Feeling disconnected from your marketing work? Time for self-reflection.

"I’m just not feeling inspired to do any marketing right now. I just feel bleurgh”

I often hear this when coaching marketing leaders who feel disconnected from their professional roles. The common conflicts I have heard them share are:

•  "The strategy I'm responsible for feels inauthentic to me."
• "Data and analytics drain my energy”
• "Dealing with leadership politics leaves me exhausted, I have not been engaged for the past 6 months at all”

 When asking professionals about their biggest issue, I often hear "lack of time". In a lot of case, it's a lack of joy and meaning in their work. Without personal alignment in professional roles, motivation is fleeting. Does this sound familiar to you?

Back in September, I have had a client that I will call Jane (*not her name for obvious reason*) who is a marketing manager in a highly commercially-driven FMCG organisation. She’d been working there for just shy of 7 years. Our first session was a conversation, I was listening intently to every word, any eye movement, any body signs that would suggest she was uncomfortable with certain topics. After about 20 minutes, right when she started describing the latest brand plans and commercial discussions with the leadership team, I started to see the frustration appear. Jane explored her disconnect with me, and a flow of negative posture and disappointment emerged. The past 2 years have really challenged her choice for working in marketing. To me, this was a big moment, some feelings and thoughts to explore without filters. Moving away from the surface to dive into the depths of it all. 

I would summarise 3 common themes that emerged:

1. "I got into marketing to be creative, not data-driven.
2. "Leading large teams feels political, I prefer mentoring individuals."
3. "I care about sustainability, not just sales.”

Rather than forcing herself into misaligned marketing activities, and avoiding making a call on whether marketing was the career for her or not, we shifted to reconnecting Jane with her core motivators:

1. Being creative and expressing herself
2. Helping others (her team, her children, charity volunteering)
3. Having a positive impact (environment, second-hand markets, food waste projects)

Creative projects 

We earmarked 1 day a week for Jane to invest time in creative marketing projects she felt passionate about related to sustainability and mentoring young talent. Removing pressure of direct commercial outcomes freed Jane to rediscover her creative core.

Reflection journaling 

Yup, journaling. I gave Jane a daily journaling practice to process her emotions and re-explore her personal values and interests, along with reflections on which parts of her work did and didn’t align. Getting clarity on her true drivers separate from work responsibilities grounded her.

Coaching conversations 

In bi-weekly coaching check-ins, Jane shared journal insights and reflections as we slowly crystallized authentic alignments between her own personal passions and professional responsibilities that had more win-win potential.

In rediscovering activities that lit her up, she even started feeling re-energized. She realised leadership permission started with herself. That was a big realisation moment in the session we were in. If you've ever been misaligned at work, you know how this feels. In reclaiming parts of her role better aligned to her strengths, she became more confident delegating most of the tasks not fitting for her. 

She expanded her own concept of marketing too by getting clarity on her natural motivators related to creativity, sustainability and mentoring. She saw how bringing those passions into her department’s strategies could powerfully differentiate them.

In the end, Jane stopped forcing herself into others’ expectations of what a Marketing Director or CMO “should” do. She gave herself permission to shape the role on her own terms in alignment with who he authentically was. Again, most of what needed was made possible by a few conversations with her line manager. 

The coaching process revealed to her the massive untapped potential by leading from her own nature. Marketing effectiveness relies on the self-awareness to know what fires you up, not fit into limiting boxes. It’s tiny, it’s suffocating.

She is now inspiring her team to bring more creativity, meaning and authenticity into their collective work too. They will likely rebrand from being a “marketing department” into an [name to be found] as they transform their strategies and decide on their team DNA and identity. She also has recognised that the current organisation she is working for isn't quite aligned to her core values and motivators. We are working on defining the right world of work for her and what it may mean in terms of her next step. 

If you also feel a disconnect between your personal and professional identities, take inspiration from Jane and the work we have done. Carve out time for reflection to rediscover what really motivates you. And as always, focus your mind on what depletes you of energy. These are the two polar opposites that require as much attention. Then slowly inject those elements into your work, giving yourself permission to lead on your own terms. Have a conversation with your line manager and share your insights. You’ll be surprised at how supportive some will be and accommodating they may be for you to grow. In the end, there is inspiration and growth that benefit the whole organisation!

If you're in a situation like Jane, unfulfilled or misaligned, have a chat with me?

Speak soon,

Mags

The marketer whisperer