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PM Forum - London
How to make yourself indispensable
How can marketing and business development professionals illustrate their value to the firms they work for and progress to management level? Margaret Mannell of Morrison & Foerster presented the first half of a two part seminar addressing this very question.
The seminar, which was hosted at Morrison & Foerster’s London office, began with Margaret’s crucial advice that while no one is indispensable there is one group that we can never do without – our clients. For marketing and business development experts that means the solicitors, barristers, accountants and so on that we work for.
She stressed the point that those who demonstrate excellent client service will become essential to the running of an organisation and gave plenty of tips on how to do that. Margaret highlighted several key attributes such as optimism, loyalty, integrity, professionalism and consistency while also emphasising the importance of communication skills when trying to implement your ideas. Also, never be late to a meeting!
The second half of the seminar was given by Peter Ryding an Executive Coach who specialises in business turnaround and leadership. Peter kicked off his session by defining leadership and suggesting ways in which we can develop this skill. He pinpointed the importance of inspiration and the ability to motivate people as well as suggesting how we can do this. Peter claimed the only reason anyone does anything is that they see how doing it benefits them. So, when trying to encourage people to participate know the answer to the question they will be asking themselves – "what’s in it for me?"
Peter then moved on to outlining his DOIT success formula including the use of the Pareto principle to illuminate the parts of your business that you should focus on.
He rounded up the session by offering the main stages of leadership: continuous learning, awareness and taking action.
Louise Poppelwell
Hardwicke Building Chambers
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