Mentoring scheme to help marketers reach c-suite planned

The Marketing Academy is preparing the launch of a fellowship programme for senior marketers to better equip them for board level and CEO roles.

Boardroom CMO

The organisation, which is supported by Marketing Week and brands including O2, British Gas and Microsoft, will work with other industry partners to address concerns marketing does not have enough presence and influence in the boardroom.

It is hoped the programme will improve marketers’ ability to achieve top leadership positions by providing management skills which complement what the Academy says is a marketers’ ability to understand customers.

The Marketing Academy is recruiting a team of mentors and coaches to help senior marketers gain knowledge and insight from chairmen and board executives from functions such as finance and human resources.

Sherilyn Shackell, founder of the Marketing Academy, says: “By experiencing the phenomenal success of The Marketing Academy Scholarship, it became obvious that we should it one step further.  The Fellowship Programme will enable those at the top of marketing functional pyramid gain the experience they need to make the move to the boardroom. 

“We believe that company success relied on having people on the board with a deep understanding of of the commercial drivers, combined with intellectual bandwidth, inspirational and engaging leadership qualities and an unfailing ability to understand what the customer wants.”

News of the fellowship comes soon after it was unveiled ISBA is forming a cross-industry initiative to improve the standing of marketing within companies. News of ISBA’s plans came soon after a global report by Fournaise Marketing Group found that 70 per cent of CEOs lack trust in CMOs.

The free, part-time fellowship programme is due to launch in Autumn 2013. It will offer 15 places to existing director level marketers.

The programme will sit alongside its existing Academy Scholarship, which provides a year long programme of education and mentoring for mid-level marketers.

Entry has just opened for nominations for this year’s Marketing Academy Scholarship Programme. The deadline is 25 February.

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