When Should a CEO Stop Leading Marketing?

In the early stages of a company, it often makes sense for the CEO or founder to be deeply involved in marketing.

They know the customer, the product and the vision for the company. And when the organization is small, being involved in decisions across the business can help keep things moving.

But as the company grows, the CEO’s role has to grow with it. The marketing model often needs to evolve as well.

At some point, being involved in everything stops being an advantage and starts becoming a constraint.

When Marketing Still Runs Through the CEO

I’ve seen companies hire experienced marketing leaders but continue to operate as though marketing is still CEO-led.

The marketing leader develops the strategy, but messaging, creative, agencies, campaigns and investment decisions continue to make their way back to the CEO for approval.

That creates a bigger issue than slow decision-making.

If you’ve hired a marketing leader but you’re still making the marketing decisions, you haven’t really delegated marketing leadership.

And it’s difficult to hold someone accountable for results without giving them the authority to lead the function.

The Hard Part Is Stepping Out

For many CEOs, staying involved isn’t about a lack of trust in their marketing leader.

It’s often a habit built during an earlier stage of the company, when being involved in everything was necessary.

And functional decisions are tangible. There’s a campaign to review, a message to react to, a decision to make. The bigger questions facing the business - where growth will come from next, what needs to change, where to place the next bet - are often harder and don’t come with an immediate answer.

Continuing to spend time managing marketing can pull the CEO back into a role the business has already outgrown.

Once the marketing strategy is aligned and the resources and support are in place, marketing leadership needs the authority to execute it and accountability for the results.

Making Room for the Next Stage of Growth

As a business scales, the way it operates has to change.

Experienced leaders need the authority to lead their functions and be accountable for the results. That creates space for the CEO to spend less time in functional decisions and more time on the bigger, harder questions facing the business.

If the marketing strategy is aligned, the resources are in place and marketing is delivering against the business’s growth expectations, the CEO shouldn’t need to be making the marketing decisions.

Breaking through to the next level of growth often requires more than changing the business. It requires the CEO to show up differently than they have in the past.