Building the Board-Ready CMO in B2B Report

1. BOARDROOM EXPOSURE

• Boardroom Exposure explores a CMO’s role in the boardroom. CMOs who regularly attend company board meetings, present recommendations on customer, market, and competitor strategies, can confidently contribute to agenda discussions, and produce commercial reports demonstrating the impact of marketing on business growth scored highly for this building block.

“It’s critical for CMOs to frequently attend and represent themselves well in board meetings. It’s where you learn to speak the language of the board and understand what the board really cares about before applying for your own boardroom role.“

PETER FINTER, BOARD CHAIR AND ADVISOR, CMO, KX

2. CEO ALLIANCE

• CEO Alliance explores the relationship between a CMO and a CEO. CMOs who report directly to their CEO and have a strong, collaborative relationship built on mutual respect and trust, have clear responsibilities and KPIs as a growth leader in the business, and have full accountability for pipeline and revenue-based metrics like CAC and CLTV scored highly in this building block.

“CMOs looking for a board role need to speak the language of business beyond their functional expertise. They must be able to give strategic direction, not just marketing strategy. This will bring you closer to what really interests the board.“

CHRISTINA BONDOLOWSKI, BOARD DIRECTOR, GLOBAL CMO, MSCI

3. FINANCIAL ACUMEN

• Financial Acumen refers to a CMO’s proficiency in reading and evaluating financial statements, reports, and ratios. CMOs who understand their use in commercial planning, are comfortable participating in financial discussions, and work collaboratively with their CFO to ensure marketing strategies are aligned with the commercial goals of their organisation scored highly for this building block.

“Broaden and deepen your finance skill set. If you don’t understand P&L, balance sheets, cashflow statements and the LTV:CAC ratio, or can’t spot trends and drivers, don’t even bother applying.“

DOUG BEWSHER, BOARD INVESTOR, EX-CMO, SALESFORCE.COM

4. MARKET SPECIALISM

• Market Specialism refers to CMOs who show a deep understanding of market context and industry dynamics, challenges, and opportunities. CMOs who demonstrate in-depth knowledge of how they impact their total addressable market and ideal customer profiles, whether changes in the competitive or technology landscape affect customer investment strategies, and can give sound advice on market category optimisation scored highly for this building block.

“I would consider not having Chief Marketing Officer in your title. The ‘ING’ puts people off. Become the ‘Chief Market Officer’ instead. It adds a lot more value.“

JENNIFER GRIFFIN-SMITH, BOARD MEMBER, CMO, ACQUIA

5. GTM CONNECTIVITY

• GTM Connectivity refers to CMOs who shape and manage their organisation’s end-to-end GTM strategy. CMOs who build connected and collaborative relationships between sales, product, pricing, distribution, and customer success functions to optimise pipeline and revenue growth, and take accountability for the 4Ps across product-market fit, pricing strategy, and pricing models and structures scored highly for this building block.

“I would advise CMOs to ensure they have consistent influence or ownership of the Go To Market – a GTM that goes way broader than just Marketing and includes Sales, Product, and Customer Success all working together to attract and engage the customer. This is super, super important, and one of the things that arguably got me a board seat.“

PATRICIA HADDEN, BOARD OF DIRECTORS, GLOBAL MARKETING LEAD, GOOGLE

6. T-SHAPED SKILLS

• T-Shaped Skills refer to CMOs who have well-rounded strategic knowledge beyond the marketing remit. CMOs who have a broad range of critical assessment skills, knowledge of legal compliance, risk management, and international relations, and can offer ‘big picture’ thinking with foresight and guidance on how market factors affect material risk and opportunities to drive sustainable growth and profitability scored highly for this building block. 

“Boards generally don’t look for one-trick ponies. We talk about the desire for someone with a “T-Shaped” perspective for our board. Someone who can take a step back and look at the big picture and has the breadth of financial acumen, strategic skills, and the dexterity to see around the corner to help us navigate material risk and opportunities to create long-term value for shareholders.“

SONITA LONTOH, PUBLIC COMPANY BOARD DIRECTOR AND FORMER FORTUNE 100 TECHNOLOGY EXECUTIVE

7. SERVANT LEADERSHIP

• Servant Leadership refers to CMOs who display a high level of emotional intelligence and stewardship. CMOs who listen well, show empathy, and are highly skilled in developing cohesive, synergistic relationships between teams and functions, are committed to the personal growth and wellbeing of others, and can objectively assess the advantages and disadvantages of business decisions and strategies scored highly for this building block.

“To persuade the boardroom on the right path forward, it is not about slamming hard on the table, nor about shouting loud, nor about monopolising the boardroom. In an age of customer-centricity and boardroom etiquette, it is all about being invited in, about influence, about becoming a trusted advisor.“

CHRIS BURGGRAEVE, INVESTOR, AUTHOR, AND NACD.DC CERTIFIED BOARD MEMBER AND CHAIRMAN

8. PERSONAL NETWORK

• Personal Network refers to CMOs with a strong personal brand and network that warms them to boards seeking new candidates. CMOs who have LinkedIn bios tailored to business needs, not just that of the marketing remit, clear distinguishing factors that show their unique qualities, and make a consistent effort to network with board and investor communities regularly scored highly for this building block.

“Focus on overcoming one of the biggest obstacles to getting a board position – the networking. CMOs must invest the time to build their own personal network and increase their exposure to board members and investors on boards, especially in private equity or the VC community.“

DOUG BEWSHER, BOARD INVESTOR, EX-CMO, SALESFORCE.COM

OUR METHODOLOGY

We collaborated with NewtonX, a leading B2B research firm to conduct this first-of-its-kind study. Our goal was to understand how CMOs are perceived by boards, why CMOs in B2B organisations often lack board presence, and to provide guidance on securing board positions commensurate with their expanded responsibilities.

Our approach entailed two steps:

Step 1: Develop the Board-Readiness Framework

To create an evidence-based framework outlining the necessary skills, capabilities, and behavioural traits for CMOs to be board-ready, we conducted interviews from two viewpoints:

1. Board Directors: we interviewed six executive and non-executive board directors from both public and private B2B boards, all actively involved in selecting new members.

2. B2B CMO Board Members: we interviewed twelve CMOs from B2B organisations, either currently serving on corporate boards or with previous board experience.

Step 2: Assess B2B CMO Board-Readiness

To gauge CMOs’ proficiency across the eight building blocks outlined in the Board-Readiness Framework, we surveyed 311 B2B CMOs from enterprise organisations (500-5000+ employees) spanning various industries. The majority of respondents hailed from IT/software/ technology, financial services, manufacturing, transport and logistics, healthcare, pharmaceutical, and legal services sectors. We established scoring criteria for the 30-question survey to track CMOs’ progress on their board-readiness journey. These scores were consolidated to offer a comprehensive assessment of current board readiness among B2B CMOs, spotlighting areas of strength and those requiring development.