7 Myths CMOs (and Their Bosses) Gotta Stop Buying

Myth #1 - "I'll just hire me one of them superstars." Everyone loves superstar performers, and if your organization is fortunate, you may even have a few of them. But let's get real: superstars are not going to solve all of your problems. They might even create a few. Superstars are hard to locate, hard to recruit, hard to afford and hard to keep. A superstar in one company could easily be a goat in another. And the best superstars aren't going to hang around a losing organization (or one that is so dependent on them that they are always expected to save the day). The smart superstar will walk out the door with all the experience and insight they collected on your dime, and you'll be left looking for a new sheriff.

Myth #2 - "If everyone just picks themselves up by the bootstraps and tries harder (or works smarter) . . .." We've all heard the rallying cry. "People, we need to be better, smarter, faster, more efficient, etc. So we're all going to need to work longer hours. Everyone will be held accountable to deliver more results. And we'll win together." Upon hearing this call to action, we start out wanting to jump in and do our share to bail water from the sinking ship… until we realize our superiors are commandeering the lifeboats for themselves. Expecting more out of your people when you're giving them less support, less resources, etc. just isn't reasonable. Yet we do it with regularity. And we convince ourselves that it works. And maybe it does, for a short period of time. But if you expect your people to show up to work environment every day that resembles the fight-or-flight stress of a battlefield (or gun fight), you are going to experience a lot of casualties.

Next Page: Myths #2 & #3