How Marketing Leaders Can Evolve from CMO to CGO (Chief Growth Orchestrator) with Grant Johnson

Welcome back to the latest edition of “3-Minute Marketing”, where I talk with some of the smartest marketing leaders on the planet & uncover their most actionable tips, tactics & strategies. On today’s episode, I catch up with Grant Johnson. He’s been a tech CMO since 2009 & is currently leading the charge at Emburse, the global leader in expense management & accounts payable automation solutions. Grant has always been impressive to me in how he thinks on the cutting edge of marketing strategy. One of the things he is a big proponent of these days is CMOs evolving in their roles to become a “Chief Growth Orchestrator” for their organization. I was curious to unpack what that means & how / why CMOs should be making this transition today. So my question for Grant is, “How can CMOs evolve from becoming a ‘CMO’ to a Chief Growth Orchestrator as quickly, effectively & efficiently as possible?” Show Notes: To become “Chief”, you need to be more than a “seat at the table” — be someone that the rest of your executive team looks to as a true partner & driver of key initiatives for the business. To drive “Growth”, find & focus on the key levers — pipeline is certainly a big one. But also think more broadly to areas like channels, geographies, products, culture & priorities. To be an “Orchestrator”, you need to be the “quarterback” that brings people & teams together, fails fast & focuses on making the right strategic moves that make an impact. You have to earn the trust of your CEO & team. Sometimes that means stepping into conflict & working to build consensus. If you’re a great at “C”, but don’t have the “G” or “O” yet: focus on improving on those areas. But also get the right talent onboard to plug the gaps & nurture relationships with the right people on your team (e.g. your head of sales.) A major mindset shift for the CGO role: moving from “expert implementer” to “masterful orchestrator.” Let go of being the “hands on keyboard” expert in everything. Instead, learn to bring the right experts in the room & ask them good questions. You have to be relevant & distinct in order to be successful in your marketing. Data & creative are two important levers to make this happen. But the key is having good “customer intuition.”