This article is the second in a two-part series on building communities of marketing partners. Read the first part . A community-powered approach to working with the broad…
The power of partners is incalculable. Again and again, open source communities prove that to all of us at Red Hat. The more smart people you assemble as you undertake an…
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: In open organizations, leaders can emerge from anywhere . In these organizations, people become leaders because of the…
Thanks for reading and commenting. I agree with you that the role of any marketer today is not just as a manager of activities (or agencies) but to also be ingrained in their practice and "doers" themselves. Especially since the marketing world is changing so rapidly. My goal wasn't to suggest that we only rely on external agencies; that's far from the truth. I’m a believer in a healthy mix of internal and external creation—to help scale and to bring in fresh perspectives and expertise.
I’m extremely proud of the work our in-house marketing team does. It is actually more than any marketing organization I’ve been a part of. Two recent examples: 1) Open Source Stories: https://www.redhat.com/en/open-source-stories; 2) our creative team's blog, Red Hat Open Studio: http://openstudio.redhat.com/. You can expect us to share even more work like this.
My goal with this post was to discuss the way in which marketing teams engage with their agencies—as partners, a rich eco-system, and communities—rather than as vendors.
It’s funny you say that as I was recently telling my husband, “I just don’t think I can go work in a traditional company ever again!” Although I’ve only worked at Red Hat for 4 years of my 25 I have truly found my home. Long before Red Hat I was espousing the notion of “open leadership - having the confidence and the humility to give up the need to be in control while inspiring commitment from people to accomplish goals,” coined by author and friend, Charlene Li. I just didn’t always find that the people and organizational structures around me understood what I meant or why it mattered to me so much.
The ideas are old and often common sense but businesses, especially large ones, have a difficult time making the shift. After all, the people in power often arrived there by command-and-control and fear-based leadership. They believed they had all the answers and that employees should just execute against them. In our current world we have two fundamental issues with this: 1) Most real problems today are too complex and the world is shifting too fast for any one person to hold the keys to the solution 2) Today’s bright, young workforce demands a purpose, a mission, a say in what a company is doing, otherwise they simply move on.
Yes, when leaders are stressed they can fall back into old ‘command’ behaviors. I’ve been known to do it on occasion as well. After all, my first job was as an officer in the US Air Force. But when I do, I admit it out loud and describe what caused me to get there. I think it helps alleviate people feeling disrespected and provides a better chance it won’t happen the next time.
Authored Comments
David,
Thanks for reading and commenting. I agree with you that the role of any marketer today is not just as a manager of activities (or agencies) but to also be ingrained in their practice and "doers" themselves. Especially since the marketing world is changing so rapidly. My goal wasn't to suggest that we only rely on external agencies; that's far from the truth. I’m a believer in a healthy mix of internal and external creation—to help scale and to bring in fresh perspectives and expertise.
I’m extremely proud of the work our in-house marketing team does. It is actually more than any marketing organization I’ve been a part of. Two recent examples: 1) Open Source Stories: https://www.redhat.com/en/open-source-stories; 2) our creative team's blog, Red Hat Open Studio: http://openstudio.redhat.com/. You can expect us to share even more work like this.
My goal with this post was to discuss the way in which marketing teams engage with their agencies—as partners, a rich eco-system, and communities—rather than as vendors.
It’s funny you say that as I was recently telling my husband, “I just don’t think I can go work in a traditional company ever again!” Although I’ve only worked at Red Hat for 4 years of my 25 I have truly found my home. Long before Red Hat I was espousing the notion of “open leadership - having the confidence and the humility to give up the need to be in control while inspiring commitment from people to accomplish goals,” coined by author and friend, Charlene Li. I just didn’t always find that the people and organizational structures around me understood what I meant or why it mattered to me so much.
The ideas are old and often common sense but businesses, especially large ones, have a difficult time making the shift. After all, the people in power often arrived there by command-and-control and fear-based leadership. They believed they had all the answers and that employees should just execute against them. In our current world we have two fundamental issues with this: 1) Most real problems today are too complex and the world is shifting too fast for any one person to hold the keys to the solution 2) Today’s bright, young workforce demands a purpose, a mission, a say in what a company is doing, otherwise they simply move on.
Yes, when leaders are stressed they can fall back into old ‘command’ behaviors. I’ve been known to do it on occasion as well. After all, my first job was as an officer in the US Air Force. But when I do, I admit it out loud and describe what caused me to get there. I think it helps alleviate people feeling disrespected and provides a better chance it won’t happen the next time.