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Digital Leader Project (Part 1): Lou Weiss, CMO, The Vitamin Shoppe

This is the first installment of the digitalCMO Digital Leader Project.  The objective: to hear perspectives on leadership and management directly from some of the most senior digital marketers. For the first installment the digitalCMO Digital Leader Project, I welcome Lou Weiss, CMO of  The Vitamin Shoppe.  The Vitamin Shoppe is a specialty retailer and direct marketer of vitamins, minerals, herbs, supplements, sports nutrition and other health and wellness products with over 400 locations i...

“Don’t Micromanage, but have Microinterest”

I enjoyed reading Tachi Yamada's perspectives on management today in the Sunday NYT Corner Office section. Mr. Yamada is president of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Global Health Program. While not explicitly applicable to digital marketing management, two of his comments address relevant facets of our industry: dealing effectively with details; and leading change. 1. "I dont' micromanage, but I have microinterest."  What a great distinction. I try not to micromanage as well, but s...

How to be a Great Digital Marketing Manager

One of my challenges over the past 5 years has been helping stellar individual contributors (IC's = people with no direct reports) become excellent people and business managers upon promotion. I found that exceptional ICs were often challenged with the transfer of their considerable skills to their new role as manager.  As a result,  I created- and continue to iterate -  the following Expectations of a Manager, which I share and periodically revisit with the front line managers in my business. I...

Digital EQ

Great leaders have -  and demonstrate - emotional intelligence (EQ). I'm not sure how much I was born with, but I do work on  building my emotional intelligence over time.     Daniel Goleman writes a ton on it, and suggests its importance may even be greater than IQ. Are there unique ways in which EQ shows up in digital marketing? One distinction in EQ within digital marketing  could be that we all communicate via our digital footprints - in many cases before we communicate real time, or i...

Trading the silver spoon for the pink slip

When I started at Microsoft three years ago, I heard two seemingly contradictory themes - coming from the front lines. Those themes: I am not challenged I struggle to feel like I can make an impact Huh? How can both statements work together? How can you not be challenged and, at the same time, know that you are not making an impact on the organization.  Over time, I realized that there was a pervasive sense of entitlement, particularly among  millenials. Now it’s easy to understan...