Umm…nothing to do with my initials being I and T; this week, some more thoughts on marketers being T-shaped.
There is a lot of discussion about being marketing leaders needing to be “T shaped”.
To be able to go deep into a specific discipline, like demand generation, product marketing, or marketing operations (what I am calling the I in the T for the purposes of this article) and then have the ability to sit across disciplines, with a shallow knowledge of the broader need (the T bit).
I suspect this is the same for any leader, not just marketers, and it’s also true for the many marketing consultants and fractional folks I am seeing in my network.
It’s good advice, of course, as large marketing teams are split by discipline, you will need to specialize to get big company experience and marketers tend to climb the slippery pole in one of these silos before getting a broader purview across a more significant chunk of marketing and need to develop their T.
Mine was product marketing and content marketing.
The temptation is that we tend to then focus on the T bit as we describe ourselves, especially if we move into consulting or this trend of “fractional”, but I think it’s probably also true if you are transitioning to a new role.
We position ourselves as the broadest thing that most appeals to the widest group of people or organizations; to be generalists.
However, I wonder if this is like the advice we give to B2B businesses when we fight the good fight against B2Boring messaging in our day jobs;
That being everything to everyone, you’re nothing to anyone.
Seems a bit harsh, bear with me; it‘s just a thought.
A business is likely to have a specific marketing problem.
It’s probably unlikely that all of marketing is broken (OK, maybe), and it’s almost certain that this organization has a specific commercial challenge, and a focus on a specific marketing motion will have the most impact.
For example, recently, I have found myself quoting the STARS Model (Start-up, Turnaround, Accelerated Growth, Realignment or Sustained Success) from Michael Watkins’ book “The First 90 Days” that he suggests for understanding the situation the company is in, that we can use to indicate the marketing challenge the business may have.
Whether you want to be an in-house marketing leader, their agency, consultant, or fractional thingy – the “I” bit of your T-shaped skills could be the very thing they need, the key to unlocking some early wins, demonstrating value, and gaining trust.
Even if they are looking for a T-shaped leader.
For example, a chum of mine is respected in her field, has written a book, does all the speaking things, and has a very specific niche. However, countless times over lunch, she has shared stories about a client who asked her to do “this other thing” outside that niche. As trust grew, they effectively asked her to be T-shaped and solve a new business challenge.
I’ve had similar experiences in my consulting, and on the flip side, as an in-house marketing leader, if you get a cold email from someone offering general marketing services, you’ll likely ignore it, as it doesn’t address a specific problem you have today.
But, what if someone offered you the right “I” that fitted your need?
Maybe you’d respond differently.
Now, this is just 2¢, a quick’ish thought, we should be T-shaped – but maybe not forget that our “I” in the “T” is important.
Fancy more of this?
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I’m a 3xCMO, now a marketing strategy advisor and podcast host at Rockstar CMO. Although, I’m not a rock star, but a marketing leader, strategist, content marketer, columnist, speaker, industry watcher, and creator of ART (Awareness, Revenue, and Trust) for the companies I work with. But most of all, I am an enthusiastic tea drinker.
You can find me on LinkedIn, Twitter, or now Threads! – or listen to my weekly podcast at Rockstarcmo.com
The half-baked thoughts shared on this blog may not reflect those of my employer or clients, and if the topic of this article is interesting or you just want to say hello please get in touch.