Crossing the Chasm to CMO

A lot of marketer's careers reach a chasm at the manager / director stage. Making it to a VP of Marketing / CMO is often met with the excuse that companies are looking for people who have been there before.

It's a bit of a chicken and egg problem. How do you land that first VP of Marketing or CMO role if you've never been CMO?

While experience is valuable, it can be short-circuited. The real value to develop is an understanding of the following:

1) Connecting business strategy to marketing strategy, understanding the whole picture of the business and how marketing fits into it.

2) Connecting marketing to business results and expectations so that marketing is working towards the same objectives as the business

3) Leading the partnership with sales to ensure alignment on Go-To-market

4) Deep partnership with product to drive growth from product initiatives

5) Leveraging data and building a relationship with the CFO and finance team

6) Drive the brand narrative forward with the CEO

7) Developing leadership skills that are required leading leaders, including other directors, VPs and managers, often in situations when those people are not reporting to you.