Jonathan honed his leadership skills within an ever-evolving tech company.
Background:
Jonathan is Happeo’s Product Marketing Lead. He has a rich background in modern B2B marketing, with a focus on Internal Communications and HR tech. He had just taken over as interim VP of Marketing when we started working together.
What challenges were you facing when we met?
Our CMO had left and I just got promoted to this interim VP of Marketing role after the team requested I lead them. Before that, I was Product Marketing Lead. One of the main problems was that there were no higher-level marketing experts in the company, and I really needed some guidance on how to deal with this "level up" situation.
Some of it was practical: e.g. defining and communicating a strategy and an operating manual. Other things were more abstract – communicating with leadership, coaching and mentoring style, career advice and dealing with the new reality as a whole.
I felt like I had all the potential to be a good leader, but no idea of what to do to show that.
What did we work on together?
Almost too much to list! But here goes:
Marketing strategy and operating manual according to Andrew's own playbook
Coaching and mentoring other team members
Approach on dealing with leadership peers
Career advice and how to make the most out of this opportunity
Figured out my personal purpose and the bigger next steps
Some marketing-specific initiatives – a plan to troubleshoot new pages that didn't perform well, for example.
What was the experience like?
Just strong, solid, practical advice that comes from a place of expertise, but at the same time is also really relaxed. I looked forward to every one of our sessions and I love that we managed to flow from one topic to the other so seamlessly. I got a lot of value from it because we didn't stick to a narrow scope.
Any major results?
Changed the way the marketing team operated that had strong results on core KPIs, especially conversion rates.
Kept the team spirit and feeling of "togetherness" in times of change.
Figured out my own personal purposes, gained a sense of confidence and clarity on my next steps in the future. Might sound fluffy but I treat it exactly like a company's mission and vision – once you have that set, deciding on what your next priority is easy.
Any message to someone on the fence about working with Andrew?
Just book one session because you'll be sold. Andrew's style is extremely helpful but also relaxed, so it never feels like another task on your plate. It's often the opposite of that, just helps you figure out the best way to deal with what's on that plate in the first place.
This is an ideal option for any SaaS Marketer or Growth leader that wants a positive, challenging perspective that no one else can offer.