I’m a generalist. A trait that seems to be grossly undervalued.
I’m not alone to feel it. Other generalists have shared that, when compared to specialists on the job market, they are made to feel less… special.
That’s not surprising. Even at a young age, we praise kids who spend hours and hours perfecting one or two skills. And poopoo on the ones who hop from one hobby to another for lacking stick-to-itiveness or focus.
I personally have always been hard on myself for not being really, really, really good at something, like piano, or karate, or chess. I was one of those “lacks stick-to-itiveness” kids. I sampled ballet, I nibbled on piano, I tried basketball… but ultimately, I got bored. I always preferred trying a different activity instead of pursuing one I was already engaged in. For a long time, I thought this sampling was because I was hoping to eventually land on the thing that I would love so much, I’d want to pursue it and only it.
Today, I know that wasn’t the reason.
I just liked trying new things. Still do. I like learning. I much prefer to accumulate a multitude of skills, than to master only a small handful.
And honestly, it has served me well in my career (in life too… but that’s a different story).
As a marketing generalist I have dabbled in:
- Product marketing
- Brand marketing
- Marketing ops
- Revenue marketing
- Partner marketing
- Creative marketing
- Digital marketing
- B2C marketing
- D2C marketing
- B2B marketing
- SEO/SEM
- Communications
- Analyst relations
- Customer marketing
- Channel marketing
- Experience marketing
- Demand generation
- Event marketing
- Field marketing
- Regional marketing
- Social media
- Video editing
- UX/UI
- Copywriting
- Content creation
- Growth marketing
- Campaign marketing
- Analytics
- Market research
- Program management
- AI prompts
- Customer experience
- Loyalty and retention
- Product management
- SaaS marketing
- eCommerce management
- The list goes on…
Do I consider myself an expert in all these disciplines? Absolutely not.
Can I do them in a pinch? If I must, yeah, I can do an OKAY job of it.
Is that what makes me valuable? Nope.
What makes me valuable is that I know these (and other disciplines) well enough to know where we would benefit from investing in a specialist. I know them well enough to ensure they don’t operate in silos. I know them well enough make them work together and amplify each other, making one cohesive and impactful strategy.
That’s the value of a generalist.
So please, recruiters, employers, business owners and professionals in general: show a generalist some love today and make them feel as special as a specialist.
Your business will be rewarded.
Oh, and if your kid lacks “stick-to-itiveness”, give them a break. They’ll make a kickass generalist one day.
MIM Marketing 