Watch the full episode of The B-Side with Eric Thomson above.
Eric Thomson is one of the leading marketers in the wine and spirits industry but remains unapologetically low profile. The global marketing director and CMO for Pernod Ricard Winemakers speaks to Dan Krigstein about the three crucial elements for a thriving team culture in the B-Side vodcast series by News Corp’s The Growth Distillery in partnership with B&T.
Thomson is a wine and spirits marketing specialist, having risen through the ranks of Select Wines, Brown-Forman, Corby Spirit and Win and Diageo before establishing his career in the upper echelons of Pernod Ricard Winemakers.
In Australia he was the MD of Pernod Ricard before elevating to lead marketing efforts for Pernod Ricard globally.
Despite his position at the top of alcoholic drinks marketing circles, Thomson doesn’t have as high a profile and that is very much by design, describing himself as a “team player” who likes to be “behind the camera” instead of in the spotlight.
“The things I have failed at have been the primary drivers in terms of me wanting to take a bit of a step back,” he said.
One of these inflection points, ironically is some feedback Thomson received when he first stepped into a leadership role, being told that although he was a good contributor, he didn’t have a great leadership profile.
Among the feedback is that Thomson was aggressive in meetings, did not actively listen to others or work well cross-functionally.
“I was intentionally trying to be something else…I realised that perception is someone else’s reality. From that moment onwards I realised that self awareness as a leader is like a super power. It enabled me to take a step back and think of how I would like to be perceived and be purposeful in the actions, such as how I showed up to meetings and my colleagues.”
A critical part of nurturing self awareness, advises Thomson, is taking ownership of your strengths and weaknesses.
He also believes leaders should surround themselves with “truth tellers” and people who can fill in the gaps of your weaknesses.
“If you are the best marketeer in the room then you’ve really done a terrible job of hiring.”
Thomson talks to Krigstein about the three elements that he believes creates a winning team culture, his transition from being an individual contributor to leader, the power of feedback, myths about great leaders and why it’s important for leaders to “shut the f*ck up” sometimes.
Watch other episodes of The B-Side
The B-Side: Dee Madigan On Bravery, Politics And Why She Shuns People ‘Who’ve Drunk The Kool-Aid’
The B-Side: Chris Colter & Sam Geer On Pitching, Accountability & What Drives Their Success
The B-Side: WPP’s Rose Herceg On What Makes A Good Leader
The B-Side: Fernando Machado On Marketing, Creativity, Risk & Zuckerberg’s Quote That Inspires Him
