Every successful business transformation leans heavily on human skills such as leadership, inspiration, empathy, empowerment, collaboration, and team building. EY Global Business Consulting and Business Transformation Leader, Pierre Beaufils, recognises that Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) possess an abundance of these qualities. To genuinely impact lasting change, these abilities need to be effectively harnessed.

In a research collaboration between EY teams and the University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School, a significant consensus was found: 71% of workers concur that the vision’s actualisation necessitates a clear understanding of ‘why’ the change is required, not merely ‘what’ changes need to be implemented.

CMOs, innately capable of crafting impactful, memorable brand experiences across platforms, hold a critical role in this endeavour. Their creations, rooted in human emotions and insights, resonate with people on a profound level.

In the grand scale of enterprise transformations, CMOs’ persuasive skills can pivot apprehension towards belief in transformation initiatives. Beaufils proposes that CMOs can facilitate a supportive environment for individuals during periods of change, transmuting negative emotions into acceptance and enthusiasm. Centering human elements in six key drivers of transformation can amplify the success rate by 2.6 times.

Beaufils outlines six ways CMOs can use their abilities to instigate enduring change:

1. Collaboration: CMOs as the chief connectors can prioritize collective good across the organization, crucial for transformation success.
2. Care: Leveraging CMOs’ clear, authentic communication helps build trust, especially vital when human emotions can breed skepticism during significant transformations.
3. Inspiration: As human-centric storytellers, CMOs create visions everyone can believe in and drive commitment to the change process.
4. Empowerment: Encouraging innovative experimentation and new ideas is integral, a task for which CMOs’ affinity for testing and learning is invaluable.
5. Building: CMOs’ expertise as digital transformation leaders can create value at scale, fulfilling the transformation vision through the right technological investments.
6. Leadership: CMOs, as influential cultural ambassadors, can drive successful change by encouraging new ways of working and managing cultural shifts.

In conclusion, the CMO’s role surpasses conventional expectations. Their skills, extending beyond marketing, penetrate the essence of business transformation.

Harnessing these skills can stimulate meaningful change and growth, steering successful transformations.