Never Let them See You Sweat

Resilience is the ultimate must-have skill in marketing, where change is the only constant. Call it grit, flexibility, or tenacity—it’s one of the most valuable tools in my work toolbelt. Here's how over the years, I’ve learned how to fully embrace it.

It takes a lot to throw me. Change direction on a project we’ve worked on for months? Okay. Want us to sign up for a 10x10 trade show booth happening in two weeks and execute it flawlessly? I gotcha. Need to cut the budget midway through the year? That sucks, but I’ll figure out how to make it work.

Not being phased, doesn’t mean I’m not mad or frustrated. It doesn’t mean I’m not going to have an internal dialogue about how deeply annoying this is or maybe privately rant to friends at the bar or on a text chat. But shiny-object syndrome or regular pivots is the nature of the beast in marketing. And honestly I’m guilty of doing this to my team when a project just doesn’t seem to be moving in the right direction.

Building personal resilience and being able to thrive through constant change is a required skill—it’s just not always an easy one.

Resilience in Action

Many years ago, a co-worker came into my office to talk about our big sales kickoff event. It was an all-consuming effort for the two months leading up to it. We had a newer leader heavily involved who was notorious for her inability to “land the plane” on concepts and projects, making it difficult to lock down an idea and often requiring us to regularly change direction.

In the course of talking this co-worker through some of her frustrations and how to manage them, she broke down. After what was probably a cathartic release, she asked me why I never seemed frustrated. And I said, “Because I’ve been where you are now—felt all that you’ve felt: annoyed, stressed, beyond frustrated, and, many times, helpless. But what I’ve finally figured out after years of working is this: I know it always works out in the end…one way or another.”

Two other examples:

1. Event Pivot: We had nearly finalized the details for a high-end, two-day event for Fortune 500 leaders, complete with a signed venue contract approved by the CEO. Just as we were about to send invitations, leadership decided to redirect the budget. The event, which was poised to be incredible, never happened. 

2. Shifting Strategy: After a year focused on user marketing to support renewals post-merger, we finally pivoted to new logo marketing, launching a campaign to generate leads. Just as we prepared to nurture those leads, a new CRO arrived and changed the Total Addressable Market (TAM) and Ideal Customer Profile (ICP). Despite Marketing’s concerns that the TAM was too narrow to hit pipeline numbers, we shifted our strategy, only to confirm the pipeline shortfall and later expand outreach again.

3. Website Launch Crunch: We were relaunching the company website to reflect a new brand identity and layout with new page types when the CRO promised an earlier launch date than planned. Despite my significant objections because it was an arbitrary date, I set clear expectations about trade-offs (e.g., some pages and other elements wouldn’t be ready) and delivered on time. The launch was stressful but ultimately successful, driving early buzz and pipeline growth.

Sometimes it works out amazingly; other times, it doesn’t meet expectations despite your best efforts. In the first example, by about year two (of 10), I started to realize that no matter how much I stressed about the details of the event—a leader would leave their presentation to the last minute, or a video was still being edited 15 minutes prior to being shown—it always worked out. The video got done. The presentation was loaded. Sometimes it wasn’t the most amazing outcome, but more often than not, it turned out pretty well. The more I embraced the “it’ll all work out” mindset, the easier things became.

Navigating Change: Peace of Mind, not Piece of Mind

I can’t speak for other departments, but in marketing, our internal customers are regularly asking for changes. It’s a given, no matter how much you beat the “stay the course” drum. Managing these changes can determine your mindset and outlook on the daily.

Here’s how I handle change requests:

1. Frame the impact. For both big and small requests, I say, “Sure, for that change. I just want to make sure you’re aware of the impact.” I provide costs to the business, potential implications on internal resources (marketing, sales, CX, finance—whoever will be impacted), changes for customers, and timeline shifts.

2. Set expectations. I make sure we’re aligned on what they can expect moving forward. “This is what I can do for you in the time we have.” Then I lay out a new timeline tied to deliverables. Sometimes this means we can’t do as thorough a job or need an extended deadline.

3. Never say “no”. You can certainly voice your concern - “I’m disappointed that we’re not going to be doing X or the team worked really hard on that project and they were excited to bring it to life.” or Or, “I’m not sure I agree with that decision, but I’m willing to try this new direction.” Then I follow up with, “We’ll do our best to hit the deadline and deliver a great outcome.”

4. Control what you can control. This is core to most mindset coaching, right? Focus on and take ownership of the things you can control. It’s the old adage, Imagine the worst and prepare for the best. 

It’s also important to talk through the outcomes they want to drive and follow up with a plan for activities, along with any concerns or questions you might have.

Mindset for Marketers

When these changes or shifts happen, it’s likely to weigh more on your mind than on the person making the change request. How much mental weight you give to it is up to you. 

But here’s the reality: the world continues on. You’ve dealt with complications before, and you’ll successfully navigate disruption again. The speed of business is faster than ever and isn’t slowing down. Because of marketing’s unique role, we must stay flexible. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t challenge ideas when we believe they won’t help the business meet its goals.

So prepare to be nimble and resilient. Set clear expectations as pivots happen. Take control of anything you can impact directly. And you might just be pleasantly surprised by the outcomes.