The following is sponsored content from CMO Moves, a podcast that shares the human side of game-changing CMOs and leaders:How did they get to the top? What rules did they have to break along the way? What inspires them? What tips can they now pass along? Tune in to the podcast to hear inspiring career-advice and the personal success stories behind these incredible marketing leaders.
Linda Boff, CMO of GE, is not only a master storyteller, but a mentor, leader and people champion for her extensive network which allows her to dial into what interests people and how best to reach them. A psychology major who was a radio disc-jockey in college, she fell in love with the intersection of media and human motivation, transforming throughout her career from an on-air personality into a chief marketing officer driving one of the world's largest corporations.
When Linda first took on her role as CMO of GE two and a half years ago, she focused her attention on bringing together the brightest minds across the most diverse backgrounds to fuel innovation and breakthrough ideas.
"I think what I was looking to do was to bring both internal voices and external voices to the greater marketing community here and embrace a real eclectic nature, so I had entrepreneurs, thought leaders, people who were looking at marketing from a data point of view or creative point of view, or fellow CMOs. I would say storytelling around different topics for different shows and a wide diversity of people, points of view and backgrounds. I think it's suited to the world we live in today," Boff said in a conversation with CMO Moves Podcast.
Always sampling with the latest trends and new mediums, Linda and her team have produced some the most exciting stories using cutting-edge technology and showcasing the hottest ideas.
"I wouldn't be in the role I'm in today without the ability to connect dots externally and internally. I've been really fortunate in the people that I've met inside and outside the company and have been able to bring in points of view on that we would not necessarily be exposed to. We're a big company, nearly three hundred thousand people, with lots of different views. Sometimes you can forget the outside views."
Linda spends a lot of her time making sure that the GE brand "comes to life in ways that are contextual, relevant, contemporary to the audiences that matter to us and that we are creating a seamless and delightful experience for our customers." But that mission isn't just about Linda's marketing skills, its success is primarily dependent on her leadership skills.
The art of bringing together diverse ideas and being able to channel them into a new innovation is only learned with lots of leadership practice and patience. To persevere in today's fast-paced environment, it is more important for Linda to be continuously listening to her team and to keep herself from unintentionally oversteering.
"I think as you get further along as a leader, hopefully you're listening and empowering a lot more than telling and doing. You're creating the bandwidth of runway for your teams to be able to be successful and setting a vision. You also have to know when to get out of the way!"
"I'm conscious always that my voice probably has an oversized importance in many meetings and therefore I try hard to think twice before I speak. That doesn't sound like something very hard to do, but I'm a classic extrovert, I think out loud. So I find myself sometimes caveating and saying, hey look, this is just an idea."
In addition to her Chief Marketing Officer role, Linda is also now the Chief Learning Officer of GE and responsible for the future development of all GE employees. GE spends about a billion dollars a year in training so this is a big additional responsibility, but one that goes hand-in-hand with her CMO role as it helps protect and inspire a culture of experimentation and invention.
"GE is really focused on leadership and culture. We've got this DNA of experimentation. I think what happens is when you experiment and you give people runway and you give yourself permission, it snowballs. So, to me, sometimes the greatest thing I can do is have the courage to say yes when people I trust have an idea and there isn't yet a pathway forward. Knowing that we have the courage of our brand and trusting our people."
When it comes to paving new roads and the future of marketing, Linda believes that "if you want to sell, you have to serve. And to do that you have to be great storytellers," because people fall in love with the brand. The second next big thing? Voice.
So how does Linda stay on top of it all? She continuously pushes herself to be out there learning from not only industry experts but young professionals who are coming in with all kinds of great new ideas. "Don't be too prideful to learn from new hires who are rising stars!" she says. Linda also encourages everyone to "get out of your comfort zones" and become very conscious of different styles and different approaches. "It's important to draw out people who are different than you as diversity of thought and approach are so important."
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