By Michelle Sutton, MBA Class of 2016
Lisa Zoellner, CMO of Golfsmith,
came to our Marketing Fellows Session to discuss “Thoughts on Leadership for
Future CMOs.” Prior to becoming CMO of Golfsmith International, Lisa was CMO of
Gold’s Gym, and prior to that, she worked in a variety of roles at Blockbuster.
She provided us with ten lessons that she wished she had known before beginning
her marketing career. Several of the lessons centered on collaborating with
others: build relationships, learn the art of influence, expect and thrive in
chaos, and find strong role models. She emphasized that in marketing, many key
cross functional partners have an impact in your daily job. In order to succeed
as a leader, you have to influence them. She recommended the book “How to Win
Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie and provided a great African
proverb for us: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go
with others.” As Marketing Fellows, we have already begun to learn this in both
our practicum projects and summer internships, but Lisa’s way of explaining how
she has learned to collaborate effectively with others left an impression. It’s
important for us to value each and every one of our classmates and colleagues
because they bring expertise in certain areas, as well as a diverse skill set
and experience to the team.
Lisa also mentioned that after we
graduate, titles and grades won’t be nearly as meaningful as the results we
produce in our job. We need to focus on delivering value and applying
everything we learned in school to our new jobs! When she was discussing the
jobs she held after graduating from school, another lesson that she gave was
that lateral moves can take you forward. A career path is not always straight.
In marketing, there are so many different areas that it’s important to learn
them all. Taking lateral roles can help you become both more creative and more
analytical. She also reminded us to trust our instincts in our careers going
forward. This can lead to making sound decisions. Lastly, she told us that she
is still learning. We will all be wrong at some point and you just have to take
the issue head on and handle it. Finding great role models can help you
continuously learn because you will be inspired by those people and they can
share their knowledge with you. Overall, it was a very valuable session for us!
Lisa gave us a lot of good reminders as we prepare to enter the real world
again after graduation.