Get Fired Well

Are you a marketing leader? Chances are you are going to get fired. So, how do you get fired well?


If you are a senior marketing leader, you’ve probably read the median tenure is role just over 2 years1, the lowest in the entire Leadership Team. This means a huge number of marketing leaders are getting pushed out early and receiving some sort of settlement agreement (SA). But how many times is this likely to happen, what is the experience like and what should you ask for if it happens to you? Read on to find out.

Marketing leaders are increasingly struggling for tenure. It’s been widely written about and there are many explanations. My best answer is the growing misunderstanding about the role. No other leadership role has experienced so much change, and this means there is a growing gap between expectation and reality. PHD Worldwide2 carried out an assessment of CMO capabilities in 2021 vs 2011 and they estimated a change of over 51%.  A huge amount of change for a marketer, but to a CEO or CFO the role is now very confusing.

Inevitably when there is confusion people get caught in the crossfire and this leads to early exits. You can read about ways to improve your chances in the book, The Marketing Leaders Code, but what more light can be shed on these exits and, if you do get caught, how do you exit better? 

This is not something you can easily read up about. It is something of a taboo subject, so to normalise the issue I carried out a survey3 amongst marketing leaders at a VP or C-suite level. The base were from a cross section of industries and geographies, but biased mainly to the UK. The leaders had a range of career lengths, which were used in the calculations. The results excluded any reasons for gross misconduct etc.

The results were staggering:
  • Over 9/10 had had at least 1 early exit/Settlement Agreement (SA)
  • The highest number of SAs any one person had had was 6
  • The median number was of SAs was 2 (across all career lengths)
  • The first SA came between 10-20 years of a career, 2 more came in the next 10 years
  • 6/10 had limited influence on the package
  • The median total SA package for a 2 year tenure was typically 1 year’s salary
  • 9/10 felt their wellbeing was affected by the experience
  • 8/10 felt pressured through the process
  • Only 4/10 left on good terms with the company and only 1/4 held no grudges

The range of settlement agreements varied significantly. Beyond the core lump sum severance payment there were some interesting package additions:

  • 1/3 kept their phone, ipad or desktop
  • 1/3 retained their medical insurance
  • 6/10 had outplacement costs and 1/10 had wider retraining costs covered
  • 6/10 kept their LTIP and bonus
  • 2/10 had their coaches costs covered

This is just a snapshot of the results and if you’d like to find out more please go to XXXXX. 

Change like this is never easy as exemplified by impact on personal well-being, but it can be an opportunity to reset and come back better, or come back differently. Unfortunately the chances are if you are a senior leader it is very likely to happen. If it does hopefully seeing this data will help normalise the subject and make you realise it is not all about you.

I am also here to help. As a previous CMO I have been through this experience and will not only be able to advise you on getting a better settlement but can support you on your transition into your next role with a 10 step tried and tested approach. 

If this article has been interesting and you’d like to add to the data sets please go to XXXX. As a marketing leader the chances are you’ll be fired one day, so your information may one day help you.

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