Chief Marketing Officer Core Competencies, Characteristics, & Responsibilities
The CMO of your company is an extremely important position, as is knowing what the candidate that fills this role should look like. At Y Scouts we encourage people to sit down and think of what the core competencies, characteristics, and responsibilities of their most important organizational roles to make sure that people are fitting into this mold.
The following are some of the basic CMO characteristics, core competencies, and responsibilities. Since leadership styles are flexible, there are no fixed traits that a CMO exhibits. These attributes may all come into play depending on the situation.
1. Flexibility
The fundamental idea of situational leadership is that there is no such thing as a single best or fixed type of leadership. Leadership changes according to the requirements of the group or organization, and successful leaders are able to be flexible and adapt their style of leadership to the level of maturity of the group that they’re trying to lead.
2. Changes according to the situation
The leadership style that the situational leader brings into play will be dependent on the situation at hand and the development level of the individuals involved. If the development level is low, the situational leader becomes more task-oriented. If the individuals are sufficiently developed, the leader will be more supportive.
3. Honesty
It goes without saying that anyone who is ethical will also be honest and loyal. Honesty is particularly important to be an effective ethical leader, because followers trust honest and dependable leaders. Ethical leaders convey facts transparently, no matter how unpopular they may be.
4. Value driven decision-making
In ethical leadership, all decisions are first checked to ensure that they are in accordance with the overall organizational values. Only those decisions that meet this criterion are implemented.
5. Encourages initiative
Under an ethical leader, employees thrive and flourish. Employees are rewarded for coming up with innovative ideas, and are encouraged to do what it takes to improve the way things are done. Employees are praised for taking the first step rather than waiting for somebody else to do it for them.
6. Delegating
When dealing with a highly matured and capable team, the situational leader will gradually reduce their supervision and involvement in the daily activities of team members. The leader is involved while discussing the tasks and deciding on the goals to be achieved, but after that team members have complete freedom on how they want to accomplish these goals.
7. Integrity
The situational leader does not change their approach merely to take advantage of the situation. They simply adapt in a way that is most appropriate considering factors such as the maturity level of followers, the organizational structure and culture, and the goals to be achieved. They do so with integrity, and are not motivated by a desire to unfairly capitalize on the weaknesses of the team or organization.
8. Leadership by example
Ethical leadership is not just about talking the talk, this type of leader also walks the walk. The high expectations that an ethical leader has of employees are also applicable on the individual level. Leaders expect others to do the right thing by leading from example.
9. Clear vision
The situational leader has a clear vision of where the team is going. This is what allows a leader to identify and adopt the most effective behaviors and strategies to get to the goal.
10. Humility
The situational leader does not claim to know it all. With a group of highly developed and mature followers, they have the humility to accept limitations and seek the higher wisdom of the group.
Y Scouts is a purpose-based, performance-proven leadership search and development firm focused on transforming how people and organizations connect to work that matters. When you’re ready to hire a new leader, Contact Y Scouts. If you are looking for your next leadership role within a purpose-driven, performance-focused organization, please join the Y Scouts Leadership Community.
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