Being “Better At” focuses on selfless improvement—helping yourself and others grow while you grow. Here’s a quick recap of my appearance on Lori Jones’ StrategyCast podcast, where we covered 13 ways marketing teams can develop a “Better At” strategy in 2025, from active listening and data literacy to curiosity and leadership.
Takeaways
- Adopt a “Better At” mindset to focus on selfless improvement by helping yourself and your team grow together.
- Build trust and uncover insights by actively listening to deeply understanding your customers and colleagues.
- Align goals across teams and stay flexible when navigating AI, market shifts, and other changes.
- Be curious and use tools like Generative AI and Causal AI to enhance decision-making and innovation.
- Earn trust with cohesive positioning, clear communication, and a strong brand reputation.
Better At: A Public Narrative
There are a couple of reasons for Better At.
First, back in 2021, I was inspired by a great quote by the Greek Philosopher, Epictetus.
“These reasonings do not cohere: I am richer than you, therefore I am better than you; I am more eloquent than you, therefore I am better than you. On the contrary these rather cohere, I am richer than you, therefore my possessions are greater than yours: I am more eloquent than you, therefore my speech is superior to yours. But you are neither possession nor speech.”
Epictetus
Second, in This Is Marketing, Seth Godin opens Chapter 20 with a summary of The Public Narrative, a three-step action framework created by Harvard Professor, Marshall Ganz.
- A Story of Self communicates the values that have called you to leadership. It gives you a platform to be heard.
- A Story of Us communicates the values shared by those in action. This is about together, not apart.
- A Story of Now communicates an urgent challenge to those values that demand action now. It creates tension for all of us to move forward together.
In other words, Public Narrative says, “Here’s who I am, this is what we have in common, and here’s what we’re going to do about it.”
It’s about being “Better At” versus “Better Than.” The difference matters.
Being better at something together with others is selfless. Being better than someone, especially when it takes advantage of people or thrives on an uneven playing field, is selfish.
Following is a recap of 13 “Better At” ideas I discussed with Lori Jones, on her StrategyCast podcast.
Check out the full episode for all the details and examples
13 Ways Marketers Can Be Better At Marketing in 2025
- Better At Listening: The great Austrian composer, Alfred Brendel once said, “The word listen has the same letters as the word silent.” It’s more than just hearing words; it’s understanding what people really want. Active listening builds trust and uncovers hidden insights.
- Better at Inspiration: A clear vision motivates people and creates alignment. Organizations that align their mission, vision, and values with what customers aspire to achieve create a cohesive culture and strong brand reputation.
- Better at Collaboration: Big ideas require teamwork. One person can’t do it alone. Shared and aligned goals between marketing, sales, CX, and product teams create successful GTM teams.
- Better at Adaptability: Change is constant—no one could have foreseen COVID. And look how fast AI is changing everything. Flexibility helps us turn challenges into opportunities. Fear is the enemy. How will you adapt to AI? Market headwinds? Tailwinds?
- Better at Empathy: At the bookends of all marketing is people. Understanding their fears, motivations, and worldviews makes marketing more human. It also makes corporate culture more human. Remember: we’re in this together. How will you bring more empathy to your work?
- Better at Communication: Clarity is essential. It removes barriers, drives action, and creates stronger execution. For instance, a messaging manifesto can help distill complex features and benefits into a one-liner everyone can rally around. B2B tech tends to overdo the jargon, buzzwords, and lengthy descriptions. Keep it simple.
- Better at Prioritization: Not everything deserves equal attention or can be a top priority. If you have a list of 10 things to do, you can only do one at a time. What is truly important? Urgent? Build a 13-week rolling calendar to keep things on track and reprioritize at the end. Why 13 weeks? That’s how many there are in a quarter.
- Better at Leadership: Like a good coach, good leaders inspire and encourage their teams. Be willing to let your team fail and learn by winning and losing. Clear direction makes space for creativity. Firm delegation makes space for growth. But remember delegation doesn’t mean abdication.
- Better at Confidence: Confidence is contagious. A GTM team that is backed by cohesive marketing and a solid brand reputation exudes confidence. And once customers catch it, they begin to trust you. It separates good companies from great ones. It starts with positioning, messaging, brand, and culture.
- Better at Relationships: Better relationships are built with better communication. We can strengthen our networks by being genuinely interested, open to sharing, and available for assistance. Regular check-ins keep everyone on the same page and can uncover opportunities. This is as true for teammates as it is for customers.
- Better at Data Literacy: Data literacy isn’t optional anymore. AI is making it easier to call out the BS. Causal AI can help create various What-If scenarios to help hedge bets on what to do and where to spend. The more marketers become data literate, the more accountable and irreplaceable they will become.
- Better at Curiosity: Curiosity drives innovation. The more curious we are about tools like Generative AI and Causal AI, the more we can use them to our advantage. The better we give ChatGPT prompts, for example, the better the response—we can take ideation and research to a whole new level.
- Better at Questioning: Questions shape everything, challenge assumptions, and create clarity. Who is it for? What is it for? Why is it important? Better questions can completely reframe a strategy. How can better questions help you grow? And where can they take you next? A great book that can help you answer these questions is A More Beautiful Question, by Warren Berger.
Final Thoughts
These ideas are not about doing more—they’re here to help us think about how to be a better teammate, leader, vendor, etc. When we’re better together, we make things better for others.
“When we make things better, we make better things.”
Seth Godin
Start with the one you feel you can have the most impact with. Try to get better at it together with others. If you can do all 13, great! If you want to come up with your own, even better!
A year from now, you’ll not only be better at your craft—you’ll have helped others get better too. That’s the real goal.
To hear the full conversation, check out the episode on Lori’s podcast.
To learn more about “Better At” reach out. I’d be happy to share more.
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Cheers!
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