Throughout my career spanning corporate marketing, entrepreneurship and advertising, I have seen the role of the CMO undergo a dramatic transformation. Organizations are using our unique blend of left and right brain skills to add value to the enterprise in unexpected ways.

No longer confined to the traditional boundaries of advertising and brand management, the modern CMO must become a “Master Builder”—an architect of inter-organizational communication and value creation.

This requires disconnection from marketing silos and embracing a more integrated and influential position within our organizations.

Builder's Mindset

The “constructive” approach to marketing goes beyond building campaigns and strategies. He recognizes that a marketer's true value is unlocked outside of their departmental sandbox. In other words, to be truly transformative, we need to identify the critical organizational processes that have the greatest impact on business strategy and get directly involved. These can be operational workflowscustomer experience practices or new product engineering.

Additionally, a master builder knows that value creation is ultimately driven by the organization's intangible assets, namely talent and technology. Therefore, marketers maximize their influence by influencing these areas directly. We must become internal thought leaders with clear lines of sight across the matrix. However, this can only be achieved through broad organizational integration. In fact, I'd argue that a brand's success requires marketing to be the most integrated team in the entire company—a practice I call hyperintegration.

Related: Are you a builder, accelerator or fixer?

Enabling hyper-integration

Therefore, my first requirement for a master builder is hyper-integration, something that needs to be embedded in your departmental culture and practices. Here are some recommendations for enabling these qualities in your team's development:

1. Train your marketing team to be organizational influencers and thought leaders. Encourage them to routinely volunteer to participate in cross-functional initiatives.
2. Set the expectation that director-level marketers must be adept at leading cross-functional initiatives, not just participating in them. It's our job to get them there if they're not there yet.
3. Create an open marketing environment. Everyone should be allowed into the marketing sandbox to provide feedback or collaborate with us. This sends a message of accountability to the organization.
4. Structure marketing initiatives in the context of organizational objectives. Your team must learn to frame their projects based on how they add value to the company and advance the larger strategy.
5. Offer opportunities for your marketing team to speak in front of the executive team. This showcases their talent and trains them in how to persuade and advocate effectively.
6. Design your meeting structure to foster growth and engagement. Hold weekly meetings with extensive status updates and deep dives on specific topics presented by team members. Include team building activities regularly.
7. Make sure everyone contributes to your marketing meetings. There are no free rides. Find ways for each team member to add value, even putting new marketers in challenging positions to help them grow.
8. Keep the energy and informality high. Like a championship football team, you don't want them to play tight. Reduce power distance and treat marketing as a laboratory for value creation.

Related: The next level of Business Integration is here, and it's called Hypertasking

Main dot connector

Have you ever noticed a peer sitting silently in a meeting despite not understanding the discussion properly? In my experience, this can be attributed to multitasking or simply a fear of appearing ignorant. Regardless, it is one productivity killer for value creation, as the meeting sponsor is denied the critical information they need for successful execution. Therefore, my second requirement for a master builder is what I call the Chief Dot Connector, a chronically neglected role in most organizations today.

A builder knows to leverage their unique skill set and perspective to bridge communication gaps across departments. Sometimes senior managers are not prepared enough in the details; sometimes junior level employees do not fully understand the strategic context.

Regardless of the cause, we must frame the dialogue in such a way that it permeates the room completely. Sometimes this requires asking “dumb” questions to ensure all ramifications and implications are fully understood and agreed upon. A builder never leaves a meeting until all the dots are properly connected, full participation is made, and scope is achieved.

Related: What type of connector are you? Here's why it matters to your business

Laying the groundwork

One of the biggest challenges for today's CMO is balancing the need for marketing accountability and ROI with the creative and less tangible aspects of brand building. This is why my third requirement for a master builder is to lay the right foundations through transparency and communication. Simply put, if the organization understands what we are proposing and why, they are more likely to provide the freedom and flexibility to pursue the more artistic and less measurable aspects of marketing.

To ensure this understanding, we must frame our projects within the context of the organizational objectives that have already been framed. We also need to set clear expectations about how we will measure the success of our projects and always close the link with colleagues after the fact. Moreover, if we do not meet these expectations, it is essential not to run away from the results. The lead builder always takes ultimate responsibility, which includes sharing lessons learned for next time. This approach builds trust and credibility, allowing more freedom for future value creation initiatives.

Related: 8 critical things entrepreneurs often overlook when starting a company

Building a beehive

As AI and other technologies reshape marketing, the role of the CMO will continue to evolve. In the next 3-5 years, it will be impossible for most organizations to fill all the subject matter experts required for modern marketing.

That's why my final request to a master builder is to nurture a personal “hive” of freelancers and subcontractors who can be called upon to help execute the game plan. This means we must become masters of multi-organizational integration, with plug-and-play external experts who are nimble enough to move quickly when required and the core team of traders which are versatile enough to incorporate into projects on a case-by-case basis.

The future belongs to those who can build bridges, connect the dots and architect success in all aspects of business. The Chief Builder is the holder of the strategic plan, possessing the intellectual and practical agility to liaise with a wide range of teams inside and outside the organization.

Look for the CMO to be more involved in technology advancements, customer experience and culture development, where so much value creation happens in the enterprise. By breaking out of the marketing silo, we will be free to drive value creation across the organization, unlocking marketing's full potential and becoming indispensable leaders in our companies.

Are you ready to become a master builder?