Epilogue: Final Friday (lessons learned from my time in Marketing)

Today was the second Monday in my new role. It was…well…a Monday.

However, before talking about this Monday (or any Monday here on out), I would be remiss if I didn’t discuss my Final Friday: two Fridays ago when I exited Showboat for the last time as an executive of that property. In usual forward-marching, Jackie style (i.e. hurry up and move on to the next thing at the expense of appreciating the former thing), I left property that Friday (office posters in tow), got in my car, and headed to NYC for a weekend of “stuff”—the usual NYC errands and busyness that keep me from reflecting.

So…in the spirit of closure, I’d like to summarize some of my key learnings/takeaways from my time as a director of marketing. I’ll save all of the recruiter-friendly, quantitative bullets for the resume. This is all about the REAL stuff…

At a certain level, competency is assumed. Don’t waste too much time demonstrating it. Focus on delivering and trust that it will be evident to all (read: you don’t have to prove yourself to anyone)
Relationships trump capability. Your (and your team’s) success will be judged not only on what you deliver but also on how it was delivered (and how good of a partner you were in the process)
Prioritize lunch. Period.
- I learned this lesson in a very humbling way: I spent most of the summer working straight through lunch and never going to the employee dining room. One day, right before my weekly staff meeting, I commented to my team that I was starving. They asked if I had eaten lunch. I said no; didn’t have time. Having just returned from lunch, one of my direct reports replied “Hmmm, all of your peers were just in the EDR; they found time to eat.” Ouch.
- Sitting in the EDR provided an opportunity to have informal conversations with other members of the property executive team. I missed out on that relationship building by skipping lunch early on in my tenure. That showed (in more than one way)
Prioritize people
- Take time to get to know your team. Know what’s going on in their lives, what concerns them, and how you can help them. Demonstrate that you’re genuinely committed to supporting their goals (personal and professional). It will pay dividends with respect to engagement and eliciting discretionary effort
When people show you who they are, believe them. Period.
Resolve conflict quickly
- We often make the conflict larger than it really is when we delay addressing it. Address it and get on with it (easier said than done; still a WIP)
Never take your eye off of the networking ball. Never. Managing your career is your responsibility and your responsibility alone. Despite your never-ending to-do list, consistently make time to:
- Know what’s going on in the world
- Understand trends and current events with respect to your industry
- Deliberately connect with influencers and decisions makers in your organization (inside and outside of your immediate department)
- Make sure people are aware of your career goals/aspirations (false humility will get you nowhere)
- Network with industry professionals outside of your organization
Balance is the key to life
- Anything done to the extreme is error
- Actively maintain some aspect(s) of your life that are independent from your job