It is our pleasure to welcome Christina Motley to our Marketing Organizational Leadership series. A strategic marketing executive, Christina has earned over 200 awards for her leadership, creativity, writing and results across all marketing and communications channels. We talked to her about her book, Leadership Philosophies From Unsung Leaders: A compilation of principles and best practices from real people demonstrating positive change through positive leadership.
Can you give us a quick summary of your book Leadership Philosophies from Unsung Leaders?
This book celebrates and explores leadership philosophies and best practices from inspiring leaders who I believe have left lasting footprints in their endeavors. Since truly great leaders are such a rare gem to find in today’s society, I wanted to provide aspiring leaders with real examples that they could read look at and follow.
Leadership Philosophies from Unsung Leaders opens with a brief insight into my past and how certain steps I either took on my own or was positioned by others to take that helped to make me who I am today.
I also share the five guiding leadership principles I live by, leadership quotes from my role models, core leadership values and more!
What are the five guiding leadership principles you live by?
- Servant Leadership
- Appreciate to Motivate
- Five stages of Leadership
- Maximize your Strength and Leverage your Weaknesses
- Transparency and Knowledge Sharing
Can you share with us some of the advice you give to aspiring leaders?
The strengths of a true leader which I find inspiring are:
- Know who you are and do not compromise your core values
- Listen to others and
- Don’t be afraid to make your own path.
Do you have a personal leadership philosophy?
I live by example. I work hard, serving others honestly and ethically. I do what I say, say what I mean and demonstrate transparency. I appreciate and am grateful to all my shareholders. I am successful when those I work with are successful.
I am always working to achieve my goal to be a great, awesome and remarkable leader. I enjoy sharing what I know and daily encouraging those around me to reach their full potential.
As a CMO, what is the most important leadership trait someone can show in an industry setting?
A great leader will communicate within and outside of the company they work for; align all the teams within a business; teach best practices; build relationships with customers; send out clear, concise and frequent messages; and manage everyone with a positive attitude while still enforcing the company’s brand. A great leader within an industry is like a crank attached to a line of gears—the crank must be activated for everything to mesh and work together.
Your book mentions a guiding philosophy called “10 Pennies a Day,” can you explain this?
A friend of mine shared this with me and try to act on it daily. Start each day with 10 pennies (or whatever item you’d like—M&Ms, Almonds, beads, etc.), and when a team member contributes a brilliant thought, idea or action, share kind words, send a note, email them or demonstrate some form of appreciation and/or recognition. Each time this is done, move a penny from one location to another. The goal is to move 10 pennies within a day.
Everyone is afraid of messing up or doing something wrong. How can a leader bounce back after they have failed?
Every day can’t be a 10. We all have off days. I believe in owning a mistake if one was made, apologizing if necessary, discussing it candidly, accepting feedback and the perception of others, forgiving and moving on. This process doesn’t have to be done in this precise order, but every stage should be completed with humility—that is how a leader learns and grows.
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