Leaders answer the question: What advice would you give marketing ops pros who want to transition to a leadership role?

I asked marketing leaders with operator backgrounds the question: what advice would you give to someone looking to transition into a leadership role?

Here's what they said.

One of the best ways to move into a leadership role is to focus on enabling others

One of the best ways to move into a leadership role is to focus on enabling others. So much marketing technology is underutilized. If you can help other marketers and stakeholders within your company harness more of those capabilities through proactive communication and collaboration, that's a great way to deliver more value to your organization and be a leader.

Scott Brinker, Chief Martech and VP of Platform Ecosystems

Learn all the different functions. Get close to other departments. Especially sales. Really understand sales funnels and support them. Understanding the business model is huge, how they make money and how it can grow/scale is critical. That way you can come up with ideas for additional revenue. Also finance friends are so key.

Danielle Balestra, Vice President of Marketing Operations

The best are often leaders you admire. They do not have to be inside your company.

Find, reach out, embrace and work with mentors. Somebody who can be a sounding board, provide guidance and you can bounce ideas off of. The best are often leaders you admire. They do not have to be inside your company.

Search for opportunities to work with leaders inside and outside your department on interesting initiatives and projects. This provides invaluable experience of leading teams - doing/watching/learning - and can also showcase your leadership skills across people, teams, and initiatives.

Scott Vaughan, Chief Growth Officer

Think at both ends of the spectrum. Getting the small details right matters. A lot. You have to prove that you understand how to make things work and can be a consistent performer. With that said, to transition to a leadership role, you need to think big picture. You need to be able to step back and understand how things work together, what the final objective is, etc.

Kellie De Leon, Vice President Marketing & Strategy

1) Make your intentions known and be active with management on your development.

2) Execute in your current role extremely well. You want your peers and others to recognize your promotion as well-deserved and an obvious move.

3) Have a vision for how you will lead the team. Use your experience in being close to the tech/data that runs the business and articulate how you can take the business and team to the next level. Share and discuss while in your current role—advocate for change and how you can deliver it.

4) Have a plan for backfilling your role. At times it can be difficult to replace an IC who is doing well, so make it easy for management by articulating how you will replace what you are currently doing.

Cassidy Shield, Chief Marketing Officer

I’d suggest getting as close to the go to market process as possible. Not just Marketing performance but all parts of the revenue engine: new business, upsell, renewals. And of course be on top of the data and segmentation. And don’t be shy. Make sure your career desires / development are known and find a mentor who can guide you.

Karen Steele, Chief Marketing Officer

Wake up tomorrow realizing you don’t need a title to be a leader. Start doing the job of leading the organization by taking initiative and making contributions that benefit the organization.

1. Talk and act like a business owner and driver. Leaders don’t geek out on the tools and their features, they are passionate about strategy and outcomes.

2. Wake up tomorrow realizing you don’t need a title to be a leader. Start doing the job of leading the organization by taking initiative and making contributions that benefit the organization.

3. Form alliances with other leaders in the organization that will lobby for your growth because they trust and respect you and want you at the leadership table. Leadership is a club and you need

David Lewis, CEO