TME Featured Speaker: Kirsten Sibilia

As we gear up for this year’s THE Marketing Event: Maximizing Value’, the PR Committee sat down with Kirsten Sibilia, one of the moderators from the Leadership track to chat about leadership. Providing effective marketing leadership is essential for a firm’s success. How can young marketers become leaders? The skills we as marketers have are inherently valuable to our firms. A marketers ability to think strategically AND tactically; to message on point to a particular audience; to plan, organize, and manage Up & Down; and to build consensus and motivate are resources often needed beyond the marketing pod. Finding opportunities as a young marketer to demonstrate leadership can be challenging, depending on the firm size and organization. Demonstrate your understanding of your firm, projects, and industry trends — not just of marketing — can help raise awareness of your abilities internally. Seek out opportunities to take on new initiatives and collaborate with technical staff. And always come to any meeting prepared to contribute new ideas that are targeted to your firm, and implementable within the time and resources available.

[expand title=”Read the rest of the interview here…”] In what ways can senior leaders motivate and retain talent? One of the many wonderful things about marketing is that it encompasses a broad range of skills and tasks. As a department leader, I try to understand where each team member’s professional passions lie, and what about the work we are doing (in my case, architectural marketing) is most interesting to them. I then try to provide, in and around the deadline-driven rhythm of the department, opportunities for them to take on initiatives aligned with those interests. I believe in hiring good people and then giving them room to challenge themselves, to put forward new ideas and execute them. This often means pushing them to go beyond their comfort level, while knowing that there is a safety net of support. What are you hoping to address as Moderator of the session: “Generation Matters: Leading from Where You Are”? Diversity is an untapped resource within our firms. Our varied Generational perspectives lend richness to the workplace unseen previously. By being sensitive to generational characteristics, marketers can help their firm capitalize on their assets, understand changes taking place within their firms and within their clients’ organizations, and respond appropriately to the opportunities that exist. [/expand]