Where Leadership meets Marketing
Seven Word Summary: Lessons in Leadership from ANZMAC in Perth.
In the first week of December 2022, the Australia and New Zealand Marketing Academy (ANZMAC) came to Perth. This is a 15 year old organisation that represents all the marketing educators at universities in Australia and New Zealand. I am Vice-President of the organisation, and also Chair for the 2022 conference. Luckily, almost 600 people landed in Perth, for the conference, but also to experience the city and WA. This short piece will draw out three lessons that I took from managing such a major event.
LEADERSHIP
Very few of us are actually trained as leaders. Our keynote, Lisa Ronson, former Chief Marketing Officer of Coles and Tourism Australia, among many other experiences hit us with this on day one. So, how do we learn to lead?
Aside from the many short, or long, courses you could take, the most important ingredient for a successful leader is empathy. Empathy does not mean being too nice; it means understanding what makes different people tick and building your leadership style on this. Sure, we all have our own personality traits that we bring to leadership but, if empathy isn’t one of them, then we make being a leader about ourselves, and not the people we lead. That won’t work.
COMMUNICATION
How to communicate with influence? Aside from being linked to the empathy point above, I have found two main ingredients for successful communication; being succinct, and communicating the mutual value in whatever initiative is being discussed. Underpinning both of these items is an inherent confidence in one’s own knowledge, experience, and ability; planting a flag almost. For me, this came only through years of practice, and still has room to improve.
So, a lesson on communication is that it’s not about being the loudest, or the one who talks the most, or even the one who talks most eloquently, it’s about balancing listening with talking. That means when you do talk, it can be succinct and you will understand what value different people in the room are looking for.
BENEFIT
In running a major event, or small one-off events, or even in our day-to-day jobs, there is likely to be a constant analysis of the worth or benefits of undertaking the task, compared to the time or resource investment required. Something I have learnt is that, on many occasions, it is the jobs that I have done for free, put my hand up for, that have created the most benefit for me, and for the community.
Of course, we can’t work for free, but those extra bits and pieces around the edges of your main job or role can sometimes make a big difference, and a big impression. So, my lesson here is to think long-term. Volunteering to take on an extra role now, could open significant doors for you in the future. Besides that, you will likely be helping people in your community, wherever that is, and that in itself is important.
I haven’t really talked about the actual subject of the ANZMAC conference in Perth; marketing. Or have I? Marketing is about understanding what makes people tick, communicating in ways that work, and delivering mutual benefits for all parties.
Ready to continue the conversation?
Seven Patterns partnered with ANZMAC in capturing and communicating ANZMAC 2022. Can we can assist your organisation through communications, events, and the like?
Let’s talk — hello@sevenpatterns.com