CMO tenure is a hot topic. Everyone wants to know the secret to staying power.
One proven path is stepping out of the narrow marketing lane and showing up as more than the title suggests. Call it CMO+.
The challenge is figuring out what your “plus” will be and how to put it into practice.
To help you understand what CMO+ looks like in action, Nikhil Chawla (Resilience), Isabelle Papoulias (EliteOps), and Ali McCarthy (Amplify Your Voice Studio) share their own pluses, how they discovered them, and what changed when they leaned in. Each story is different, but the theme is the same: Credibility grows when CMOs contribute in ways that extend beyond marketing.
In this episode:
- Nikhil on adding customer voice as his plus, linking post-sale and product, and feeding live feedback into roadmap and revenue calls.
- Isabelle on bringing operations into marketing, using V2MOM to align goals, resources, and execution across sales, enablement, finance, and ops.
- Ali on leading with emotional intelligence, coaching leaders to read the room, ease friction, and keep teams focused on the customer journey.
Plus:
- How to spot the plus that fits both your strengths and your company’s needs
- Why credibility comes from saying yes to the right opportunities
- The link between curiosity, influence, and long-term career resilience
- How CMOs expand their impact without burning out
If you’re ready to grow your role beyond marketing, this one’s for you!