Ishita Mehta is a business strategist, C-suite advisor, advocate for women executives, and currently a marketing leader at HelloFresh.
Modern chief marketing officers (CMOs) constantly navigate an extremely complex landscape. They are expected to be artists excelling at brand building and scientists unlocking performance through data. They manage global go-to-market strategies and align diverse teams spanning product, growth, brand, analytics and regional operations.
Having worked alongside a global CMO, I’ve seen just how wide the role stretches. As the scope of marketing broadens, it becomes increasingly clear that the marketing functions are expected to run multiple high-performing agencies within a business. However, the leadership structures have not evolved to meet this growing pressure.
A survey by Deloitte revealed that CMOs struggle to demonstrate the impact of marketing actions on financial outcomes. This, combined with the mounting pressures, causes CMOs to “have the shortest average tenure among all C-suite roles” as they often leave their jobs or even get fired.
A Role Pulled In Too Many Directions
A typical marketing function today encompasses a full-stack operation. As teams fragment across brands, performance channels, central functions and local markets, the CMO often becomes the default aggregator. This fragmentation can lead to increased coordination costs, execution gaps and a leader stretched thin.
According to McKinsey, “highly effective CMOs take on growth aspirations, unify the C-suite … and transform other leaders into champions of the marketing agenda so that everyone is pulling in the same direction.”
The Hidden Lever For Scale And Speed
It’s no wonder that CMOs are stretched thin. What is needed is a role with complementary skills and someone who thrives in the trenches between strategy and execution. And this is precisely what a chief of staff does. They bring clarity to complexity, foster alignment and safeguard the CMO’s focus on high-impact initiatives, delivering clear, actionable outcomes.
According to research from Gartner, “Without agreement on business priorities, CMOs create strategic plans that look more like ‘to-do’ lists, with high-level business goals and a variety of marketing tactics with no clear connection between them.”
A proficient chief of staff (CoS) acts as the CMO’s strategic partner, overseeing planning cycles, operational rhythms and cross-functional execution. During my career, I’ve learned that balancing strategic vision with execution is a rare skill and extremely difficult to hone.
What A Great Marketing CoS Actually Does
In my experience enabling multiple C-suite executives, exceptional chiefs of staff operate across three pivotal dimensions:
1. Strategy
They distill the CMO’s vision into clear direction, ensuring alignment across brands, performance and teams. This harmonization helps build a blueprint that acts as the guiding light for the direction the entire function needs to move in.
2. Planning
They orchestrate the right cadences to ensure progress is tracked and reviewed—managing objectives and key results (OKRs), weekly and quarterly business reviews, budgeting processes, etc.
Disciplined planning cycles significantly boost organizational performance. The aim is to ensure that the correct priorities remain visible, resources are appropriately allocated and the organization maintains a steady rhythm.
3. Operations
They develop and refine systems as well as reporting accountability structures. They also tackle process and governance and ensure the infrastructure to enable decision-making is built and ready to function.
The outcome is a streamlined organization where teams operate with agility, leaders remain aligned and strategies are effectively executed.
Embedded At The Center Of Decision-Making
For a chief of staff to be truly effective, they must be deeply embedded within the core leadership team. In my experience, a CoS’ presence in rooms where decisions get made goes a long way in enabling this role to do its job. Embedding strategic support roles, like a CoS, significantly improves decision-making agility. This immersion allows the CoS to grasp organizational nuances, ensuring strategies are informed by a comprehensive understanding of the business landscape. Additionally, it allows the CoS to gain and sustain trust.
Choosing The Right Chief Of Staff For Your Leadership Style
Not every CMO needs the same type of CoS. The right partner depends on leadership gaps, business maturity and team dynamics.
The Strategist
A big-picture thinker who translates ideas into initiatives is best for vision-led CMOs who need help with alignment, prioritization and follow-through.
The Operator
A master of process and cadence is ideal for fast-scaling organizations or execution-focused CMOs who need stronger systems, rituals and resourcing discipline.
The Integrator
A diplomatic executor who brings cross-functional harmony is essential in matrixed companies where stakeholder management is as important as planning.
The best CoS relationships are grounded in trust, transparency and complementary strengths. This is often the closest and the highest leverage partnership a CMO can have.
The Future Of Marketing Leadership
Marketing isn’t slowing down—it’s scaling in complexity, velocity and strategic weight. As teams expand and priorities multiply, CMOs are navigating a function shaped by AI disruption, global coordination and growing performance pressure.
The chief of staff role is evolving in step with this shift. It’s becoming a structural necessity, bringing alignment to ambition, rhythm to execution and cohesion to an increasingly fragmented operating model.
For marketing leaders who are building the future of marketing, the chief of staff isn’t optional—it’s foundational. It is not about getting more done, but making the right things come to life with rigor, keeping your momentum sustainable as you conquer the realms of science and artistry.
Forbes Business Council is the foremost growth and networking organization for business owners and leaders. Do I qualify?
Read the full article here
