Episode 169 with guest Mark "Strings" Stringer, Founder and Chair of PrettyGreen
Today's episode explores the leadership and human skills of building genuine diversity of thought within marketing teams and why it matters, including: why teams risk becoming clones of each other, recruiting for diverse thinking, your self-awareness as a leader to build the right teams around you, and why trust and psychological safety creates better work.
Joining Abby is Mark Stringer, known to most as Strings, the entrepreneurial force and founder of agency PrettyGreen. With over 30 years of founding and leading successful ventures, Strings is a seasoned expert in building fame for brands and driving innovation. As founder and chair, he has helped the agency and its sister agency, The Producers, work with clients including Cadbury, Under Armour, LEGO, Audible, Hasbro and Nando's and more. Alongside this he runs PrettyGreen +Ventures, which incubates and acquires founder-led companies, and is co-founder and non-exec CMO of B Corp SkootEco and Metropolitan Spirits
Diversity of thought is about difference, not just demographics… The value of diverse thinking comes from surrounding yourself with people who think, decide and approach problems differently to you as well as different lived experiences
Know your own strengths, then build around them… Strings shares the parts of the job he loves and the parts he's happy to hand over, and how deliberately bringing in people who are strong where he isn't, has been core to building his teams
Trust is what lets leaders let go… Strings' mantra of needing to "get out of the room" only works because he trusts the people he hands the baton to, both to deliver and to tell him honestly when something is going wrong
Psychological safety turns diversity into better work… Recruiting different thinkers only pays off if people feel safe enough to challenge ideas, call out bias and speak up in the room
Building diverse teams takes deliberate action, not good intentions… Strings is candid that believing in "hiring the best people" wasn't enough until PrettyGreen looked honestly at who was actually in the room and set up a dedicated board to force the change through
00:00 — Welcome to the Whole Marketer Podcast
00:36 — Why Diversity of Thought Matters in Marketing Teams
02:55 — Introducing Mark "Strings" Stringer
05:21 — The Big Juicy Question: What Is Diversity of Thought?
07:43 — Finding People Who Love What You Don't
10:01 — Discovering DISC Profiles and Understanding Difference
12:27 — Founding PrettyGreen and Building the Right Partnerships
14:50 — The Impact of Bringing Complementary People Into the Team
17:01 — Learning to Trust and Get Out of the Room
19:21 — Matching Skills and Zone of Genius to the Work
21:41 — Uncovering Hidden Talent Across Departments
24:04 — Why Representation in the Room Matters
26:23 — Confronting the Agency's Own Diversity Gap
28:35 — Advice for Leaders Starting to Build Diverse Teams
30:54 — Knowing Your Superpower and Building Complementary Teams
33:22 — Handling Conflict With Humility and Vulnerability
35:44 — The Shadow and Light of Leadership
38:04 — Surrounding Yourself With People Who Call You Out
40:27 — Career Highs: Celebrating the Team's Work
42:30 — Career Grows: Getting Through the Hard Times
44:48 — Strings' Advice for Marketers of Tomorrow
The Whole Marketer 'Define your authentic leadership style' workbook – free download
The Whole Marketer seven-step leadership assessment – free download
The Whole Marketer podcast is here to support and empower the people behind brands and businesses with the latest technical tools, soft and leadership skills and personal understanding for a fulfilling marketing career and life as a whole.
Did you know The Whole Marketer is more than a podcast and book? We're your trusted partners for marketing capability and transformation, providing consultancy, training & workshops, speaking, coaching, mentoring and trusted advisory service.
Visit www.thewholemarketer.com to see how we support leaders to build successful and fulfilled marketing teams with the holistic skills to lead the long-term commercial agenda and deliver the true potential of marketing.
