Five things Direct Line Group's Mark Evans learned from Syl Saller and Craig Inglis

What a treat to kick off The Marketing Society calendar with no less than the President and the Chairman of the Society giving their perspectives on bravery within Marketing.

Unquestionably Syl Saller and Craig Inglis are two of the biggest hitters in Marketing at the moment and they didn't disappoint.

My 5 key takeouts were:

1. Judgement - Craig doesn't pre-test John Lewis Christmas ads despite their criticality - "at some point you have to earn your salary by trusting your judgement"

2. Resilience - only 18% of the Diageo leadership population believed that Syl's target to achieve $1bn of net additional revenue through innovation was achievable. Gratifying therefore to subsequently smash the target!

3. Selectivity - both Syl and Craig have small but beautifully formed insight teams vs benchmark - but they get to the really big insights.

4. High Challenge but High support - Syl talked to the incredibly high standards that she has but how this is matched through the support that she gives her people.

5. Value yourself - Craig talked about experiencing imposter syndrome as he entered the John Lewis board but was encouraged by one of his fellow board members who simply told him that he was there for a reason.

By Mark Evans, marketing director, Direct Line Group,