The Power of Marketing Coaching and Mentoring with Kiera Doherty, Bright Company
In today’s fast-paced and ever-evolving marketing landscape, marketers, whether agency or client-side face unique challenges that demand continuous growth and adaptation.
Some may benefit from internal programmes and effective line management, however this is not the case for many, even more so now we work in a hybrid work environment – the senior and c-level knowledge transfer, that is much needed, is not being passed down. Too many shining stars in the workplace are not fulfilling their potential, skills aren’t being nurtured, and ambitions aren’t being achieved.
Bright Company recognises this need and agency founder, Kiera Doherty, provides marketing coaching and mentoring services for private clients in Dubai. With over 20 years of marketing experience, Kiera has been a senior marketing leader for over a decade, she has built teams, developed high-performance programmes, upskilled marketers, initiated training and awards programmes within the corporate workspace, developed career plans, defined achievable goals and milestones, and has mentored and coached junior team members, senior marketeers, peers, and marketing leaders.
Kiera believes that success in marketing is not just about staying ahead of trends; it’s about empowering individuals to achieve their career goals with confidence, and focus.
As Kiera says of her own mentoring and coaching experience,
“there is nothing more miserable than feeling stuck, unmotivated, and drained of ideas in a marketing role. I have had coaching throughout my life.
In my late 20s, the marketing coaching I received was the fire I needed to turn my career around and is what transformed me from a Marketing Manager in London to Head of Digital for a global agency in Dubai. Coaching is all about unlocking the potential and ambition within yourself”
Kiera’s approach is designed to help marketeers unlock their full potential, guiding them through a personalised process that fosters growth, strategic thinking, and leadership excellence.
Whether you’re a marketing executive looking to refine your skills or a mid-level manager aspiring to step into a senior role, our coaching and mentoring programmes can be the catalyst for your success.
Why Marketing Coaching is Essential
Marketing is a dynamic field that requires leaders to be both strategic and adaptive. As you rise through the ranks, the demands on your leadership skills, decision-making abilities, and strategic vision increase exponentially. Marketing leaders must not only manage teams and projects but also drive the overall marketing strategy that aligns with the company’s goals. Often this is done without any coaching, mentoring… or even basic training(!). This means re-inventing the wheel time and time again. How frustrating.
Marketing coaching and mentoring offer several critical benefits for marketeers at this stage:
- Enhanced Leadership Skills: Coaching provides the tools to refine and develop leadership abilities, helping marketeers navigate complex challenges with confidence.
- Strategic Thinking: Mentoring from an experienced professional allows for the expansion of strategic thinking capabilities, enabling leaders to craft innovative marketing strategies.
- Adaptability: The marketing landscape is always changing. Coaching helps marketeers stay ahead by teaching how to adapt and thrive in an evolving environment.
- Personalised Growth: Each leader’s journey is unique, and personalised coaching ensures that the development process is tailored to individual strengths, weaknesses, and goals.
The coaching process is built on these principles, and covers all facets of marketing, whether you are simply facing a current career hurdle, struggling to move projects further, or looking for regular guidance and coaching throughout the year, Kiera will create a programme that is suitable for you.
My goal for you is for you to emerge more capable, confident, and prepared to drive success within your organisation, future organisations, and future career.
The Approach to Marketing Coaching
The coaching and mentoring process is designed to meet specific needs of junior, mid, and senior-level marketing leaders.
Each marketeer requires their own unique programme, no assumptions are made of any individual at any level in their role. Some may want a confidential sounding board, others may be looking to overcome more specific obstacles.
Ultimately, the goal is for you to unlock the answers and progress in your career with energy and confidence.
Step 1: Initial Assessment and Goal Setting
Every coaching journey begins with a focused discussion. The first session starts by understanding where you are in your career, what challenges you’re facing, and what goals you want to achieve. This step is crucial so that the coaching experience can be tailored to your specific needs.
During this phase, we might:
- Conduct a skills assessment to identify strengths and areas for development.
- Discuss your career aspirations and leadership goals.
- Set specific, measurable objectives for the coaching program.
- Discuss any hurdles or barriers effecting your progress at work or in your career.
- Touch on any related topics that you feel is important to you.
This initial assessment forms the foundation of the coaching process, ensuring that every session is focused on moving forwards.
Step 2: Developing a Customised Coaching Plan
With a clear understanding of your goals, a customised coaching programme is developed. This plan outlines the key areas of focus for the coaching sessions and a timeline, including leadership development, strategic thinking, and personal growth.
Key components of the coaching plan could include:
- Leadership Development: Focusing on enhancing your ability to lead, communicate effectively, and inspire others.
- Strategic Planning: Strengthening your capacity to develop and execute marketing strategies that align with broader business goals.
- Personal Growth: Addressing any personal challenges that may be hindering your progress, such as time management or project management, communication challenges, work-life balance, or confidence issues.
Kiera is a seasoned professional with extensive experience in marketing leadership. She will guide you through this plan, offering insights, feedback, and support at every step.
Step 3: One-on-One Coaching Sessions
The heart of the process is the one-on-one coaching sessions. These sessions are where the transformation is ignited. During these meetings, we’ll work closely to tackle specific challenges, clear blockages, and develop new strategies for success.
The coaching sessions are:
- Interactive and Dynamic: Open dialogue and active participation is encouraged to ensure that the sessions are engaging and productive.
- Goal-Oriented: Each session is designed to move you closer to achieving the goals set out in the coaching plan.
- Flexible: Every marketers schedule is different – flexible scheduling options are available to fit your needs.
Step 4: Continuous Feedback and Adjustment
As you progress through the coaching program, Kiera will provide continuous feedback and make adjustments to the coaching plan as needed. This ensures that the coaching remains relevant and effective, adapting to any changes in your career or personal goals.
This step includes:
- Regular check-ins to assess progress and adjust the coaching plan.
- Feedback sessions to discuss what’s working and what needs to be improved.
- Ongoing support to ensure that you stay on track and continue to grow.
- Check ins – to make sure you’re on course with your programme between sessions.
Step 5: Evaluation and Long-Term Planning
The final step in the process is a shared evaluation of your progress and the creation of a long-term plan for continued growth. Coaching is just the beginning of a marketeers development journey.
During this phase, we:
- Discuss your progress against the initial goals and objectives.
- Address any remaining challenges or areas for improvement.
- Develop a long-term plan to ensure that you continue to grow and succeed in your role.
This step is crucial as it helps you to maintain the momentum gained during the coaching program and ensures that you have a clear path forward.
Who Can Benefit from Marketing Coaching?
Marketing coaching and mentoring will suit a wide range of professionals in the marketing field. Whether you’re a recent graduate navigating your first role, a mid to senior-level leader, are transitioning into a leadership role, or who are looking to refine, or improve, existing skills within your current job.
Mid-Level Marketing Managers: These professionals often face the challenge of moving from tactical execution to strategic leadership. Coaching can help you develop the skills needed to take on more significant leadership responsibilities and prepare for senior roles.
Senior Marketing Leaders: For those already in senior positions, coaching provides an opportunity to refine your leadership style, enhance strategic thinking, and tackle the complex challenges that come with leading large teams and managing significant marketing budgets.
Marketing Executives in Transition: Whether you’re moving to a new company, taking on a new role, or facing a major industry shift, coaching can help you navigate these transitions smoothly and successfully.
Aspiring Marketing Leaders: If you’re a marketing professional aiming to move into a new role, coaching can provide you with the guidance, skills, and confidence you need to make that leap.
The Impact of Marketing Coaching on Organisational Success
The benefits of marketing coaching extend beyond individual leaders; they have a profound impact on the entire organisation. Marketeers who are confident, strategic, and adaptable drive better results, inspire their teams, and contribute to the overall success of the company.
There a number of wider benefits to coaching and mentoring:
Improved Team Performance: Leaders who have undergone coaching are better equipped to manage their teams, leading to improved performance, higher morale, and greater collaboration.
Stronger Strategic Alignment: By enhancing strategic thinking skills, coaching helps leaders ensure that their marketing strategies align with the broader business objectives, driving better results for the company.
Increased Innovation: Coaching encourages marketeers at all levels to think outside the box and embrace innovative approaches to marketing. This can lead to more creative campaigns, better customer engagement, and a stronger market position.
Better Decision-Making: The ability to make informed, strategic decisions is a key outcome of our coaching process. Marketeers who are coached are more likely to make decisions that are in the best interest of their teams and their organisations.
Enhanced Leadership Pipeline: Investing in the development of marketing leaders creates a strong pipeline of future leaders. This ensures that an organisation has the talent it needs to continue thriving in a competitive market.
About Kiera Doherty
Kiera Doherty has 20 years experience in integrated marketing, digital, social media, PR and communications, from both agency and client-side spanning consumer, business, and government.
Kiera has lived in Dubai for over 12 years and worked for global and local agencies including Weber Shandwick, MullenLowe and Seven Media. Kiera has also worked with various departments within Abu Dhabi Government, Dubai Government, Qatar Government, Mauritius Government, and the Australian Trade Commission. Other client organisations include dmg Events, Middle East Film & Comic Con, Middle East Games Con, Epson, TECOM, DIDI University, Heriot-Watt University, 3M, Dubai Airports, Majid Al Futtaim, Siemens, Abbott, Al Rawabi, Averda, Aramex, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Informa Markets and many more.
Kiera has been successful in her career in helping companies to grow their business in the UAE through increased services, customers, clients, and connections. She has also helped companies set up their own marketing departments and programmes, as well as support in the interview and hiring process for marketing team members.
Kiera is also part-time Adjunct Faculty at Middlesex University in Dubai, where she teaches the modules Digital Media, Project Management & Innovation, Public Relations, and Artificial Intelligence, as part of the BA undergraduate degree programmes.
Kiera is an ongoing professional mentor and coach and has judged for awards including WARC Effectiveness Award for Lions, Middle East Effies, Dubai Young Lynx, Middle East Events Show, and student and university awards programmes.
Lastly, Kiera is a professional member of the British Chamber of Commerce Dubai, and has a BA (hons) Marketing from Bristol Business School, UAE, an IDM Diploma in Strategy & Digital, Dip DigM (lectured by Dr Dave Chaffey), a Certificate in Digital Transformation (lectured by Daniel Rowles), and is currently studying ‘Strategy Finishing School’ led by Julian Cole, as well as previously attending countless professional development trainings and courses.
Kiera is active in the UAE media community having been interviewed and contributing to titles including The National, Business Breakfast, Dubai Eye, and Campaign Middle East.
From Kiera:
I’m always happy to have an initial conversation with anyone thinking of beginning their coaching and mentorship journey with me. Selecting the right coach for you is what’s of utmost importance to your development. Drop me a message if you want to know more – kiera@brightcompany.me or check me out on LinkedIn.
Alternatively, if you are looking for marketing consultancy services, then you can read more about our Bright Company service here.