Introduction
Building a team that delivers on targets and feels good to lead? That’s the kind of marketing leadership we’re all trying to nail.
In this warm, wise and grounded session, Naomi Walkland , CMO at Motorway and former VP at Bumble , shared what she’s learned from growing global teams, scaling through IPOs, and holding onto kindness along the way.
If you’re a CMO, Head of Marketing or just someone who cares deeply about leading well , this one’s for you.
🧠 Key Learnings from Naomi Walkland
1. Design your team around the strategy , not someone else’s org chart
“What are we trying to achieve as a business, and what does marketing need to do to support that?”
Start with the commercial context.
If your business is early-stage and focused on awareness, that might mean hiring scrappy generalists.
If you’re maturing, shifting into consideration or retention, it’s time to bring in specialists and restructure for scale.
🛠 Naomi’s approach at Motorway:
- Hired a Head of Creative and Product Marketing Lead to own new channels
- Built out B2B capability that had been missing
- Promoted internally while adding external leadership strength
📌 Tip: Don’t just hire for what you don’t have , hire for what the business needs next.
2. Know your own strengths and fill in the gaps
“I’m a visionary thinker , I can go big. But I’m not always the one who can reduce that to one perfect sentence. That’s where my team comes in.”
Naomi’s built a leadership team that complements her. She hires people who are better than her at certain things , and makes it known that she’s proud of that.
🧩 Key principle:
- Self-awareness is your foundation.
- You don’t need to do it all , you need to know what you’re not great at, and hire accordingly.
💬 Leadership reflection: What are you holding onto that someone else could do better? Why?
3. Mentors vs Sponsors , and why you need both
“My mentors gave me wisdom. My sponsors turbocharged my career.”
This distinction was one of the session’s most powerful moments.
👥 Mentors:
- Offer guidance, reflection, and learning.
- Often informal , Naomi says her mentors “probably don’t know they’re my mentors.”
- Help you think through problems, but aren’t necessarily in a position to change your career path.
🚪 Sponsors:
- Advocate for you when you’re not in the room , like promotion meetings or cross-functional planning.
- Often cross-functional leaders or execs who believe in your potential.
- Don’t always give advice , their power is in visibility and influence.
“When someone on my team wants a promotion, I say: I can’t be the only one championing you. Who else is advocating for you?”
👣 Actionable advice:
- Build cross-functional relationships.
- Share your aspirations openly.
- Show your value , sponsorship is earned through delivery and trust.
4. Hire generalists first, specialists later , but keep checking the fit
“Some people are amazing in the generalist phase… but they’re not always the right people to take you to the next level.”
At Bumble, Naomi’s early team were hands-on generalists (yes, even she was carrying stickers in her bag). But as the business matured, so did the needs , and the team.
🔁 What changed:
- They brought in country directors.
- Hired regionally experienced comms and marketing leads.
- Started hiring for precision, not flexibility.
💬 Reminder: People don’t always scale with the business. That’s not failure , it’s evolution.
5. How Naomi thinks about hiring vs outsourcing
“Even now, I still default to being quite lean.”
Naomi’s approach is grounded and pragmatic. When budgets are tight, a mix of:
- 🧠 Smart generalists in-house
- 👋 Passionate freelancers who feel like part of the team
- 🤝 Agencies with clarity on deliverables
She emphasised: if you do work with freelancers, make them feel emotionally invested in the mission. That sense of purpose matters.
✅ Bonus tip: Use performance and demand to build the case for full-time hires.
6. Remote teams thrive on informal connection
“The watercooler moments are the work.”
Leading global teams across time zones taught Naomi to carve out space for casual connection:
- Schedule personal 1:1s with no agenda.
- Make time for non-work conversations (“What class did you do this morning?”).
- Be visibly human , talk about school runs, gym sessions, or burnout prevention.
🧠 Insight: Culture is built in small, repeatable behaviours , not just offsites.
7. You are not responsible for someone else’s motivation
“Motivation is something an individual needs to hold themselves accountable to.”
This was a striking moment of clarity.
Naomi gently but firmly explained that while you can create a motivating environment, you can’t force someone to engage , especially if their disconnect predates you.
💡 What you can do:
- Check in with care
- Offer clarity and support
- But don’t take full responsibility for someone else’s energy
💬 Reframe: Support is not the same as saving someone.
8. Reduce burnout by role-modelling boundaries
“I tell my team I’m leaving early for nursery pickup or off to the gym. They need to see that’s normal.”
Naomi doesn’t just talk about balance , she shows it.
That means:
- 🧘 Marking personal time in the calendar
- 🗣 Celebrating others doing the same
- 🛠 Making wellbeing part of your team culture, not just a nice-to-have
🧠 Burnout prevention tip: Ask your team what you can do to support balance , then do it out loud.
9. When to leave a job , and what to ask yourself
“I loved my last role. But I wasn’t learning or feeling inspired anymore.”
Naomi’s three-part framework for knowing when to move on:
- Mission , Are you still aligned with what the company is trying to do?
- Growth , Are you learning from your peers, your team, your role?
- Motivation , Are you energised by the work? (And yes, money matters too.)
📌 Personal context matters too , especially for parents or caregivers. A great job has to work for your life outside the job.
10. Final reflection: You don’t have to know everything
“Some of my best learning has come from discomfort.”
Naomi ended the session with a gentle nudge:
You don’t have to know it all. You don’t have to be everywhere. You just have to keep showing up, learning, and being kind to yourself along the way.
“The person you were five years ago would be proud of who you are today.”
💬 Conclusion
Naomi Walkland reminded us that leadership isn’t just about performance reviews, team structure, or job titles.
It’s about:
- Building teams with intention
- Leading with emotional intelligence
- Asking better questions
- Hiring people better than you
- And remembering… marketing teams are made of humans.
If you’re building, rebuilding, or simply holding your team together right now , this session is full of perspective, kindness, and clarity.