In this episode of the Trust and Influence in B2B podcast, host Joel Harrison speaks with Cat Dutton, VP of Global Growth at Pega. Drawing from her experience in senior positions at three global tech companies, Dutton shares how trust serves as the foundation for effective marketing leadership—from stakeholder relationships to team management and customer engagement.

Topics Covered

• Building credibility with skeptical stakeholders (finance, IT, sales)
• Transparent approaches to demonstrating marketing ROI
• Trust dynamics in account-based marketing
• Creating authentic team cultures
• Evolution of thought leadership and partner strategies
• Customer advocacy as a trust multiplier

Key Conclusions

Listen First, Speak Second: Dutton emphasizes that truly understanding stakeholder needs requires genuine listening rather than assumption. "Take time to listen to what they're actually saying to you," she advises. This extends to language choices—her team replaced "leads" with "unqualified opportunities" when speaking with sales, transforming relationship dynamics.

Transparent ROI Reporting: Rather than highlighting only successes, Dutton advocates showing both wins and challenges in marketing performance. Her team's CMO dashboard explicitly identifies underperforming investments alongside proposals for improvement, building finance stakeholder trust through honesty.

Co-Creation Builds Trust: For account-based marketing, Dutton rejects isolation in favor of collaboration with customers. "Spend time with customers. Create plans together, not in isolation," she recommends. This approach has been so successful that Pega's ABM initiatives are often promoted on client intranets—reaching broader audiences than initially targeted.

For marketers stepping into leadership roles, Dutton's parting advice is simple: Spend more time with people than seems necessary, over-communicate consistently, delegate confidently, and above all, "Don't lie to people, just don't do it."