Laura Povilaikė | CMO position – what’s next: CEO, own business, or is this the peak of your career?

I had one such discussion, or rather two, at the CMO Summit’25 with CMO professionals.

Some thoughts that I also shared in the discussions:

The chance of the CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) going to the CEO is about 1 in 10. That’s according to US research. The desire is there – but it is not yet the first choice of CEOs, according to international surveys around 14% of CEOs are considering a CMO for a partner or CEO position.

If you want to go to CEO, the best mid-career step is through the CCO/growth officer position. From there to CEO is much easier. At the same time, it is the sales or business development, business acumen that CEOs often miss from CMOs, which is why they often see them only in an operational, process and cost role.

CEO is not always a better position than CMO, both in terms of responsibility and remuneration.

Running your own business or consultancy is quite a popular way to go, and fractional CMOs are also gaining popularity; Greta Zaikauskaitė and Vilda Bučmytė, who spoke at the conference, had a very entertaining talk about this role.

CMO – must be a good brand itself. Nowhere is the manager’s personal branding and communication more important than with the CMO. I was convinced of this once again in an open-circle discussion with Guoda Sakalauskiene (she/her) about personal branding.

Speaking the language of the people with managers, without GRPs, TRPs – this better shows exclusivity, because those who are hired are those who do not have the same expertise. Link KPI’s more closely to business results.

CMO burnout is a “grateful” position because everything is very dynamic, fast. If you can’t change fast, they change you.

Finally, if you are thinking about a career change, I agree that it’s worth trying the stopping point that Liudas Rimkus mentioned.

Think about it, think about it, maybe go for a career counselling session, and then decide where to go from there.