In this interview, UK-based Tim Edwards shares his story on becoming Chief Marketing Officer at QS Quacquarelli Symonds, the world’s leading provider of insights and analytics in the global higher education sector. The QS World University Rankings portfolio is the most popular source of comparative data on university performance, and their flagship website, topuniversities.com, was viewed 147 million times last year alone. 

With over 15 years’ experience in higher education marketing, Tim is extremely well versed in putting together successful global marketing strategies—having held various managerial marketing roles at global higher education providers including Navitas and Shorelight. Today, Tim is CMO at QS, where he leads a team of over 70 highly talented content and marketing professionals based around the world. 

“The trick as a CMO is not getting in the way and knowing when to let people deliver. Be a useful counsel, not a hindrance. The worst thing I could do is get involved in everything, and throw myself in the way of every campaign. You’ve got to trust people, and hire smart people.”

Interestingly enough, Tim didn’t initially study marketing, but earned a degree in history, ancient languages and religion. According to Tim, he uses that knowledge on a daily basis: “A liberal arts degree teaches you how to think critically, ask the right questions, make informed decisions, challenge assumptions, and connect and see things in ways that others cannot. The ability to communicate effectively, with well placed confidence and clarity of thought is a highly valued skill set. Every industry in every sector—every boardroom—needs that.”

Tune in to the full conversation as Tim chats with Kyler Canastra about how QS has become the most trusted global leader in the higher education sector, as well as his advice for leading a global marketing team—see five tips listed below.

You can watch the full conversation in the video above or on YouTube, and listen to the podcast on Apple or Spotify.

5 tips for leading marketing teams:

  1. Surround yourself with smart people: “The trick as a CMO is not getting in the way and knowing when to let people deliver. Be a useful counsel, not a hindrance. The worst thing I could do is get involved in everything, and throw myself in the way of every campaign. You’ve got to trust people, and hire smart people.” 
  2. Be accessible and approachable; and make people feel listened to. “You can’t just give people solutions—sometimes they just want to feel understood. Fostering an environment where people feel safe is really important to me.”
  3. Become a T-shaped marketer: “You can’t be a CMO or senior level at any marketing organization and only know one particular thing. You need to know quite a bit about all areas of marketing, so you can be in that room, understand what people are saying, add insights and synthesize—but you’re ultimately probably not executing. Trust and empower your team to do that, and block and tackle for them.” 
  4. Stay cool, calm, collected, but authentic. “My number one thing is authenticity. Be yourself and learn about emotional intelligence, because that will really teach you so much more than IQ can ever teach you.”
  5. Have a mentor. “I’m a big believer in having a mentor, at whatever stage of your career, and however young or old you are, it’s so important. We have a mentorship scheme at QS which is brilliant”

Connect with Tim and Kyler on LinkedIn.

For more insights from leaders in higher education marketing:

To read the full transcript, click on page number 2 below.