The Agile CMO Learning Agility gives an edge to executives The perspectives ofmarketing a CFO who now operate in a world of constant change master class by Michael O’Callaghan and Chris Campbell By Caren Fleit, Peri Hansen, and Kim Butler
September 2013 Learning Agility—the ability to garner insight from experience and apply it to new situations—is a trait that distinguishes best-inclass marketing executives. Two facets in particular, Mental Agility and Change Agility, stand out as differentiators, enabling CMOs to take advantage of new technologies and data, capture new markets, and lead enterprise-wide transformation efforts. CMOs can not only assess and interview for Learning Agility when hiring, but also develop this crucial attribute on their teams.
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In recent years, one thing may have remained constant in how marketing executives approach their job: the morning cup of coffee. After that, all bets are off. Marketing sits at the spot where all the forces of change buffeting business collide: digital and mobile connectivity, big data, social media, emerging global markets, new customer demands, and competition from shoestring start-ups. In this dynamic environment, marketers increasingly are charged with driving enterprise-wide transformation and creating measurable value. Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) are defining or refining business models and go-to-market strategies, in many cases completely altering how business is done. To successfully lead change during such volatile conditions — not just respond and react — CMOs and other senior marketing executives must have cutting-edge skills. The whetstone for sharpening such skills? Learning Agility. Learning Agility is the ability to deeply absorb lessons from experience and then extrapolate or reinterpret that knowledge when confronting the unfamiliar. As Martin Schlatter, Global CMO for Wrigley explained, “The successful leaders of the future will be those who can adapt best and fastest, and also recognize that certain things will not or should not change.” Learning Agility is the attribute that helps best-in-class marketing executives strike that balance between honoring their expertise and moving beyond the tried-and-true — the key to mastering the disruption, complexity, and unforeseen opportunities inherent to marketing today.
Understanding Learning Agility Learning Agility is founded on two streams of research into leadership success and failure. Over twenty years of global research and practice by Lominger and Korn/Ferry International, study after study has proven that leaders’ success depends on their interest in seeking out diverse new experiences, drawing varied lessons from Learning Agility significantly predicts them, and then integrating those insights when facing their next challenge. In fact, long-term performance and career success studies have specifically shown that Learning as reflected by promotion rates and Agility significantly predicts long-term salary changes. performance and career success as reflected by promotion rates and salary changes over a period of ten years (Dai, De Meuse, and Tang forthcoming). Additionally, Learning Agility is a better predictor of success after a promotion than educational attainment, job performance ratings, or emotional intelligence (EQ) scores (De Meuse, Dai, and Hallenbeck 2010). Leaders who are learning agile exhibit the following six characteristics (Swisher 2012):
• They are unafraid to challenge the status quo.
• They remain calm in the face of difficulty.
• They take time to reflect on their experiences.
• They purposefully put themselves in challenging situations.
• They are open to learning.
• They resist the temptation to become defensive in the face of adversity.
In addition to an overall assessment score, five factors are gauged to determine the specific bent of an individual’s Learning Agility: Mental Agility. The ability to examine problems from all angles to come up with a solution. Those who are mentally agile are able to analyze a situation, recognize what is new or different compared with previous experiences, and alter the approach. Change Agility. People with this ability are willing to step out of their comfort zone, experiment, and implement something different. They are comfortable with change in general, and managing change efforts. When resistance surfaces, they deal with it effectively. Results Agility. Achieves goals even in challenging first-time situations, backed by an established track record of delivering results. If obstacles arise or conditions change, they adapt and find another way.
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People Agility. Skilled communicators who can work with diverse types of people. Connections are established spanning functions, cultures, and backgrounds. When the unexpected happens — deadlines change or resources evaporate — they know how to keep the team motivated and aligned. Self-Awareness. Extensive knowledge of one’s true strengths and weaknesses. This involves a high degree of self-reflection; sincerity around understanding strengths and opportunities for improvement; and asking for feedback and acting on it.
Learning Agility in marketing executives Among marketing leaders, Learning Agility enables flexibility and innovation, helping executives adapt and become catalysts for change within their organization. Plotting the average scores from one assessment of Learning Agility (viaEdge) reveals how abilities change across leadership levels (see Figure 1) within marketing departments. Senior executives score significantly higher than lower-level marketers in three areas: overall Learning Agility, Mental Agility, and Change Agility.
Figure 1 Learning Agility average percentile scores in marketing 60
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Overall Mental Agility
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Change Agility People Agility Results Agility
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Self-Awareness
Individual contributor
Manager
Executive
These findings suggest a few things. First, the challenges marketers encounter as they move into management and executive roles are ones that develop Mental Agility and Change Agility. Second, marketing managers who are being promoted to the executive level are more learning agile than their peers. Finally, it’s important to note that marketing executives’ average Learning Agility levels — Mental Agility at the 53rd percentile, Change Agility at the 54th percentile, and Overall Learning Agility at the 58th percentile — fall toward the middle of the bell curve. The 67th percentile is the demarcation for high Learning Agility. This makes assessing for Learning Agility a crucial component of the selection and promotion process for marketing executives, as all marketing executives are not created equal in this area.
Assessing for Learning Agility A recent survey of executives by Korn/Ferry found that 61 percent agreed that Learning Agility is the most important attribute to consider when promoting senior marketing leaders. At the same time, only 19 percent said their company used any form of assessment in deciding whom to promote. Failure to screen for Learning Agility may mean the CMO responsibilities are not in the hands of the most highly qualified individual. This could prove detrimental to companies at a time when they need to become more customer-centric and better able to make the most of opportunities in a highly competitive global marketplace. Korn/Ferry has developed three ways to assess Learning Agility. The first is an interview protocol called the Learning From Experience Interview (Hallenbeck and Orr 2013). This method assesses all five factors
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plus overall Learning Agility and it is designed to elicit the degree to which a candidate learns from experiences and applies those lessons to other situations. The second is a selfassessment called viaEdge that provides percentile scores across each of the five factors as well as an overall Learning Agility score. Both are appropriate to use in the selection process. The third assessment, CHOICES, requires input from multiple raters who have worked with the individual, and provides rich feedback geared to deeper individual development. Learning Agility can be informally assessed by reviewing a résumé or curriculum vitae. Candidates who have a “mosaic background” likely have successfully navigated new environments and are probably highly learning agile. For example, a CMO may have a track record of success across a variety of industries, corporate cultures, and
locations, including international postings or experience. Even before contacting a potential candidate, experienced executive recruiters will look for such telltale signs of versatility and adaptability. These are the indications that someone likely has Learning Agility and will be able to drive an innovation or change agenda in an organization. In interviews and conversations, learning agile candidates will be willing to discuss challenges and failures in the context of being learning opportunities that ultimately led to new ways to influence and effect change. These candidates will exhibit an appetite for risk, challenge, novel experiences, different cultures, cross-functional interests, and working with people from diverse backgrounds. In short, the executive’s varied past reveals a broad set of experiences that can be leveraged in the next role and opportunity.
“Agility in marketing leadership, culture, process, and content is a must to be successful in today’s world. It is a must in today’s digital world, in which the marketing mix has fundamentally changed. When done excellently, it can lead to differentiation,” said Joseph Kumar Gross, CMO of Allianz SE. Assessing Learning Agility enables executives and organizations to identify the most highly agile individuals, or diagnose any agility weaknesses and find appropriate developmental opportunities (De Meuse and Dai 2011).
Learning Agility in action For marketing leaders, overall Learning Agility is a clear asset when dealingwith complexity and ambiguity, problem solving, and making fresh connections between divergent concepts. “Learning Agility has helped me navigate significantly different business environments and industries, and to help grow the businesses in each of those companies,” said Victor Duran, Amer Sports’ CMO/Senior Vice President of Marketing and Business to Consumer, whose background includes positions at Procter & Gamble, Caterpillar, and in consulting. “I’ve always started by looking at the consumer, finding the gaps in our approach, testing a few directions quickly, and then rolling out the approach that works.” Mental Agility — the ability to handle complexity, distill insights, and make connections — particularly enhances a marketing leader’s capacity to analyze and leverage big data, which has completely changed the paradigm. Although a Marketing executives higher in Mental valuable tool, big data can also be an Agility will be better able to sift through inundation of information, quickly becoming newly available complex data and uncover overwhelming without the ability to draw key insights. from it deep insights about individuals and customer groups. “The more data we get, the more simplicity and clarity of mind leaders need to display,” observed Jean-Marc Levy, CMO of British American Tobacco. John Kennedy, Vice President, IBM Global Business Services, noted that “CEOs are turning to CMOs to ‘figure out’ big data. … It’s about really understanding the customer, and delivering an experience that is truly customized.” In this data-driven environment, many new possibilities are opening up for marketing executives to connect and engage with customers and drive the business. Marketing executives higher in Mental Agility will be better able to sift through the complexity and uncover key insights.
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Change Agility, the ability to drive a change agenda across an organization, enables CMOs and other marketing leaders to help their business globalize (such as expanding in Asia), reinvent the go-to-market business strategy (such as furthering an omni-channel strategy), attract an expanded audience (such as through social media), or create a new value proposition. “When you have Learning Agility, you face challenges and competitive set changes, and are willing to take risks, learn new skills, and apply them effectively,” commented Barry Judge, CMO of Living Social and former CMO of Best Buy. Leaders who are high in Change Agility seek continuous improvement and innovation and are personally able to flex or pivot as they confront obstacles, such as changes in the economy, a recalcitrant business division, or a lack of alignment among stakeholders. Overcoming these challenges and adapting to the “new world order” requires Learning Agility. “Beyond the standard tool kit, marketing leaders need to have an open mind and a level of excitement about what Learning Agility is all about,” observed Marc Speichert, CMO of L’Oreal USA. “The world is changing so fast, leaders have to be in constant rethink mode about how things are done — and then do things that have never been done before.”
Building Learning Agility on the marketing team It stands to reason that learning agile CMOs will look for the same trait in their teams. Across a department’s generalists and specialists, however, there need not be a uniformly high level of Learning Agility. For some roles, a depth of expertise or specific technical A whole marketing team need not be uniformly skills are more important. “The key to any high in Learning Agility. For some roles, a collective effort is to first build a shared vision of the future,” said Michael Simon, depth of expertise or specific technical skills Executive Vice President and CMO for Panera are more important. Bread. Then, “a leader must be a catalyst in creating a collaborative culture that leverages the diversity of thinking of each team member and then allows the team the autonomy to push and learn together.” A certain threshold of group Learning Agility increases the team’s adaptability and flexibility, and alignment toward goals is achieved with more ease.
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Developing Learning Agility for team members may involve prompting them to seek new experiences, such as volunteering for cross-functional task forces, and seeking mentors outside of their functional area. Individuals may have opportunities to get training and Marketing leaders can build Learning development outside their zone of expertise Agility on their team by encouraging people and take on extracurricular leadership assignments such as sitting on a board or to challenge the status quo or engrained participating in an MBA extension course. The approaches. team’s leaders also can build Learning Agility in a marketing group by encouraging people to challenge the status quo or engrained approaches. Creating space for “what if …” and “why don’t we try …” in formal meetings and informal conversations lays a foundation for Learning Agility and affirms its value. CMOs should also look for learning agile individuals when hiring by asking interview questions that probe how candidates have learned from past experiences. “When I meet with candidates, I ask them to describe three things that are working for them and three that need to be improved,” said Christopher Stadler, CMO of IRONMAN. “I place a lot of emphasis on how candidates define failure and challenges and how they have been able to overcome and address them.” Steven Althaus, CMO of BMW Car Group, pointed out how Learning Agility is evident by “collaboration rather than managing hierarchies — as well as learning from other industries, enjoyment of learning, and curiosity.” Building an agile marketing team needs to be a priority for the best-in-class CMO, who cannot drive transformative change solo. To succeed, the leader needs to identify the most agile team members and develop their capacity to lead change. The team members who possess these abilities will soon be in high demand. To mitigate the “flight risk” to the competition, the transformative CMO also must make time for coaching conversations, build relationships, and provide talent the opportunity to drive priority projects. This approach succeeds on three fronts: individual development, retention of top talent, and organizational transformation.
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Conclusion: Learning Agility as differentiator To succeed when change is unrelenting, stakes are high, and marketing is accountable for enterprise-wide transformation — which is the normal state of affairs in marketing today — CMOs and other senior marketing leaders must possess sufficient Learning Agility. This all-important trait is like a capability steroid, building up ability across all leadership muscle groups. It also helps executives recognize when proven methods are right, when they need to be adapted, and when it’s time to capability steroid, innovate new solutions.
Learning Agility is like a building up ability across all leadership muscle groups.
As companies put more energy into attracting the right talent and cultivating it, identifying Learning Agility will become crucial. Evaluating marketing executives to pinpoint this key success attribute will improve the chances of finding truly transformative leaders, who are able to envision a new and more exciting future — and drive the change to achieve it.
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References Dai, Guangrong, Kenneth P. De Meuse, and King Tang. Forthcoming. “The Role of Learning Agility in Executive Career Success: The Results of Two Field Studies.” Journal of Managerial Issues. De Meuse, Kenneth P., and Guangrong Dai. 2011. “Criterion-Related Validity of viaEdge™ Assessment: Findings From Two Recent Field Studies.” Korn/Ferry International. De Meuse, Kenneth P., Guangrong Dai, and George S. Hallenbeck. 2010. “Learning Agility: A Construct Whose Time Has Come.” Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research 62 (2): 119-30. Hallenbeck, George S., and J. Evelyn Orr. 2013. “Learning From Experience™ Interview Guide.” Lominger International – a Korn/Ferry Company. Swisher, Victoria. 2012. Becoming an Agile Leader: Know What to Do … When You Don’t Know What to Do. Lominger International – a Korn/Ferry Company.
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Caren Fleit is leader of Korn/Ferry International’s Global Marketing Center of Expertise. She is a Senior Client Partner in the firm’s Global Consumer Market, based in New York. caren.fleit@kornferry.com
Peri Hansen is a Senior Client Partner in the Los Angeles office of Korn/ Ferry and a member of the firm’s Global Marketing Center of Expertise and Global Consumer Market. peri.hansen@kornferry.com
Kim Butler is a Principal Consultant for Korn/Ferry’s Leadership and Talent Consulting business, and is based in New York. kim.butler@kornferry.com
Contributing Editors: Oliver Dange, Senior Client Partner, Frankfurt Jacques Amey, Senior Client Partner and Managing Director, Geneva Jennifer De Castro, Principal, New York
Korn/Ferry’s Global Marketing Center of Expertise Amy Young, Atlanta Anne Park Hopkins, Atlanta Betsy Barrett, New York Caren Fleit, New York David Barnes, Princeton Eduardo Latham, Miami EJ (Eun-Joo) Chae, Seoul Elaine Dinos, Atlanta Eve Nam, Newport Beach Grace Nida, Tokyo Jacques Amey, Geneva Jan Campbell, Princeton Jane Stevenson, Atlanta Jeff Hocking, San Francisco
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Jeff Wierichs, New York Jennifer DeCastro, New York Kalya Tea, Paris Kate Wright, Melbourne Katherine Lee, New York Keith Feldman, San Francisco Oliver Dange, Frankfurt Patrick Delhougne, New York Peri Hansen, Los Angeles Philiep Dedrijvere, Brussels Richard Sumner, London Scott Coleman, Atlanta Tierney Remick, Chicago
About The Korn/Ferry Institute The Korn/Ferry Institute generates forward-thinking research and viewpoints that illuminate how talent advances business strategy. Since its founding in 2008, the institute has published scores of articles, studies and books that explore global best practices in organizational leadership and human capital development.
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Š 2013 The Korn/Ferry Institute