CMO Spotlight | Ben Boyd - Chobani
The CMO Spotlight is a chance to get an inside look into the minds and journeys of high-performing marketing leaders.
Setup CEO + Founder, Joe Koufman, spoke with Ben Boyd, the Chief Communications Officer at Chobani, about designing your own career path, the importance of empathy and understanding as a leader, and more.
“Innate curiosity has enabled me to take in a lot of information and distill it down, which I think is the ultimate job of a communicator.”
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Q1 | What advice would you share with marketers?
“Recognize as early as you possibly can that your career is a series of chapters, and each chapter at some point in time for some reason is going to come to an end.”
Boyd encourages people to look at steps in their career as chapters. This way, ends and beginnings can be seen as exciting and opportunistic, even if it’s a little bumpy. “Embrace the newness of the chapter, but then be open to the unexpected in terms of how that story plays out. Be open to the fact that it may not be a great chapter, but don't get mired in that.” He reminds people to remember that there is always a next step and to never get discouraged.
Q2 | What is your superpower?
“Innate curiosity has enabled me to take in a lot of information and distill it down, which I think is the ultimate job of a communicator.”
Boyd asks a lot of questions, and his genuine curiosity and lack of ego to know everything has helped him grow in his career and as a leader. “I think powerful, thoughtful, intentional questions are far better than answers because you're really helping the person that you're working with, that you're working for…” He believes questions can help “unpack and get to the core of what they're trying to solve. I think it's the ability to take all that in, process it, ask the right questions, and then think about the path forward and be able to articulate the recommendation.”
Basically, you don’t need to know everything. Sometimes asking can open a door to a new way of thinking and solutions.
“I’ve always said that communication does not drive strategy; communication makes strategy relevant and resonant to the right stakeholders.”
Q3 | What values are important to you?
Boyd prioritizes empathy and understanding that he doesn’t always see the full picture of his team’s lives, so the importance of meeting them where they are and supporting them. He supports them by “being inquisitive, giving real-time feedback, and checking in. I mean that also for my peers and my bosses because all of those folks are living complex lives just like I am. So I think empathy is incredibly important.”
Boyd also believes in fairness. “When I think about coming in-house in these three roles, the first thing I did was look at roles, remits, and total compensation. It was incredibly important to me that everyone was compensated fairly, so my expectations of the team are fairly aligned against their jobs and their performance. I want to be treated fairly.” Boyd does a great job of putting himself in the shoes of his workers, and acting how he would like to be treated.
Q4 | What Brand inspires you?
Boyd is a huge Apple user. “Their ecosystem is, for me, simple, easy, and powerful.”
He also appreciates how Katie Couric made herself into an incredible brand as a media entity. He listens to her podcast, The Next Question, and that's just one of many ways that she's still incredibly relevant, respected, and trusted as a journalist.
Patagonia is also a favorite because of their business model, where they focus on making a positive impact in addition to making money.
For more marketing leadership advice and a view into the mindset of marketing executives in various industries, be sure to watch the full interview with Ben Boyd, and keep an eye out for more thought leadership from our CMO Spotlights.
If you know an impactful marketing leader who would be a good candidate for the #CMOSpotlight series, nominate them here.
Watch the Full Interview to the right.
Setup CEO + Founder, Joe Koufman, spoke with Ben Boyd, the Chief Communications Officer at Chobani, about designing your own career path, the importance of empathy and understanding as a leader, and more.