What two things cause new home marketing leaders to fail at having a bigger impact on their company’s results? How can one marketing leader help to triple profitability in two years, and another seems to have no lasting impact at all?

–The true marketing leader understands that there will be internal opposition to change and has a strategy in place to address and overcome that opposition. The other tries only to make everyone happy.

– The true marketing leader understands that they are not there simply to do what the boss asks them to, or to keep things working as they always have been. The other changes as little as possible from the day they are brought on board.

To spin it another way, they believe they are merely the advertising arm of the company (which is truly only a small part of marketing), they shouldn’t be held responsible for bottom line results, and they can’t have a larger internalimpact. The true marketing leader understands their role is as an internal marketer as much as an external one.

The internal part isn’t sexy. Your co-workers won’t always appreciate you asking questions, suggesting changes, and making sure they always put the customer first. The trouble is, that no one else can do it from the same perspective that you can. It is your job to promote and shepherd change and to keep your brand story on point in every customer interaction.

Of course, you can always simply ride the wave of the market. You’ll still look really smart when times are good, but you’ll sleep much easier at night when things cycle back downward – which they always do at some point in this industry.Stop believing that your impact is limited as a new home marketer, and you’ll become a priceless asset to your group. You may just have more fun too.

PS: The reality is that your ability to market effectively in today’s online and connected world is now directly tied to how well every other part of the business fulfill’s their promises to the customer.