Mark-Hans Richer, Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at Harley-Davidson, believes people in his position need to be creative.
Creativity is as much a core skill set for a successful CMO as a results orientation. In fact, it may be the key differentiator between business success and failure.
My supposition is that creativity vs. results is a false choice and one that Jobs, Pickens and Reinhardt would find ridiculous, as should you. In fact, creativity has defined the most successful businesses so much that creativity must be considered a competitive advantage. It probably describes the engine of capitalism more than capital itself. Capital seeks good ideas, and good ideas come from creativity.
With that type of thinking coming from the corner suite, I could be tempted to move to the client side (especially, if said client happened to be aligned with my values, and I was already an advocate for their products).
[via Ad Age]