If it weren't for the great admiration of marketers, CEOs would probably ease their stress level and amount of medication just to simply say, "Do as I ask, and don't think."
Other than rearing children and being a caretaker for the elderly, is there any more difficult group to manage than exceptional marketers? The end products that astound and magnify the greatness of credit unions are truly the work of great marketers; however, if members could see the stitches, bandages and casts the other management team endure while the creation is taking place, we would receive hazard pay in addition to our normal salaries.
So...here are a few tips for those creative insomniacs called "Marketers" from the CEO perspective:
Look out! Walking the dog on a leash is a rather uplifting task; however, when the leash is too long for the side of the road, the dog is in immediate jeopardy of getting creamed. The distance from danger should always determine the measure of the leash. Marketers should be very conscious that CEOs are looking at the broader danger than just the task of walking the dog.
Take care of yourself. Marketers do like to flock together, and there are fireworks from their collective energies and friction. However, have you ever wondered why the early aristocrats had artists in residence? It's because the sensible people knew great talent had to be governed from destroying themselves, by not eating, drinking, sleeping, etc.; artists would have met their demise.
Is it a misdemeanor or felony? Breaking the rules slightly is a good test to see if the rules need changing; however, a felony only has one sentence-incarceration.
There needs to be definition as to what needs a slap on the hands, versus the need to hire a warden to take the major felons off the street to protect the general public.
CEOs walk a tight rope. The responsibilities of CEOs are so broad. Marketers view them as a mere doorstop to progress. This is far from the truth. CEOs are constantly knowledgeable of proportionate costs, long-term strategic planning and of the need to sell ideas to boards and the rest of management. This is when CEOs do rise above the Earth to look down and protect the planet. It goes way beyond just global warming.
Marketers need to wear bulletproof vests. During creative sessions, marketers seem to be loaded with semi-automatic, fully loaded machine guns with a rapid spread of bullets without a target in sight.
If not for CEOs, their casualty lists would exceed a national obituary roster. CEOs serve as the rifle instructors that teach the simple steps of "ready, aim, fire."
Roger Ball is CEO of Call Federal Credit Union, Richmond, Va.
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Credit Union Journal Invites CEOs and Marketers to Share Their Thoughts. Please contact Managing Editor Lisa Freeman at lfreeman
