How To Lead 1:1s With Your Manager

Be sure you don’t miss any of the action: make sure you subscribe to receive future issues. If you’ve worked in brand management for any decent amount of time (or even just business in general), you’ve probably heard the advice that you need to “manage up” or “manage your boss”.  While I believe this to be true, I’m not sure …

Tips for Tough Conversations

Be sure you don’t miss any of the action: make sure you subscribe to receive future issues. The first time you get a direct report, it can be both exciting and scary. It’s a sign you’ve been trusted with management responsibility. But what if you’re assigned an under-performer? Most new managers are tempted to “play nice”. They want to be …

How to Get Promoted in Brand Management

Be sure you don’t miss any of the action: make sure you subscribe to receive future issues. Annual reviews and goal-setting often come around this time of year. And if you ask most ABMs and brand managers what their goals are, chances are more than a few of them will mention their goal is to get promoted. Most managers will …

Five Potential Brand Management Career Pathways

Be sure you don’t miss any of the action: make sure you subscribe to receive future issues. As we head into the new year, no doubt many brand leaders are thinking about their career goals and aspirations. And if you follow the most general career advice, you already know that you need to find a path that leverages your strengths, …

Is Brand Management Right For You?

Brand Career Booster Newsletter

I want to address one of the most common questions that early career ABMs and brand managers have but are too afraid to ask. This will not only be helpful for brand managers, but if you are a Director, VP or CMO you’ll learn exactly what qualities to look for in your brand management team to determine if they truly …

Ultimate Guide to Brand Management Training

In this guide you’ll learn how to create a brand management training and development program that sets your team up for success. Learn how to overcome common mistakes, what topics to include in your training program, and best-practice topics and frameworks for up-skilling your brand team. Get more information on our training programs for brand managers here, and be sure …

5 Ways CMOs Can Retain Their High-Potential Leaders

loyal employee

I recently wrote an article that was published by Ad Age on how to avoid common pitfalls and build loyalty among your best team members. This is especially important now as the labor market tightens. Below is an excerpt and you can check out the entire article here. The labor market is tightening; some regions have three openings for every one unemployed …

Why It’s Hard To Find Great Brand Managers

brand team leader

How to get out of the micromanagement grind with your brand team… “It’s embarrassing how our brand team is representing the company with our vendors and partners. They just can’t seem to do anything the way it should be done … and I feel like it’s on me to fix it.” Eric (not his real name), the CMO of a …

10 Soft Skills Business Leaders Need to Succeed

Team Collaboration

10 soft skills that, if mastered, enable brand and business leaders to work with integrity, get things done, and ultimately get promoted. When did it become okay to leave people hanging? To treat others poorly? To not follow through on commitments? You hear a lot of talk these days about values, collaboration and leadership. But what do these words mean? …