Leadership qualities of marketing leaders

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to determine whether marketing leaders have different skills and leadership qualities in comparison to know leadership theory. In addition, the researcher will aim to establish clear cut ways of identifying the leadership skills and qualities that are unique to marketing managers. There seems to be a lack of literature on this subject, however, the researcher will aim to establish value added relevance that will justify the purpose of and reasons behind this study. The research will take the form of a qualitative study, specifically because no prior focussed research in this regard has been done. For the purposes of this paper a case study approach will be followed, as it will assist the Researcher in learning and understanding more about what leadership qualities marketing leaders have. Data will be collected by means of in-depth interviews with marketing leaders, observations in the researcher's own business environment as well as job advertisements in newspapers and other sources stating what is expected of candidates and what type of candidates are required for the position. The respondents interviewed for the purposes of this study were from a diverse range of industries. An enlightening aspect was that most of their answers were more or less the same. This leads the Researcher to believe that these individuals have years of experience in leadership positions. This is reflected by the fact that the respondents have a good idea of what is required to be a good leader and that they apply it in their working environment. There are a set of basic leadership qualities that are the same for all the leaders/managers in an organisation. There are differences between various managers in an organisation and the leadership styles they apply and the function often determine the leadership qualities that are important. Each leader has different qualities and their personality also plays a great role in the leadership style they apply. What distinguishes marketing leaders is the fact that they should be more outward focussed, more creative and visionary than their counterparts. This requires from them to be sensory about their environment. They need to embrace change and be able to work with a diverse range of people. Marketing managers often have to deal with external media and unhappy clients, other managers are fairly isolated from this. Marketing managers have to brainstorm and come up with new ideas almost on a daily basis. They have to handle communication both internal and external to the organisation and have to work with all the departments on a daily basis. Surprisingly the best manager to lead an organisation would be a Marketing Manager. They are supposed to take the organisation forward. The way the industry and business in general is structured, almost paves the way for the Marketing function to start taking the lead in organisations. Focussed research is required to shed more light on this issue. It will lead to the generation of profiles for all managers in an organisation, specifically for marketing managers. This will assist organisations in the recruitment and selection of the ideal candidates. Organisations and the external business environment need to change their perception of the marketing function. Marketing is much more than promotions, events and "bells and whistles". It is a profit driven function, which has a big impact on the profitability and survival of an organisation. Therefore organisations should focus on the development of the skills and leadership qualities of their marketing managers.