Most senior marketers reach a point where their role changes. Execution matters less, and influence matters more.

But influence isn't taught to most of us in university. You can have experience and strong ideas… and still struggle to get those ideas adopted across the organisation.

In this episode, Ritchie Mehta brings a research-led view of how influence is developed. Drawing on interviews with hundreds of senior leaders, he explains why some marketers become trusted operators who shape decisions, while others plateau.

We get into:

• Why influence inside organisations is less about persuasion and more about being a "trusted pair of hands".
• How to build that trust through small, testable initiatives that generate evidence.
• Why creating internal champions is the real signal of influence.
• The different ways careers evolve (Climber, Explorer, Creator) and how each path affects your ability to influence.

Ritchie brings a pattern-based perspective grounded in real examples. The value of this episode is in how clearly it shows what influence looks like in practice, and how it develops over time.

If you're responsible for shaping strategy and aligning stakeholders, this episode will help you understand where influence comes from.

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Music: SigmaMusicArt Batumi, Adjara. Free for use under the Pixabay Content License

Most marketing teams don't have a talent problem; they have a decision-making problem.

In this episode of A Mind for Marketing, I'm joined by Aysha Haynes, co-CEO of Flock Associates, a consultancy that helps brands untangle complex marketing ecosystems by clarifying roles and decision-making, so teams can perform at their best.

Aysha takes a slightly different view on leadership. While many organisations focus on capability, or agency performance, her argument is simpler but harder to confront.

When results are inconsistent, the issue usually sits upstream.

We explore:

• Why strong teams still produce inconsistent results
• The hidden factors that slow marketing down
• How leaders move teams from reactive to intentional

If you're responsible for performance, this is a useful reframe, because better marketing starts with better conditions for ideas to succeed.

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Music: SigmaMusicArt Batumi, Adjara. Free for use under the Pixabay Content License

Most transformation strategies fail because they focus on messaging rather than behaviour.

In this episode, Christina Moore speaks with former Direct Line CMO Mark Evans about what it actually takes to turn around a declining business. After 20 consecutive quarters of decline, Direct Line didn't just change its campaign. It was rebuilt around customer truth, operational change, and internal belief.

You'll hear how:

• Customer insight reshaped the entire experience, not just comms
• A single idea (Winston Wolfe) changed employee behaviour across the business
• Marketing earned credibility by proving commercial impact

The result? 85% growth in motor quotes and a fundamental shift in how the organisation showed up.

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Music: SigmaMusicArt Batumi, Adjara. Free for use under the Pixabay Content License

Audio Editor: Jake Wittlin