The 7 habits of highly effective people are:
- Habit 1: Be Proactive
- Habit 2: Begin With the End in Mind
- Habit 3: Put First Things First
- Habit 4: Think Win-Win
- Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood
- Habit 6: Synergize
- Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw
Let’s look at how these habits tie into marketing leadership.
Habit 1: Be Proactive
Focus and act on your controllables, not the things outside your control.
To successfully lead and support your marketing department, you need to master the art of being proactive.
Stephen Covey’s first habit is an important tool and guide to help you focus on the elements that are within your control, allowing you to make changes and decisions that are intended to improve business monitoring and operations.
Developing strategies during challenging or complex situations is a game-changer.
It provides confidence by putting control in your hands, increasing the chances of achieving your desired outcome.
Being proactive can be practiced through careful analysis of controllable areas and where tangible growth possibilities exist for marketing objectives and returns on investment.
Using this skill as a leader can allow you to optimize workflow, improve efficiencies, save time and money, while you achieve measurable results in your marketing campaigns.
Habit 2: Begin With the End in Mind
Know what success looks like – and then make a plan to get there.
When it comes to being an effective marketing lead, Habit 2: Begin With the End in Mind is essential.
Knowing what success looks like as the leader of a marketing department gives you direction and a benchmark from which to work from.
It focuses the creative energy of your team so that everyone is pushing towards and aligned with the same vision.
On the flip side, failure to have a vision means you will wander around aimlessly, with no goals to hit, and therefore no accomplishments a team.
Take the time to work alone and also with your team to map out what your goals like – for the quarter, the year, five years, etc.
If you can’t envision it, it won’t happen.
If you can envision it, it will happen.
And you will share this vision with your team, too.
Next, develop a clear plan for how to reach this goal – that way, you can know if you’re on the right track or not.
Habit 2 a necessary part of crafting any successful marketing strategy or product launch, and is also necessary for the long-term health of your team.
Habit 3: Put First Things First
Make a list of priorities and focus on accomplishing the top priorities.
Habit 3: Put First Things First is a particularly helpful and important quality for marketing leaders to cultivate.
It’s easy to become overwhelmed by the enormity of tasks required in running a successful department.
Having self-discipline is essential for department heads.
It involves making a list of priorities, focusing on the top ones, and achieving expected results.
This helps with organization, time efficiency, and meeting departmental goals.
Despite it being daunting at times, with Habit 3: Put First Things First, you’re sure to make even the seemingly impossible tasks seem doable!
Habit 4: Think Win-Win
Collaborate with team members and build trust in work relationships.
When in a leadership position, it’s important to foster an environment where everyone feels valued and empowered.
That’s why Habit 4 is so vital for marketing leaders: think win-win.
By making collaboration and empathy central pillars for team interactions, you can build trust among your colleagues and create a work culture of true respect and camaraderie.
Not only will this foster employee morale by providing necessary support to facilitate their professional growth, but it will also ensure your marketing department has the necessary cooperation to thrive.
This can be tough, however, as your team members may come in with the mindset of “If you win, that means I lose.”
You will have to be confident in your empathy – encouraging the team members that when one of you wins, everyone wins.
If you lead by example in this area, the team will ultimately follow.
And don’t be discouraged if it takes time – it is well worth it to establish a win-win mindset with yourself and your team.
Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood
Really find out what others on your team need and their viewpoints, before trying to get them to understand your needs and viewpoint.
When it comes to leading a marketing department, understanding the wants and needs of your team first, and then communicating your wants and needs, can play a large role in success.
As Habit 5 reminds us, “Seek first to understand, then to be understood.”
This is an essential step to ensure productive communication and teamwork.
Listening actively before responding will help you gain valuable insight into the thoughts, feelings and motivations of your team, allowing you to better appreciate their perspective and create solutions together.
Keeping this habit in mind will help create an atmosphere of collaboration and respect among your team members.
Everyone works together better when they can see clear priorities and common goals.
Habit 6: Synergize
Think outside the box when faced with a challenge, to do something new and strategically utilize what you have available – including the people around you.
When it comes to habit 6 of the 7 habits of highly effective people, Synergize, it’s the perfect reminder that we should never be afraid to think outside the box and collaborate with others.
No one wants a superhero – people want to be a part of a winning team.
These days, most challenges can seem overwhelming and too difficult to solve.
However, by looking outside what’s right in front of you and tossing ideas around with your team members, you’d be surprised what solutions you and your team come up with.
As a marketing leader, it’s important to both recognize what resources you already have and not be afraid to try something a little different as well.
Don’t shut something down just because it is different.
Really ask questions of your team: why do you think that?
How did you come up with that?
Why would you do it differently?
Most of the time, the “why” behind what someone presents can be combined with other people’s “why”s to make something new, amazing, and on-point.
By combining effort with creative thinking, you’ll find that even the most daunting hurdles can become easy-to-manage steps along your way.
Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw
Focus on your work/life balance and make time for yourself outside of work.
Last but not least, Habit 7 is a great reminder that leaders need to take time for themselves, or else you face burnout.
Being passionate and giving your all is important, of course, but taking a step back once in a while and dedicating some time to activities outside of work can be just as vital for success.
It’s easy for the lines between our professional and personal lives to blur as we strive for greatness, so it’s essential to ensure that you don’t lose track of what matters: taking care of yourself.
This can be done in any of these areas: physically, socially/emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.
Recharging your batteries in one or more of these areas can actually help you focus more intently on projects while in the office.
So go ahead – get some rest, or perhaps join an exercise class this weekend – either way, it’ll all serve you well once Monday morning rolls around.
Practice, Practice, Practice
Being a good leader often means consistently and actively putting into practice the 7 habits of highly effective people.
All these steps will help guide you as you strive to become the best leader possible for your marketing department and for your team.
It may take some time and effort now to get used to these habits but it’s an investment in yourself that will have an excellent return for you and your team.
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