What if the only constant in your career is change itself? Some people seem to embrace it with ease, while others dig in their heels. But in the end, success often comes down to one thing: how you respond and adapt.
Take work, for example. Not long ago, many of us were navigating a hybrid setup – splitting our time between home and office. Then suddenly, policies shifted, and the five-day office week was back. Overnight, our routines, expectations, and even team dynamics changed.
I’ve also seen this play out in my personal life. Becoming a mom was one of the biggest transitions I’ve ever faced. I thought I was ready, but the reality of balancing new responsibilities at home with a rapidly changing workplace was eye-opening. When I returned from maternity leave, everything had shifted – a new team, a new area, even a new manager. It felt like I was stepping into an entirely different world.
My name is Adele, and I’m Vice President of Product Marketing at JPMorgan. Before we dive in, please note that everything I share here represents my own opinions, not those of my employer.
With nearly twenty years in marketing and communications, I’ve learned that change isn’t a disruption – it’s the default. That’s what this session is about: adapting to change, with a focus on three areas:
- Leadership and adaptability
- Creativity and AI
- Evolving through change
Let’s dive in.
Leadership and adaptability
We’re all complex characters. Our brains process information differently and at different speeds. What feels like clear communication for one person may completely miss the mark for another.
Before I went on maternity leave, I pulled together a detailed Confluence page documenting everything about marketing’s role. It was comprehensive, almost a playbook. But here’s what happened: some skimmed it, others ignored it, and the tech writers turned it into process notes that were probably never read again.
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That experience taught me something important: no matter how thorough you try to be, you can’t create the perfect playbook. It simply doesn’t exist – because people don’t all learn, process, or engage in the same way.
That’s where trust comes in. When you move into leadership (especially if you’re leading other leaders), you have to recognize that you can’t script every action. Instead, you rely on trust to fill the gaps. That trust has to cascade through the organization.
As Marc Benioff of Salesforce puts it:
“Nothing is more important than the trust we have with our employees, our customers, our partners… We don’t want to lose it.”
Trust is the foundation for adapting and staying relevant. In product marketing, it can be built or broken based on how well you listen and respond to your audience. As a leader, you either adapt or you fall behind.
How to fall behind:
📕 Stick rigidly to playbooks
😨 Fear mistakes
🔎 Micromanage output
🤖 Treat AI as a threat instead of a collaborator
How to stay ahead:
🤔 Lead with curiosity
🧪 Champion experimentation
🎨 Redefine creativity
🤝 Trust your team to adapt
Creativity and AI
Let me share a quick story. My dad has enjoyed a long career in the insurance industry. He told me that forty years ago, when computers were introduced into the office, everyone was terrified for their jobs. They thought, “That’s it, the machines are taking over.”
