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How To Become Vp Marketing At 35 Yrs Age?
Posted By: golden_victor on 12/22/2004 2:09 AM (CST) 250 Points
Dear Responders,
I am a 26 yrs old B.Tech+MBA Marketing from Mumbai India. I have a white hot ambition to become first-of-the class Marketing professional.
Unfortunately i am caught in such a company where my career planning is the last thing on my employer's mind.

I am struggling to find how should I keep adding value to myself as a marketing professional, while doing the routine work.

One day I want to become such a professional, who is an indispensable Asset to his organisation.

I appeal to all those who have tasted success in Marketing,, to please guide me, on how to become an extra ordinary marketing man. I AM READY TO GIVE ALL IT TAKES TO BECOME ONE. PLEASE SHOW ME THE WAY!
Let me know if you need any other details

Posted by: Manu Rajan Accepted Answer
12/22/2004 2:52 AM (CST)
Dear golden_victor,

There are two similar questions that i remember from KHE. (There could be more). I am posting the links below. Please do check them out. Might be of help.

Q.No.1

http://www.marketingprofs.com/ea/qst_question.asp?qstID=1362

Q. No.2

http://www.marketingprofs.com/ea/qst_question.asp?qstID=161

I am not sure about the industry you are in. Neither do i know in which area would you like to be famous in. You can be the best marketing mind in whatever you are doing now and be famous by 35. (Forget the designation and money. Those things should chase you. You shouldn't chase them.) Heard of Piyush Pandey? Heard of Nandan Nilekani? Heard of Brian Tracy? Lester Wunderman? Jack Welch...

They never chased a designation or money. They just tried to be the best in what they do. The rest followed.

To start with i need to caution you that there are no short cuts to fame. It does not happen instantly either. (Unless you have a hotmail.com to sell). But it definitely is achievable. It requires meticulous planning and execution of those plans. If you are up to it, here is the formula.

Step1: Identify the industry in which you want to work. Someting that genuinely interests you. If you are already there, great. If you are not, then assume, i am referring to that industry from step 2 onwards.

Step2: Identify your limitations. What is that you DON'T know about marketing in the given context of your industry. If you are made the VP tomorrow, would you be doing what to do from 9.30 in the morning? Identify the areas to be improved.

Step3: Action plan and timelines to over come the limitations. Small, executable steps. But consistently.

Step4:Use what you learned the previous day, in what you are going to do at work the next day. At least one new thing that you learned.

By now you would have become much better than the rest of the people in your industry and your dream VP job must be knocking at your door!

I suggest you read 'Advanced Selling Strategies' by Brian Tracy. It's a fantastic book which will tell you exactly how to go about achieving your dream.

They say there is a theory called the Law of compensation. It says whatever you are paid today, is because of whatever you did yesterday. So very true. When you start doing a VPs job, that job come to you. Not the other way. You don't become a VP to learn a VPs job!

Hope this helps!

Good Luck.
 
Posted by: peterb* Accepted Answer
12/22/2004 9:17 AM (CST)
Golden_Victor,

First thing - I would take a look at your current position and company and see if there is room for advancement or atleast an opportuntiy to continue learning while you are working. If not, I might look to join another company where this is possible.

Second - Find a mentor(s). I cannot tell you how much of an impact this has had on my career. Seek-out individuals that can help you find the way and can give insight on what it means to be a CMO. People that have been there and done that!

Best of luck to you.
Peter
 
Posted by: Peter (henna gaijin) Member Response
12/22/2004 1:10 PM (CST)
The challenge of reaching a certain level of responsibility or a certain title position is greatly impacted by the organization you work for.

If you work for a large company, it generally takes longer to get to higher positions and you often work in positions that have specific roles.

Where smaller companies you can get responsibilities much quicker and the work you do will often be very varied.
 
Posted by: Deremiah *CPE Accepted Answer
12/25/2004 1:54 PM (CST)
Golden_Victor,

I can solve your problem quite simply and very quickly...Start your own business make it extremely successful and when you're President & CEO who needs the VP title.

Trying to live up to the standards of others (especially those who struggle with the ability to see or acknowledge our dreams) can be extremly tough and oh so frustruating.

Whatever you decide to do either make a decision to stay where you are, settle for mediocrity, move to another department or even consider moving to another company. But whatever you do wherever you are focus on building.

Build additional Knowledge
Build new relationships
Build a more positive attitude
Build an attitude of grattitude
Build encouraging relationships
Build a new and better you
Build more ways to say "Thank You" and "Please"
Build confidence in those around you by doing "Great Work"

Use these more often and you will feel more better about where you are going and how fast you are getting there. Remember your outer world is a reflection of your inner world. If you think you're having problems you probably are...If you think you're succeeding you probably are. Stick to your guns, hold fast to your dreams and in the words of one old singing group you've got to "Keep On Pushin'". Is there anything else I can do for you?

Your Servant, Deremiah, *CPE (Customer Passion Evangelist)
 
Posted by: shingnath* Member Response
12/30/2004 4:27 AM (CST)
Dear Responders,
Thank you for your suggestions
Looking forward to some more inputs
Regards,
Victor
 
Posted by: ianpalmer* Accepted Answer
12/30/2004 5:30 PM (CST)
know your strengths & weaknesses, constantly learn, pro-actively do new things, find a mentor, mentor others, constantly network, do everything you do well and your reputation will build.

and one final one: always be one of the first people into the office - (1) for perception purposes - doing good/hard work and being perceived as doing good/hard work are equally important and (2) more happens and more information is shared before most people roll into work around 8:30-9:00am. from my experience, more c-levels are in earlier than later and that can never hurt.
 
Posted by: David_Nelson* Accepted Answer
1/2/2005 4:01 PM (CST)
I would advise that you look to a small company where you can quickly gain the title. The variety of work and the responsbility will be much greater than with a larger company.

The smaller company will prepare you for the variety of work, your success here will allow you to build a team and gain the man-management and leadership experience that you will need for a larger company.

Hope this helps.

Good luck
Dave Nelson
 
Posted by: bob* Member Response
1/22/2005 7:37 PM (CST)
Want to become a VP at 35, no problem. Today, there are more opportunities to become a Vice President, President, or CEO.

First of all, you must have a level of confidence to support to support your dream. Second of all, you need to have the smarts to be able to hold your own, and be a leader.

The best way to get your position upgraded at a company is to ask for it. Most people are frighten to ask the proper questions to the right person.

The other and easiest way to become a VP is to start your own company. Either find a president that is stronger then you, or you take the the role of "el presidente" and surrround people around you that cna support your efforts and make you look good.

It's time to make some decisions about your future.
Good luck and best wishes.
b_perlstein
 
Posted by: mgoodman Accepted Answer
1/22/2005 8:09 PM (CST)
There's some very good advice here, and I second much of what's been said. The thing I'd add is that you need to market yourself, too. I don't mean you go around bragging about your accomplishments. I mean you seek out your company's biggest problems and find a way to solve those problems. You want to become the "magician" who pulls rabbits out of hats at every turn.

A couple of specific thoughts:

1. Start a file (I use hardcopy, but electronic will probably work as well) of "Things I've Accomplished." Every time you do something you're particularly proud of, put a little note in the file to remind yourself of it. Maybe the day will come when you can share the contents with your employer, maybe with a new employer, but regardless it will help you spot the common threads and build on your strengths. When I was a VP-Marketing (at age 35, by the way), I required every one of my brand managers to keep a file like this and share it with me a few weeks before their performance reviews.

When you have that kind of requirement, you make sure you do a lot of things of which you're proud!

2. Don't focus so much on the VP title. Focus on doing your job, learning the marketing profession, networking with peers, making contributions in areas that are not in your direct area of responsibility ... and enjoy the ride. It all goes by too fast, and if you're not savoring every moment, you may find yourself with a title (like VP) but no real appreciation for where you've been and what you've accomplished.

If you follow the two tips above, you'll probably get what you want. If you focus on the goal to the exclusion of the journey, you probably won't.

And, if you want to learn more about career strategies, you might want to get a copy of The Potato Chip Difference : How to apply leading edge marketing strategies to landing the job you want. It's written mostly for people who are out of work and looking for a job, but the lessons apply equally well to people who are employed but want to move up in their organizations.

The book is available through Amazon.com and bookstores in the US, or through the website www.potatochipdifference.com . Not sure what the best way is to get the book in India. (If you contact me directly via email, I can inquire about postage to India and arrange for shipment through the publisher. You can pay via credit card or PayPal using the website.)
 
Posted by: shivnair_03* Accepted Answer
1/23/2005 7:17 AM (CST)
Hi Friend
I see that you have the same goal as me. I am close to it but not yet there. But this experience may help you as well.
I think if you aspire to be a VP Mktg you should as one of the responses called for, build your own value to finally deliver in any environment. What that means is building the knowledge, the confidence, the ability , experience across product and business categories, and most of all understanding the consumer very closely. The last one is particulary important, but hard to acquire. The rest of the skills can be acquired through eductaion and other means.
To understand the Customer behaviour, you have to have the mind and attitude to understand how different consumers react to diffrent situations, what makes them respond etc.
Keep analyzing case studies that can help in you solving specific problems. This can build up problem solving skills and at the same time understand how the professionals respond as well.
I would also advise that you spend a lot of time planning how you can acquire the skills in the time frame you choose.
One last word, I am of the strong opinion that age has a lot to do with your final success as well. That means the maturity and prgamatism that you acquire with age is also important. I would imagine that 35 is quite the age that you can look to get into a higher league.
Hope to have been helpful

Shiv
 
Posted by: Colleen Sharen* Accepted Answer
1/23/2005 9:08 AM (CST)
I love that you have white hot ambition. A friend once told me that he spent a week every year rethinking and reassessing his personal goals. While you are busy chasing these goals, just spend some time regularly making sure that what you need or want has not changed.

On that note, here are a couple of thoughts about your current objective of becoming a VP:

1) There is a great book, based on 20 years of research, called "Be a Star at Work" by Robert Kelly. It is probably the best career development book I have ever read.

2) When I was a Senior Brand Manager at Kraft, I was incredibly bored. I had the business under control, and a couple of very strong APMs.

I decided to look for something that needed doing. I found that we were providing no training for newly promoted Brand Managers, so I convinced management to let me and and some of my peers to develop a series of new manager seminars, to help them get off on the right foot in setting objectives, developing strategies, managing their direct reports and managing their relationship with their managers.

Partly as a result of this program, I was promoted to Business Director about 2 months later.

Moral of the story -- look for some white space, do something about it, and at minimum, you won't be bored.

Colleen
 
Posted by: Val (Moderator)* Moderator Response
1/26/2005 8:03 PM (CST)
Hello all. I am closing this question, since its more than two weeks old. We do this to make sure members' contributions are rewarded in a timely manner and to improve the visibility of newer questions.

Thanks, so much, for participating!
Val (Moderator)
 
Posted by: golden_victor Author Response
1/27/2005 6:52 AM (CST)
Thanks for the distilled wisdom that the responders have given to me.

Thanks for each & every word you wrote

Regards,
Victor
 


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