Marketing teams spend enormous energy executing campaigns and managing stakeholders, while performance remains inconsistent, collaboration feels forced, and the best ideas never surface because the loudest voices dominate every conversation.
Roanne Neuwirth has spent her career helping organizations strengthen marketing performance through leadership and team alignment. She’s seen how the talent potential in marketing teams often goes untapped without the structure and culture to bring it to life and channel it effectively.
High-performing marketing teams aren’t built on talent alone, but on a foundation that many marketing leaders overlook. Direction that creates a clear shared purpose, execution capabilities that enable fast decisions, and relationships built on trust where constructive conflict surfaces better ideas.
When these exist, inclusion becomes the force multiplier that transforms good teams into exceptional ones.
Be Clear About Goals, Flexible About Methods
Agree on what success looks like before work starts, then set clear deadlines and limits while letting teams decide the best way to execute.
“Set the parameters, but set them free to do it the way they see fit,” Neuwirth explains. “Judge results and not how visible or busy someone looks.”
Judging visibility or busyness instead of results destroys performance and trust because it’s a false indicator of success and teams know it. High performers rapidly disengage when leaders reward mediocre work solely because there is a lot of output. Remote team members lose interest in giving their all when leaders reward physical presence over their contributions. Introverted team members producing exceptional work get overlooked when leaders praise whoever speaks first, which saps their motivation to contribute and collaborate. They will all go silent, and progress disappears.
Neuwirth has seen how flexibility changes engagement. When leaders judge results rather than activity, team members are able to work in ways that fit their schedules, locations, and thinking styles, which sets them up for their best productivity, creativity and action. Some need uninterrupted morning time for creative work. Others produce their best ideas late at night. Some think out loud in meetings. Others process internally before contributing. Making room for this variety means faster, better results, and teams more commited to the outcomes.
“Leaders really need to check themselves,” Neuwirth advises. “Ask yourself: am I solving this because I need control or because it truly needs my input?”
The question cuts to the heart of inclusive leadership. Controlling how work gets done reduces diversity in approach and thinking. Focusing on outcomes while enabling diverse methods produces better results because teams are empowered to bring different perspectives and share their best selves.
Build Listening Into How Work Gets Done
Make listening to your team a formal practice rather than something that happens accidentally. It’s easy to skip this in a jam-packed schedule, but leaders who pause to systematically listen will gain big benefits.
“A great practice to build in is to ask for written input before meetings,” Neuwirth explains. “Ask the team to send you notes about what’s on their mind, what needs to be solved, so that you are creating a formal expectation of hearing what’s on people’s minds.”
Gaining and sharing written input before meetings changes participation dynamics entirely. Everyone is prepared for the same conversation. People who process ideas internally have time to develop their thoughts. Those who struggle to interject in fast conversation are contribute without fighting for airtime because they are ready with a perspective. Remote participants have an equal voice with those physically present because they have the same understanding of the goals of the meeting.
When leaders dominate the conversation, team members stop contributing. Creating space for team thinking to develop surfaces ideas that would otherwise remain silent. It makes it safer to share diverse opinions or constructively disagree, and move beyond group think.
In meetings, give everyone a chance to speak, not just the loudest voices. “Especially in meetings that are hybrid, flip things up and start asking for input with the remote attendees before you ask those people in the room,” Neuwirth notes.
Remote participants get forgotten easily when cameras are off or connections lag. Starting with remote voices first makes sure they’re heard before in-room conversation dominates. This simple practice makes inclusion operational rather than aspirational.
Leaders should also notice how long they talk in meetings. “Be intentional. Make sure you talk less than the group,” Neuwirth suggests. Stop yourself from answering right away. Let your team go first. Ask questions rather than giving opinions. A great option to uncover new input is, ‘What are we missing here? What haven’t we thought about yet?” These small behavior checks bring big dividends.
After projects finish, ask for feedback from teams and stakeholders, making it a regular practice to understand and identify “what went well” and what would be “even better if” improved.
High Expectations, Right Conditions
“I have high expectations, but I absolutely create the conditions for people to meet them,” Neuwirth concludes. “And I make sure that both of these are crystal clear and understandable. Now is not the time for being vague or mysterious about the path to success.”
The framework balances accountability with support. Leaders who maintain high expectations without creating conditions for success generate burnout. Leaders who create supportive conditions without maintaining high expectations generate mediocrity. Clearly articulated expectations with visible and understandable supportive conditions taken together produce teams that deliver exceptional results while feeling energized rather than depleted.
Inclusion isn’t separate from performance; it enables it. When teams operate with clear direction about goals but flexibility about methods, and listening becomes how work gets done rather than an optional practice, diverse perspectives surface better ideas. Decisions happen faster with broader buy-in, and team members willingly move mountains because they feel connected to purpose and trusted to execute.
Be clear about goals but flexible about execution. Build listening into work processes, not just good intentions. Create conditions for your team members to match your expectations. And make sure your teams know what they are. When structure and culture align, inclusion doesn’t compete with performance; it drives it.
Connect with Roanne Neuwirth on LinkedIn for insights on building inclusive, high-performing marketing teams.
