Being a contact center leader has become more important in business transformation than being a CEO. After all, if you are going to transform, your outcome must be to be more customer-centric. From this perspective, the contact center has the ability to pinpoint the needs of your customer better than any other part of your organization. To do it, leverage these 7 tips.
1). Exploit a Poster Child
You don’t need your CEO or icons such as Richard Branson, Steve Jobs, Elon Musk and Bill Gates to be your motivational icon for keeping the transformation on your contact center’s mind, but you do need someone that people can relate to that represents a ‘transformational leader’.
You need to be able to poster child as a way to get people to focus on the outcome of transformation and not the grind of change. I like Walt Disney myself, great quotes, great brand and a great legacy that will live on for generations.
2). Go Fly a Kite
If you’ve never flown a kite you’re missing out on an amazing sense of wonder. What it’s like to be able to grab the wind and soar and see all around you from a higher vantage point – to see the bigger picture and how you fit in.
Do this in your work – be the kite. Dedicate time to soar above and take a higher perspective that doesn’t involve the daily task and tangles. Better identify what’s keeping things flying, what’s blowing you away and what’s causing you to come crashing to the ground.
3). Go to the Beach
Many people only play with the sand in their own sandbox. They only see what’s directly in front of them and keep scooping up the same sand – over and over again trying to get it to fit into different molds – but it’s still the same sand! It’s vital for you to explore the entire beach, so you can expand your thoughts, ideas and possibilities. Experience the waves, watch the sea gulls and see how the winds cause sand ripples and image the treasures that lie underneath just waiting for you to dig them up.
4). Point Your Telescope
Once you’ve dug up some treasures that you can get value from, create a new future to focus on. The future can be as enormous as being out in the country staring up into the night sky – the city lights are not in your way and you can see billions of lights covering the sky. Now is the time for you to take aim and focus on that one bright future. Point, focus and lock it in.
5). Sing Your Favorite Song
Communicating your vision is a critical step that many leaders overlook. But communication can be boring, you need a song. You need something iconic that uplifts like these:
Queen – We Are The Champions
The Monkees – I’m a Believer
Katrina & The Waves – Walking on Sunshine
Survivor – Eye of the Tiger
Gloria Gaynor – I Will Survive
“Happy” by Pharrell Williams
“(I Got You) I Feel Good” by James Brown
Achieving buy-in is key to making progress – and you must make it fun. Communication is not merely sharing information – craft a story and link to a strong song that vividly and energetically drives you to the future state. Use it to breeze past the trials and tribulations – help people understand that all voices can sing your song and all voices need to be heard.
6). Have a Dance Party
Great leaders need dance partners and collaborators. People add to the effort, and the ultimate success, even the wall flowers eventually get involved – sometimes it’s when you’re not looking – but let them know it’s time to dance.
7). Build a Dream Team
To be effective at transformation you must have strong leaders. In a contact center the most important leaders in the transformation are on the frontline. Frontline supervisors are the closest leader to customers and enable transformation where interactions happen and insight must be captured. You must build a supervisor dream team (here’s how) where agility is fueled by ability.
Frontline supervisors must be a primary leader in your implementation process. Support their development in your cosmic transformation. Remember: processes are managed, but people are led. The most important transformational leading is done on the frontline.
