The career shift that made me a business leader

⏱️ 5 minute read (I know you’re busy. Save it, skim it, or read it while avoiding one meeting.)

Hey fellow QBs!

It’s March, which means brackets are being built with absolute confidence by people who have watched exactly three college basketball games all year.

Upsets will happen.
Top seeds will fall.
And someone’s “guaranteed champion” will be out by Sunday.

Early in my career, that was me with marketing.

I’d build these beautiful campaigns in isolation. Budgets dialed in. Messaging tight. Rollout planned. I was convinced it was a Final Four idea.

And then I’d present it.

Or worse…they’d just stare at me.

I’d walk back to my desk defeated. And angry.

How could they not see how good this was?

Here’s what I learned the hard way:

It doesn’t matter how good the campaign is if no one else feels ownership of it.

After striking out a few times, I did something radical.

I asked for help.

I talked to peers and colleagues and asked how they actually got programs across the finish line…with support. The answer wasn’t better creative. It wasn’t more data. It wasn’t presenting harder.

It was buy-in.

Not buy-in on the results.

Buy-in on the fact that you’re leading something that matters to them.

So I built what I now call my Marketing Tribe.

In every role after that, I intentionally brought in a small cross-functional group. An ops voice. A sales leader. Someone from finance. Sometimes product. Sometimes customer success. It depended on the company.

They became my internal agency.

But this wasn’t a “marketing update” meeting. I wasn’t reporting to them.

I was listening.

And then something shifted.

Instead of building campaigns in a vacuum, I started building them from shared goals. Campaigns launched faster. Sales supported them. Ops prepared for them. Finance defended them.

And I stopped being “the marketer.”

I became a business leader.

That shift saved my job more than once.

It also shaped my obsession with getting marketers a seat at the leadership table.

Because marketing is a team sport.

Yes, everyone thinks they’re a marketer. No, not everyone can do marketing. But the best ideas? They often come from the people outside the marketing department. If you ignore that, you lose. If you harness it, you win.

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I’m watching a lot of solo marketers (and fractional leaders) fall into the same trap I did early on.

They’re staying siloed.

They’re building smart, strategic, well-researched plans…alone.

They present big ideas to leadership and are shocked when they get pushback. Or worse, when the idea quietly dies in a follow-up meeting they weren’t invited to.

Then the frustration kicks in.

“They don’t get marketing.”
“They don’t value brand.”
“They only care about sales.”

Maybe.

But more often?

Leadership doesn’t see themselves in the plan.

And when people don’t see their goals, pressures, or constraints reflected in your strategy, they won’t fight for it.

Here’s the real pitfall of staying solo:

You slowly get repositioned as the “make it look good” department.

Your ideas get labeled as “nice to have.”

Budgets get trimmed.

You work harder to prove your value.

You burn out trying to be brilliant instead of collaborative.

And the worst part? You might actually be very good. But no one sees it because you’re playing a solo sport in a team league.

Even the best player in March Madness isn’t winning without a team.

If you’re a solo marketer, this is how you stop operating in isolation.

If you’re fractional, this should be one of the first systems you build. I establish this within the first 30 days of any engagement. I refuse to operate in a silo on someone else’s dime.

First, identify your core voices. Sales. Operations. Finance. Then ask yourself who else truly impacts growth — product, customer success, HR, IT. You don’t need a crowd. You need the right perspectives.

Second, position it correctly. This is not a “marketing meeting.” This is revenue alignment. Growth strategy. Go-to-market discussion. The language matters because it signals leadership.

Third, make it two-way. If you’re just presenting slides, you’re doing it wrong. You should be facilitating a conversation. What is each department trying to accomplish this quarter? Where are they stuck? What’s coming that marketing needs to know about?

Fourth, build campaigns from shared objectives. When initiatives are co-created (even partially) support skyrockets. Sales promotes it because it helps them. Ops prepares for it because they were part of the conversation. Finance defends it because it aligns with priorities.

That’s when speed happens.

And speed is power.

If you like a simple way to remember it, think T.R.I.B.E.:

Transparency across departments.
Revenue alignment.
Inclusion of key stakeholders.
Business-first thinking.
Execution with shared ownership.

No tribe. No traction.

Do you have a tribe?

If yes, be honest…is it strategic or is it just a status update meeting?

If no, start looking at your business through a different lens. Who are the three to five people who truly influence growth?

Set up a recurring meeting. Monthly at minimum.

Create a simple agenda:

And ask one powerful question:

“What are you trying to accomplish this quarter that marketing could help accelerate?”

Then build from there.

When you do this consistently, something changes.

You’re no longer perceived as the solo marketer asking for budget.

You’re the leader facilitating growth.

And that’s how you win your bracket.

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— Jeff

P.S. The marketers who become indispensable aren’t the ones with the flashiest campaigns. They’re the ones who align the business. Build the tribe. Create buy-in before the launch.

That’s how you stop being “the marketing department” and start being a growth leader.

If you want help building your internal tribe and positioning yourself as a strategic driver inside your company, grab time here:
https://calendly.com/jeff-forestcitydigital/marketing-coaching-discovery-call