Give credit and take blame; this is Bruce Ditman’s golden rule of leadership. In today’s episode, he shares his story of how he went from selling television advertising to Chief Marketing Officer at Marcum LLP, a $700 million dollar CPA & accounting firm, then later to the founder of Chief Seconds. 

Bruce has never had one day of formal marketing education in his life, but his intellectual curiosity, humility, and thoughtful approach to everything he does has led to him achieving success at every stage of his career. We discuss the difference between an educational approach and an indoctrination model, the importance of cultivating professional empathy in your organization, and how leaders who have been in the game for a long time need to learn to meet the needs of younger generations. Bruce also shares his approach to managing people, which leads to increased production levels without causing burnout. 

Key Points From This Episode: 

• Bruce shares the story of how he became a Chief Marketing Officer despite never getting any formal marketing education. 
• How the non-traditional career path he has taken has played to his advantage. 
• Bruce’s approach to becoming the best CMO he could be.
• One of the key skills to which he attributes his success. 
• The maladies that marketers commonly suffer from. 
• Problems Bruce has with the way training is done in professional services industries. 
• Indoctrination versus education models for upskilling.
• The importance of cultivating professional empathy in your organization.
• Why people who are naturally gifted at something are often not the best teachers. 
• How Bruce decided on Chief Seconds as the name of his company.
• How to effectively upskill your employees. 
• The core traits required for developing a successful business. 
• How to master the art of asking good questions.
• Bruce’s thoughts on creating a culture of intellectual curiosity.
• The golden rule of managing people and what it takes to be a good leader.

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Chief Seconds
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