The Art of 360-Degree Leadership

Marketing Unfiltered #12 - Why Your Influence Must Extend Beyond Your Team

Happy Friday and welcome back to Marketing Unfiltered newsletter 12.

This week we have a guest article by Emma Clayton - Emma goes into why the art of leadership isn’t just at department level it should apply across the whole business - Emma offers ways to step out of Departmental management and into executive management and how to effectively manage yourself.

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In my many years working with marketing leaders across various industries, I've noticed a fascinating pattern -  the most successful leaders aren't just exceptional at managing their teams - they're masters of what I call "360-degree influence." If you're solely focused on leading your immediate team, you're leaving an enormous amount of potential impact and influence on the table.

Our effectiveness as leaders isn't just about how well we manage downward, but also how well we create impact in all directions. Recent research involving over 1,200 senior marketing execs revealed something that shouldn't surprise us, but often does - managing upward and horizontally accounts for nearly half of both business impact and our career success. This is a wake-up call for the leaders amongst us who've been too narrowly focused on their team.

The Power of Managing Upward

Let's talk about managing upward first, because this is where many leaders feel the most uncomfortable. I've seen countless talented individuals hit a ceiling in their careers simply because they haven't mastered this crucial skill. Our relationship with our superiors isn't just about “keeping them happy” but creating strategic alignment and organisational value.

The most successful leaders I've worked with have an almost intuitive understanding of their CEO's agenda. They execute tasks whilst actively aligning their initiatives with the organisation's strategic priorities. One CEO I worked with recently told me, "I don't need more managers who can run their departments well - I need leaders who can see the bigger picture and help me drive the entire organisation forward."

Which brings me to a critical point about financial acumen. In my experience, leaders who can demonstrate strong returns orientation and effectively utilise resources, gain significantly more credibility with top management. Our role isn't just to manage budgets effectively, but to go beyond this and speak the language of business impact and demonstrate how our initiatives drive organisational success.

Horizontal Leadership  

I believe the most underappreciated aspect of leadership is the ability to manage horizontally. Our ability to influence peers across different functions can make or break our success. I've observed that the most effective leaders spend as much time building relationships with their peers as they do managing their own teams.

Think about the last significant change in your organisation. No doubt it required significant cross-functional collaboration. You might have the best idea in the world, but if you can't get your peers to buy into it, it's likely to remain just that - an idea. I recently worked with a technology leader who transformed her organisation not through technical expertise alone, but through her ability to build strong alliances with heads of other departments.

The key here is what I call "leading with vision”, articulating a compelling narrative that resonates across departmental boundaries. When you can paint a picture of success that appeals to diverse stakeholders, you create a gravitational pull that naturally draws people toward your initiatives.

Managing Your Team

Of course, none of this diminishes the importance of managing your immediate team effectively. What's crucial to understand is that team leadership should be viewed as part of a broader leadership ecosystem, rather than its entirety. The research shows that while managing our team effectively contributes to 30% of business impact, it's not enough on its own.

In my work with high-performing teams, I've noticed that the best leaders create what I call a "trust multiplier effect." They invest heavily in developing their team members' skills, establish clear performance metrics, and create an environment where people feel safe to take calculated risks. But the crucial difference they have is they do this while simultaneously maintaining strong relationships up and across the organisation.

Self-Management 

There's another dimension to this that often gets overlooked and I believe is priority and that’s self-management. The most effective leaders I've worked with are incredibly self-aware and committed to continuous learning. They understand that navigating complex organisational dynamics requires adaptability,  emotional intelligence and a whole heap of resilience. 

Marketing leaders must create a sustainable leadership practice that can weather the storms of organisational change - and boy is there a lot of change going on right now. I'm seeing too many leaders burning out because they are struggling to manage themselves effectively, while trying to manage everything else.

Practical Steps for Extending Your Influence

So, how do you put this into practice? Here are some concrete steps I've seen work consistently:

  • First, map out your influence network. Identify key stakeholders above, beside, and below you in the organisation. Understanding this network is crucial for strategic relationship building.

  • Second, develop what I call your "value proposition" for each stakeholder group. What can you offer that aligns with their priorities? How can you help them achieve their objectives while advancing your own?

  • Third, create regular touchpoints with stakeholders at all levels. This isn't about scheduling more meetings but creating more meaningful engagement that builds trust and creates value.

  • Finally, invest in your own development as a leader. The skills required for 360-degree leadership are different from those needed for traditional team management. They include political savvy, strategic thinking, and advanced communication abilities. These skills are needed to drive change and deliver impact.

The Future of Marketing Leadership

As organisations become more complex and interconnected, delivering exceptional value for customers requires leadership that transcends departmental boundaries. The ability to exercise influence beyond your immediate team will only grow in importance and is crucial for delivering the kind of seamless customer experiences that drive business growth. The leaders who thrive in this environment will be those who can unite diverse stakeholders around a shared vision of customer value, while navigating relationships authentically and effectively.

The most successful leaders I’ve worked with don't view cross-functional influence as an additional burden - they recognise it as the key to unlocking exceptional customer and business value. They understand that their influence must extend beyond their immediate sphere of control and across the entire value chain - whether that's product development, operations or customer service, every touch point must be aligned to deliver maximum value. 

Remember, leadership isn't just about managing down - it's about creating value in all directions and across the entire business ecosystem. When you master this 360-degree approach to leadership, you don't just improve departmental performance; you enhance the organisation's entire value proposition. This holistic influence enables you to identify and seize opportunities for innovation that create lasting impact for both customers and the business.

The research is compelling, but what's even more convincing is what I've witnessed firsthand - our ability to create meaningful value for customers is directly proportional to our capacity to influence and align stakeholders across all levels of the organisation. 

The real question isn't whether we build this broader influence – it's how quickly we can develop the relationships and capabilities needed to orchestrate value creation at scale. In my experience, this is what separates good leaders from truly transformational ones who leave an indelible mark on their organisations and the customers they serve.

Written By Emma Clayton — The Founder of Influential Marketers Leadership Academy and Be Brilliant Consultancy

We will land back in your inbox on the 24th with a post dedicated to AI, tools, prompts and is it hype or is it the real deal!

Thanks and have a great weekend.

Danny, Harry and Marketing Unfiltered Writers

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