Marketing: what are we striving for?
I was super grateful to be a party to a conversation as part of Simon Hartley's Podium Club last week with Richard LePage from Cirque du Soleil; a conversation that was all about creating (and maintaining) high learning AND high performance cultures. And while there were SO many golden nuggets (I highly encourage peeps to check out the club), one in particular stood out with me:
What are YOU striving for? And what are WE striving for?
Now, when it comes to marketing, I don't think this language is really in use. Sure, we have GOALS, and METRICS, and likely even a VISION we're following, but if we asked eachother what we are striving for, would we know the answer?
Cirque is a great example, because each show is filled with individual contributors that work together to create an experience for people (sounds like a marketing team to me). But if we don't know what each individual is striving for, how they see themselves getting there AND how it contributes to what the team is striving for, can we ever reach that "goal"?
Of course we can't.
So, today, I'd like to explore what it looks like for a Marketing Team to ask precisely those questions AND translate that knowledge into incredibly unique marketing that allows brands to stand out in their industry. Shall we?
Individual Aspirations
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, an aspiration is, "a strong desire to achieve something great". Which is interesting in itself, as all of us have our own definition of what is "great".
Some people might aspire to have a dependable income.
Some people might aspire to be the greatest in their field.
Some people might aspire to work from the beach.
Some people might aspire to take care of their kids a specific way.
There is no right or wrong aspiration, which can make it complex in identifying one; both personally and as a leader.
But sometimes, the greatest value lies in the things that are hardest to extract ;)
I'm going to go through the rest of this exercise assuming we have 4 team members, one of which wants each of the things above...
Because while they might not SEEM cohesive, there is absolutely a way to create cohesion.
Team Vision
Ok, let's skip the HOW for now, and cover all our bases on the aspiration front.
When it comes to Team Vision, this is very commonly set by the leadership team, or even the CEO on their own. So, while an individual aspiration is set BY the participant, a team vision may or may not be.
When it comes to "what we are striving for TOGETHER", it's pretty common for that last piece to fall by the wayside.
This is a TEAM activity. Something that can only be accomplished by THE TEAM.
The entire team. Not just a small segment of people. And not just the leaders.
There becomes a need to understand how each team member interprets the Vision. Because, words mean different things to all people ;)
So, instead of TEACHING the Vision, what if you and your team approached it as a "how will WE go there TOGETHER" activity?
It's one thing to be able to recite a Vision.
And it's another thing to know HOW you contribute to that Vision on the daily.
The Sum of Its Parts
So now we have two things to combine: an individual aspiration and our understanding of how we strive together as a team (and in which direction).
NOW we can start to see misalignments.
If a behavior a team member needs to do conflicts with EITHER of these aspirations, their actions will end up NOT contributing in the long run.
BUT...
There isn't only ONE way any one person can behave💡
When people are allowed the space to get creative as to how they can serve two goals at once, all kinds of opportunities open up.
So, let's go back to our seemingly disparate individual aspirations, and layer in a Marketing Team Vision of "helping our clients make their research easier" (playing off of IKEA's Corporate Vision Statement of: To create a better everyday life for the many people).
A marketer who aspires to have a dependable income might show up and build dependable systems that clients can trust.
A marketer who aspires to be the greatest in their field might show up as a thought-leader to easily make the complex understandable to clients.
A marketer who aspires to work from the beach might show up to design asynchonous collaboration processes that simplify insight sharing digitally.
A marketer who aspires to take care of their kids a specific way might show up leading by example to create simple, stress-free client experiences that respect time.
ALL of these things can contribute to a beautifully functioning marketing team.
And ALL are in alignment with different individual aspirations AND the Team Vision.
Again, it's not as complex as you might think.
But it is INTENTIONAL (there's that word again).
Don't get caught up in the HOW
There are infinite HOW's that come with this concept. And while it's easy to jump to the HOW are we going to do that, the more important factor is the mindset shift.
What makes ME care about my team's individual aspirations?
How might I ask for that information?
How would I mash that up with the Company Vision?
Questions like this are the foundation.
There are things you would do, and there are things you wouldn't do.
If you're doing what YOU would do, you get the answers you need.
If you're doing what someone else would do, you might not.
So, how you do it? That's up to you.
But if you've got enough DESIRE to do it, you'll find your way 💖
Oh, and if you need some help finding your way, let's chat 😊
