Rebecca Messina on Reading the Room before Leading the Room

What I’ve Learned

Rebecca Messina spent more than two decades at Coca-Cola, rising through the ranks of one of the most admired marketing organizations in the world. With that foundation, she stepped into her first global CMO role moving from Coke to the spirits industry. The opportunity was enormous, but it came with a lesson she didn’t expect.

“I took a big job and a big jump without investing the time I should have in the people and the culture. My instincts were right, my strategy was sound, but I hadn’t earned the context to bring others with me yet.”

That moment wasn’t about failure — it was about recognition. Rebecca realized that leadership is not just about what you know; it’s about how you apply it in a new environment. Owning that realization, and sharing it openly, became one of her greatest strengths.

How I’ve Sharpened

Rebecca transformed that learning into a set of practices that now anchor her leadership:

• Ask grounding questions (of yourself). She encourages leaders to check themselves and their assumptions: How long have you been here? Have you switched geography? Have you switched industry? These questions calibrate how much listening and learning must come before acting.
• Listen longer than feels comfortable. By resisting the urge to jump in with answers, she gathers deeper context.
• Map influence, not just titles. She looks beyond org charts to understand who actually shapes decisions and how trust flows through an organization. “Politics aren’t noise — they’re signals and often the best signals come from unexpected titles”
• Learn the Language. "You have to recognize that in that moment when you enter as the foreigner, no matter what advantage you think you have, you have to meet the people where they are with the language they speak.”
• Lead with empathy. She invests time in understanding how people feel, not just what they think. Cultural fluency comes as much from listening to personal stories as reading financial reports and the ability to show your own vulnerabilities opens the door for others to do the same.

Why It Matters

Rebecca’s lesson is one every leader faces: expertise travels, but credibility doesn’t. You have to earn it in each new environment. By taking the time to understand the landscape, leaders not only avoid missteps — they build the trust and momentum to lead meaningful change.

“The smartest strategies fail if you don’t take the time to really understand the people and the culture first. But when you get it right, everything else accelerates.”

About Rebecca Messina

Rebecca Messina has held senior global marketing leadership roles at The Coca-Cola Company, Beam Suntory, and Uber. Today she is a board director, a Senior Advisor with McKinsey and has her own advising practice. Rebecca is recognized for her ability to navigate cultural complexity, align diverse teams, and lead transformation with empathy and clarity. She is celebrated for both her leadership and marketing expertise and her willingness to share hard-earned lessons that equip the next generation of leaders.