Philosopher Thomas Hobbes described life outside society as “solitary, nasty, brutish, and short.” For many CMOs and Marketing leads, the phrase sometimes sounds a little too close to their daily experience. Lined up against them, it seems, are disloyal customers out for the cheapest deal they can find, uncooperative colleagues busy plotting their next career move, and agency partners who just want to get paid and move on to the next big project. No wonder, then, that the average tenure of a new CMO is under 36 months.

But what if life didn’t have to be like that? What if there were a way to bring all those parties—customers, colleagues, and marketing agencies—in line to support you as you weave your marketing magic? The solution is simple: between you and those potential partners are gaps that you need to learn to bridge. If you can close those gaps, and get everyone on-side, your life and career as a CMO will be collaborative, pleasant, successful, and long.

Every chapter of Mind the Gap addresses one of those gaps and gives you solid, implementable ideas to build the bridges you need to support your career success. So, read this book and start bridge-building!